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Editorial Reviews
Review
Chuck Prophet's ¡Let Freedom Ring! is a Born in the U.S.A. for our time. Not that the Californian troubadour and self-described ''hustler'' behind this 25th-anniversary update of Bruce Springsteen's ode to the irony of the American Dream deliberately set out to cop the Boss's monumental mojo, but the similarities between the two records are uncanny. Both are concept albums of sorts that manifest patriotism through disenchantment, and both rely heavily on marginalized characters to expose socioeconomic woe.
''I've been saying they're political songs for non-political people,'' Prophet explains over the phone from his San Francisco home. ''But what I really mean is that I'm not a particularly political person, but the characters in these songs are all living in a kind of anxious time.''
¡LFR!'s title track a nod not to the Liberty Bell but to the NYSE exemplifies that anxiety through retirement-plan decimation. The buoyant, power-pop music deceptively suggests a feel-good anthem, but once the lyrics unfold, a Social Darwinistic tale is told, of Bernie Madoffs leeching off Average Joes ''The hawk cripples the dove,'' as Prophet puts it who reduce their victims to blind-drunk poor boys. Elsewhere, ''Barely Exist'' continues the Springsteen parallel, with Prophet replacing the Boss's struggling blue-collar worker with a struggling Mexican immigrant. Over a fragile beat and sparse guitar notes, he sums up the day laborer's plight: ''You gotta be strong/But when you got asbestos in your Kool-Aid for breakfast/There's no good way to look alive.''
''I think we go too far out of our way to define ourselves by our borders,'' Prophet says. ''Hundreds of people die every year trying to get into this country, just for the opportunity to clean our toilets and change our babies' diapers, and if it's somebody who's just trying to provide for their family, how can you criminalize that? And, really, isn't that the least of our problems right about now?''
The beauty of ¡LFR! lies in its raw, no-frills approach. Lightning-rod guitars spark a combustible rhythm section. Songs of radio-friendly length emerge from only a couple of live takes. Down-tempo and uptempo numbers play well in the same sandbox. Witty lyrics with rich imagery it's hard to shake ''By the time her shoes wore out/She was giving blood'' from ''What Can a Mother Do'' demonstrate a mastery of language, like the rock 'n' roll equivalent of folkie Todd Snider as delivered through Tom Petty's voice were it even more reliant on stoner/surfer cadences. Other gems include ''Sonny Liston's Blues,'' a riff on the monstrous former boxing champ's loss to Muhammad Ali as symbolic of good over evil (replete with air-guitar-inspiring passages on a Gretsch that Prophet says was ''strung up heavy''), and ''Where the Hell Is Henry?,'' a 2'17'' identity-theft gut punch about a con artist masquerading as a Kennedy.
Prophet recorded ¡LFR! his ninth solo album in a career better known for its songwriting and producing contributions to the oeuvres of Alejandro Escovedo, Kelly Willis, and Warren Zevon, among others in Mexico City, in a state-of-the-art (circa 1957) studio. The conditions were less than ideal (swine-flu mania, earthquakes, drug wars on the periphery), but Prophet says the duress made a band out of the ragtag crew. ''One thing I could never have predicted is that in Mexico City, the power goes out, like, five times a day,'' he says. ''And, of course, every time it would go out, it would be in the middle of a completely magical sort of Marquee Moon moment. And so every take you hear on the record, there's, like, triumph at the end of it.'' --The Village Voice
''I've been saying they're political songs for non-political people,'' Prophet explains over the phone from his San Francisco home. ''But what I really mean is that I'm not a particularly political person, but the characters in these songs are all living in a kind of anxious time.''
¡LFR!'s title track a nod not to the Liberty Bell but to the NYSE exemplifies that anxiety through retirement-plan decimation. The buoyant, power-pop music deceptively suggests a feel-good anthem, but once the lyrics unfold, a Social Darwinistic tale is told, of Bernie Madoffs leeching off Average Joes ''The hawk cripples the dove,'' as Prophet puts it who reduce their victims to blind-drunk poor boys. Elsewhere, ''Barely Exist'' continues the Springsteen parallel, with Prophet replacing the Boss's struggling blue-collar worker with a struggling Mexican immigrant. Over a fragile beat and sparse guitar notes, he sums up the day laborer's plight: ''You gotta be strong/But when you got asbestos in your Kool-Aid for breakfast/There's no good way to look alive.''
''I think we go too far out of our way to define ourselves by our borders,'' Prophet says. ''Hundreds of people die every year trying to get into this country, just for the opportunity to clean our toilets and change our babies' diapers, and if it's somebody who's just trying to provide for their family, how can you criminalize that? And, really, isn't that the least of our problems right about now?''
The beauty of ¡LFR! lies in its raw, no-frills approach. Lightning-rod guitars spark a combustible rhythm section. Songs of radio-friendly length emerge from only a couple of live takes. Down-tempo and uptempo numbers play well in the same sandbox. Witty lyrics with rich imagery it's hard to shake ''By the time her shoes wore out/She was giving blood'' from ''What Can a Mother Do'' demonstrate a mastery of language, like the rock 'n' roll equivalent of folkie Todd Snider as delivered through Tom Petty's voice were it even more reliant on stoner/surfer cadences. Other gems include ''Sonny Liston's Blues,'' a riff on the monstrous former boxing champ's loss to Muhammad Ali as symbolic of good over evil (replete with air-guitar-inspiring passages on a Gretsch that Prophet says was ''strung up heavy''), and ''Where the Hell Is Henry?,'' a 2'17'' identity-theft gut punch about a con artist masquerading as a Kennedy.
Prophet recorded ¡LFR! his ninth solo album in a career better known for its songwriting and producing contributions to the oeuvres of Alejandro Escovedo, Kelly Willis, and Warren Zevon, among others in Mexico City, in a state-of-the-art (circa 1957) studio. The conditions were less than ideal (swine-flu mania, earthquakes, drug wars on the periphery), but Prophet says the duress made a band out of the ragtag crew. ''One thing I could never have predicted is that in Mexico City, the power goes out, like, five times a day,'' he says. ''And, of course, every time it would go out, it would be in the middle of a completely magical sort of Marquee Moon moment. And so every take you hear on the record, there's, like, triumph at the end of it.'' --The Village Voice
Product Description
The studio was state-of-the-art...for 1957. Surgical masks were as common as sunglasses. Earthquakes shook the streets. This was Mexico City, 2009, the city that was the muse for Chuck Prophet s new album ¡Let Freedom Ring! Needing a vantage point outside his home country to make what he calls, ''a political album for non-political people,'' Chuck and his band found themselves at the epicenter of the biggest pandemic scare of the new century. Swine flu was in the air literally and figuratively yet underneath the paranoia of H1N1 lay something more, something even larger. A cultural sea change was stirring. Brought on by the democratizing power of the internet, traditionally poverty stricken youth all over Mexico City were being exposed rapid-fire to music and art that had always been hidden from them. Inspired by this renaissance ¡Let Freedom Ring! billows with primal color and sound, evidenced by Prophet s return to the direct ''two guitars, bass and drums'' rock music of his past. On one hand a song cycle about breaking up but keeping it together, and on the other a political mission statement of hope, ¡Let Freedom Ring! doesn t incorporate the music of Mexico but instead imbibes its spirit and swims in its soul. Purposeful and rippling with rock sinew, this is Chuck Prophet 3.0.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the greats...,
By Starhead "starhead" (El Granada, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Let Freedom Ring (MP3 Download)
I'll admit up front that I'm a huge Chuck Prophet fan. He's an incredible guitarist, songwriter, singer and performer with some great albums under his belt. I've only had one chance to listen so far, so I can't rate it a classic yet, but it might get there. Chuck and his band have left the gimmicks and the hip hop bleeps and blips and samples behind and and returned to what he does best, solid songs with great lyrics and rippin' Telecaster.
Check it out... this man and his band should be huge stars, but lucky for those of us in the know we can check him out in tiny little venues where we have to dodge bandsweat. Go see 'em! And download this, legally! OK... after a few more listens I'm upgrading to 5 stars. I think it's Chuck's best since the Feast of Hearts and Balinese Dancer days...
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
And the hits just keep on comin'!!!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Let Freedom Ring (Audio CD)
CP has created another winner. Check out Sonny Liston's Blues, Where the Hell is Henry, Let Freedom Ring and Hot Talk.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!!!,
By
This review is from: Let Freedom Ring (Audio CD)
Everyone that likes rock, alternative, blues, indie, etc. should do themselves a favor and get this new cd by Chuck. He is truly an amazing musician and quite original.
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