Customer Reviews

Become the Media

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I've been a long time fan of Jello Biafra. For about two years of the 17 years I've had on Earth. I have all of his albums, I've met the guy and heard him speak.
The first thing I said when the 3 CDs were done playing was: "Wow. Jello really has grown up..." It's perhaps a funny thing to say, since Jello has been a mature vocal commentator for years, and yet in my opinion, he really has grown within this new album. Notice there's none of the fun little tracks like on the last albums, some examples being "Names for Bands" and "Half-time". In my opinion, Jello's best is in this album, his most mature insightful commentary, no filler, no bull, is in this album. I highly, HIGHLY reccomend this album. I'm so glad to see Jello making such an incredible album, same as always, after all these years.

You never have to worry about what you're in for when you invest in something featuring Jello. With this, his latest installment, he (once again) does not fail to deliver the goods.

Perhaps I should note that I am a bit biased when it comes to ANYTHING by JB. He has been part of my life for the last 20 some odd years. I remember being far younger, skating the streets of San Jose and San Francisco (and the eventual half-pipe in my backyard) on either a 1st model Rob Roskopp, a Gator, a Slasher, a Caballero, or whatever else I could manage to slave away for as I mopped floors. In my mind, I would play over and over and over again all the songs off "Fresh Fruit..." or "Plastic Surgery..."

Then, came my copy of "Skateboard Party" and I was in heaven. Of course, I remember having to dutifully hide my copy of "Frankenchrist" so my folks wouldn't find it, or more specifically, the "harmful matter" a la Geiger within it. I remember being tremendously jealous when a friend of mine (who also had a ramp) claimed (i.e., lied) that East Bay Ray happened to come by and skated with him.

It was between DK, any of the Bones Brigade videos, and the occassional Faction record, Black Flag record, and later, DI, Descendents, and Adolescents, that I could be found.

Flash forward almost two decades. Now I am an attorney (that still sounds odd to me, even after 6 years), trying hard to take down some of the biggest theiving corporations in the business...health care. In these days, I cannot express what comfort I find in seeing Tony Hawk still skating, and Jello still delivering his best.

After straying FAR off the subject at hand, let me say that this release is awesome. JB sounds even more finely honed and razor sharp. If you're reading this review, I would wager you at least know (kind of) what to expect. In that respect, be prepared to be blown away.

I haven't enjoyed something more since his "High Priest..." and "No More..." releases. But, do not let that imply that you should skip over anything in between. Get it all. But, try to get it directly from A.T. or your local (starving) mom and pop store.

And, if the man himself should happen across this (as he has been known to do in other reviews), good luck with all the crap you are currently being forced to endure. And, of course, thank you for all the years of support (and enjoyment) that you have provided me and countless others.

Okay, apparently not enough people picked up this release prior to the atrocity..excuse me, election which put Bush in office, but maybe more people should have. Even though much of this album touches on the "King George" and "Prince Albert" evils, there is a lot of relevance to other current events. The track "Hellburbia" may be one of the greatest spoken word pieces ever recorded, touching on the mayhem of school shooting, while "The Philadelphia Stories" and "If You Liked Tipper, You'll Love..." deliver an extremely humorous look at how Bush and Gore campaigned, and a less humourous look at how they'd run things. Also, anyone interested in the whole DK Levi's incident will be well informed on this album. Some people call Jello an "commie," some call him a whiner, but those people are just afraid to face the fact that he, when the cards are on the table, is right.

My days consistently follow a drab pattern. I get up with some trouble, lethargically get dressed, and pedal my bike to school, whilst battling the winter elements. I complain under my breath, I am tired of the monotany of life. As Jello himself says "its a life sentence" from his days with the Dead Kennedys. Fortuantely, today I had something to look forward to for a change..."Become the Media", a collective of Jellos speeches over the past while, and it could not have come at a better time.

The important message portrayed is the need for people to unite and stand up to the oppresive forces (mass media, WTO, GATT...). Furthermore, Jellos unique vision reeks of humour which contributes to an overall positive feel to the speeches. He consistently supports his claims with concrete evidence and examples.

Jello heroically says "youve missed the presidents state of the union address for this?!" prior to delivering a powerful speech regarding the formation and goals of the WTO (k.o the w.t.o). Each speech is crafted in such a manner that it is easy to understand the pertinent issues, whether you are a 15 year old doing a school project on politics, a university student, or a retired steelworker.

If anything, Become the Media is a perfect alternative to anybody who is tired of hearing what CNN has to say about trade, or other mass media outlet. Now I wake up each day knowing that I can learn something new, and grow through these experiences. I energetically put on the stereo while getting dressed, and pedal to school with a greater appreciation for the beauty of winter, and the craving for social change.

Yet another fantastic CD from Jello. It's a little sad to listen to him speaking at the Green Party convention, when there was so much hope before the elections.

There is a lot of material on "Become the Media" that was discussed in his other CD's, but it's nice to have the information on WTO and NAFTA all in one place and updated. Jello's stories of crashing the Democratic and Republican conventions were hilarious. Almost as good as a Michael Moore bit. As Jello says, "We must never forget the value of pranksters" and "It take a child to RAZE a village". On a more personal level, it was interesting to hear Jello's reflection on Columbine, his position on online music trading, as well as his side of the story on the DK members suing him over the rights of their music.

The only drawback to this CD is that Jello doesn't back up his statements as much as he used to. In his previous spoken word albums, he would frequently back up his arguments with the books or articles that he got his information from. When making statements as controversial (and sometimes as blanketly general) as he can, it's good to have sources to go and double check.

Still, it usually isn't too hard to find out information if you look for it.

If you don't have any of Jello's spoken word CD's yet, this is a great one to start with. A great CD for anyone with who leans towards the progressive left. If you are upset by what this CD has to say, then remember not to sit on your hinder; you must go out and do what Jello says: Become the Media!

Nobody can combine sarcasm and fact quite like Biafra. This album touches on some of his earlier stuff, but is mainly new material on the computer industry and the recent trend of school shootings. This album might be a little smarter than his others, and that's only because Biafra's getting a little older, but aren't we all? And with age comes wisdom. And I just want to make sure I'm getting the right wisdom.

The reason progressive politics doesn't command as much positive attention, acceptance and success is that people like Jello Biafra are so rare. Jello Biafra tells hearty, angry, life-based stories about the worlds the so-called media either miss or misconstrue.

When Jello Biafra says "Become The Media," he means it. He isn't releasing three CD's for the price of one so he can bcome the center of attention. His purpose is to nearly give away his messages of outrage and hope, so as to motivate as many people as posible to take up the causes he espouses, to get folks to point their camcorders at the streets, to point their browsers at the sites that aren't selling empty consumption, to press their own zines and CD's. Everything he speaks about points to more than listening to his own inner voice of truth and speaking out. He wants everyone who thinks they can't do it themselves to do it, too.

And there is art here. Like all great speakers, Jello has a sense of cadence in his delivery, a rise and fall and rise again building to his key points, and a certain prosy poetry to his language (which I bet he'd deny). Folks, you won't have to put up with whiny, impatient rhetoric to get through these speeches. They are more like listening to slam poetry or performance art. These are not intellectual diatribes.

Jello can be funny and issue-clarifying at the same time, or alternate joyously scathing criticism at those he singles out, then seriously motivate the frustrated, marginalized "mutants" of the USA with his insights.

I came to know this recording because I volunteer co-host a music and news radio show called "Generation Q", a Queer Pride program (to summarize), on Rutgers U.'s non-commercial station, WRSU-FM. "Generation Q" plays music and spoken word that carries the message to Queers, especially young Queers, to be proud, active, safe and without shame for what is good and true about us. We choose Out Gay artists primarily, but if the message is strong, then the person delivering it doesn't matter. ("Become the Media," indeed.) So, we've played the "Hellburbia" track from "Become The Media" several times (...had to edit out one word...), and received some of the best listener response ever to it. For a listening audience of an overwhelmingly music-based station to respond that way to a 27+ minute speech, that's remarkable.

I am in no way associated with Jello or his company, Alternative Tentacles, but I do recommend their website for more info about the issues raised on the CD as well as the other artists on the label. Recently, it has released spoken word recordings from long-established speakers like Noam Chomsky and Mumia Abu-Jamal, but its claim to fame are the hardcore punk records of bands like Tribe 8 (the best, unknown, all-woman band in America) and Dead Kennedys, with whom Jello Biafro first rocked and fought the good fight.

I am a major Biafra fan, so I may be a little predictable, but I have to say that this set is great. It's wonderful without a doubt.

You can hear how Biafra, now in his 40's, has matured in his spoken word style, sounding more and more like Chomsky in every album. There are no fun stories about people coming to a football game to see people being hung on this album, just the cold, hard facts. Is this a good thing? I think so.

As Biafra gets older, he seems to be wiser, and even a little sadder. This is understandable, since the poor man is selling his possessions to raise money for a trial that he didn't start in the first place.

Still, this is full of Biafra's energy, wit, and his mature wisdom. . .

"And as you go out and try to turn people on to new ideas...be careful about becoming a fundamentalist, because that turns people off faster than trying to sell them a Bible at the airport," Jello Biafra so ironically says on "Become the Media," a plodding, overstuffed spoken-word album that has never found the ex-Dead Kennedy more preachy, one-sided, and yes, 'fundamentalist.' Granted, while his other albums (his excellent early work especially) were informative eye-openers, Biafra has always had the tendency to slant the facts only to his favor (unlike, say, Noam Chomsky, who won't hesitate to bring up the positive aspects of American society while railing against the negative). Perhaps it was his nomination for president in the Green Party primaries that placed a chip on his shoulder (note the eye-rolling chanting on 'The Green Wedge'), or maybe it's the fact that this particular spoken-word outing suffers from topics that even Biafra can't make interesting (the WTO, World Bank & International Monetary Fund, etc.), or maybe it's his cynicism toward being sued by his ex-bandmates. Whatever the case, this 3-disc monster didn't arouse much interest in me, even after listening to it countless times. Especially when he speaks of the DK feud, it becomes clear that his cynicism comes from the desire to preserve the underground elite; after all, what's the difference between the ex-DKs playing shows to sell-out crowds and Biafra doing the same with his spoken-word appearances? Granted, the situation should have been resolved some other way, but now even Jello's faithful followers are judging this new incarnation without viewing any of the evidence, and how contradictive is that? Not that I support what happened. Okay, I'm starting to ramble. Bottom Line: try some of Biafra's earlier material, get "Become the Media" only to complete your collection. Thanks.

Don't be fooled. There is no such thing as 'The lesser of two evils,' not in politics. True, there is a sort of a reactioist slant to the album, but, is any body alse worried? Like Jello about King George the first, 'Stay in your homes...'