Customer Reviews

Divided We Stand

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

TSOL is one of the original punk bands from Huntington Beach. They were one of the first overtly political bands. They also delved into Goth and psychedelic music early on. They broke up and re-formed as a hair metal band in the mid-1980s. Jack Grisham went on to do other things. It's good to hear them again with some of the original energy of their early records. Like The Buzzcocks and Wire, TSOL has gone back to the source of whatever inspired them in the first place. (...) A few songs are better than anything done by those punk bands that have been coping TSOL for years. Jack Grisham is also running for governor of California, which might get more attention than this album. But it is good to see TSOL return to form, because there are very few original punk bands left.

(Who knows how to write these things...), I have really grown to like this album. Hard to imagine after all these years they can still put out material this energetic and vibrant.
Guess I'm not that cool of a guy, since I prefer this and "Revenge" over some of their earlier stuff, but I hope the guys in the band sell enough copies of "Divided" to keep stuff like this coming. (It irks me how many used copies of this album are for sale on Amazon. How the hell are these guys supposed to make a living?)

I thought this cd might be a lot like "Dissapear" and wouldn't really be too unique. but once again, TSOL has progressed there sound and is still standing strong. Dissapear was a great comeback for them, and it has some excellent tracks, but I feel like they tend to blend together and not stand out from one another too much. however on "Divided," each song has a different sound, musically and even vocally. Jack's voice hits different ranges and his lyrics seem focused mainly on problems in America, but don't mistake this for just a completely straight forward political cd with no creativity or substance. TSOL has a perfect blend of savy political satire, mixed with their great horror rock sound, compared to such bands as The Damned. This cd seemed like it had some throw back to "Dance With Me," more then it did with the Black EP.
I reccomend it to all current and past TSOL fans, as well as anyone looking to hear an old school hardcore band that has changed it's sound over time, but hasn't lost its passion.

As a long time fan of TSOL, I'm happy to say this one of my favorite TSOL albums. Musically and lyrically, they seem much more comfortable as a band then on 'Disappear'. Jack's lyrics have never been better and his voice sounds much improved from the last record as well. The songs range from political to personal, and are far more subversive and insightful than, well, most bands they're likely to be playing with. There seems to a bit of influence from their earlier records throughout, but it's still a very fresh sound and moves into new territory like their better albums do, (excluding the Guns and Roses years). Definitely worth the price new. Buy it and support one of the last great punk rock bands still gracing us with new material that doesn't comform to what's expected and challenges the usual apolitcal and derivative punk scene that clogs the nation's mainstream media.

I have been listening to TSOL for years and years - except for that weird hair band phase - and they are one of my favorite bands. I think that this CD is very well done. The music is great, Jack's voice is great, the lyrics are political in many cases but not obnoxiously so. It's really inspiring to see a band that has been around for as long as these guys still putting out great music.

I liked the direction they were heading with Disappear and had high hopes for this album, but was unfortunately let down by their sad attempt at staying contemporary. I think this album would've soared if they left off the fuzzy, dissonant sounding guitars and stuck to their tried and true deathrock roots. Instead of trying to transform themselves into a modern sounding punk band, complete with cheezy "Anti Flag" sing-a-longs, why didn't they revitalize the fun loving spirit of necrophilia that was so present on Dance With Me? The only merit see in this entire album is the fact that Jack's voice seems to have returned to normal rather than the higher tone he had on Disappear.