Fight With Tools

The Flobots | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Flobots
• ASIN: B0011XB4XC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #311,799 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

1. "There's a War Going On For Your Mind" -- 2. "Mayday!!!" -- 3. "Same Thing" -- 4. "Stand Up" -- 5. "Fight With Tools" -- 6. "Handlebars" -- 7. "Never Had It" -- 8. "Combat" -- 9 "The Rhythm Method (Move!)" -- 10. "Anne Braden" -- 11. "We Are Winning" -- 12. "Rise" -- ======= When a pair of visionary, quick-witted emcees joins forces with a battle-hardened, groove-fusing rhythm section, a classically trained violist and trumpet player, the result is a sound that explores and expands the frontiers of live hip-hop. Progressive in both style and message, the band's ability to drop from symphonic rock-infused crescendos into stripped-down string-laden breakbeats has earned Flobots a reputation for both originality and authenticity. Armed with musicianship, intelligence, and an ingrained sense of rebellion, Flobots are looking to engage a new musical culture, one mind at a time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, positive music with a hip hop twist, December 16, 2007

By 

Paul Alminas (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fight With Tools [Explicit] (MP3 Download)

As a Coloradoan, I am lucky to have found this band on my local scene here in Denver. They are growing in popularity, and with good reason. Fight With Tools is their second release, but their first 'full' album.

It starts off strongly with a poem called "There's a War Going on for Your Mind" which manages to effectively set the mood for the remainder of the album. While Flobots' lyrics may be a bit idealistic for some, they are certainly progressively oriented, and are presented in a positive manner. Explicit language is used sparingly, and the hip hop traditions of glorifying big money, fast women, and violent lifestyles are nowhere to be seen.

Certainly this release is less than traditional in more ways than that. The music stylings are somewhat reminiscent of Cake during much of the album, though the lyrical delivery is very different from that of Cake. There is heavy use of instruments traditionally reserved for orchestral use, as well as guitars and a drum set.

Regarding the lyrics, if you like socially progressive hip hop, you will not be disappointed. I would guess that this album would potentially appeal to fans of Common, Rage Against The Machine, Sweatshop Union, and Talib Kweli, based solely on the lyrics.

Weak points of the album are few. The title track (track 5, Fight With Tools) is a bit bewildering at the end when it calls for you to gather your platinum, gold, silver, bronze, and aluminum, and melt them all down. Why this would be useful is one question, but why bronze (the only alloy on the list) and aluminum (which is hard to melt and quite worthless compared to platinum, gold, and silver) are included is even more head scratching. Track 8 (Combat) is fun to listen to sometimes, but other times the repetition just gets annoying. Track 9 (The Rhythm Method) is okay, but not all that lyrically fulfilling.

Stand-outs include Mayday!!!, Stand Up, Handlebars, We Are Winning, and Rise. If you ever have those days when you feel like the whole world is messed up beyond anyone's control, pop this cd in and soon enough, you will be thinking differently. It really is that moving and meaningful if you are open to new kinds of music.

I highly recommend this album. It is currently in my personal top ten list.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's more to it..., April 11, 2008

By 

Dufmeizer (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fight With Tools [Explicit] (MP3 Download)

Hear this: Don't just buy "Handlebars". Save yourself a few bucks and just click on "Buy MP3 album". You'll be glad you did.
You've come for the catchy tune, but you'll stay for its catchier & stirring lyrics. They're filling a much needed void in my music library left by Rage Against The Machine's impromptu disappearing act.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prius Sittin On Fourteens Son., June 13, 2008

By 

Mike Liddell (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fight With Tools (Audio CD)

If you do some searching you'll find rap/hip hop is making a comeback or a throwback to when it said something. Rappers like Flobots, Eyedea & Abilities, Dead Prez, and many others are rhyming about issues, politics, and making change like the man in the mirror. Switching it up from bling bling to something with meaning. Rappers like Flobots aren't just fighting for your right to party but are fighting for your rights.
Checking out the oil in your Cadillac spilling isn't cool anymore it's just Ludacris.
The sweat dripping from people around the world isn't from skeet skeet skeeting but from stress stress stressing from watching the news we are one nation under a groove we might as well get down just for the funk of it.
Flobots aren't hardcore or negative their stuff does have a message, is honest, and not crazy complex. Wolf Blitzer will not have them on his I pod. They also follow these lyrics with good beats mixed in with some instruments via violin in some instances.
Very highly recommended.