Customer Reviews

No More Cocoons

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Biafra's first album prepared his followers for something they weren't used to listening to...Speeches. However, Biafra changed the common American punk rockin' fun lovin' kids' ideas about what life is really all about. Another thing Biafra taught us is simple: Speeches can be fun.

Take "Message From Our Sponsor" for a very prominent example. Jello speaks of a future world that's not too far off from our own at this point. Notice that a lot of Jello's SW pieces turn into songs. "Mild Kingdom" sure sounds like a certain DK song that I can't remember the name of right now. "Stars and Stripes of Corruption" is obviously the inspiration for the song version that goes by the same title.

Life to Jello is not about fist fighting like so many punk rockers out there. It's about freedom fighting. Jello, over all of his albums, has taught us one thing: we have to fight this. Corporations, republicrats, nuclear warheads, censorship, and racism IS out there.

This is what I like to think is Jello's most "fun" album. So many conspiracy theories and jokes packed in, you'll forget you're not watching TV! Is that a good thing?

Jello Biafra, the original politically-incorrect bad boy, splashes into spoken word with No More Cocoons. One of the most arresting albums I've ever listened to, NMC contains lots of material that, while dated, still relates to our lives today. Ronald Reagan may no longer be president, but with Jesse the Governor Ventura considering the office, it's healthy to think that "What Reagan Didn't Know" is probably a tenth of what Ventura doesn't know.

Other excellent pieces on this album are "Names for Bands", "Letter to Tipper Gore", "Urinalysis is Freedom" and "Why I'm Glad the Space Shuttle Blew Up". We may not hear about it anymore, but Gore once was a fierce advocate for censoring music in this country. We don't think to ask if they're still sending plutonium up in space shuttle flights, but would they really tell us anyway? We take our freedom for granted... Jello helps to remind us (again and again) that nothing in this world should be taken for granted. Especially our freedom.

"No More Cocoons" was released on album and cassette in 1989. At the time, it was pretty mind blowing stuff. Clearly it's the only Biafra spoken word album that's worth owning, as Biafra has a tendency to repeat verbatim - literally word for word - bits from his 1989 spoken word act even today.

Much like the DK albums, which are exponentially superior to the spoken word albums BTW, the first couple of spoken word albums are clear and focused. Eventually three or four albums down the line, however, they begin to annoy you with their repetitive nature and inferior artistry.

My suggestion to anyone wondering about the DKs, who doesn't know about them to buy "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" and "In God We Trust, Inc." as they are pretty much the best music the DKs ever did. If you love those albums, next you can sample bits and pieces of the later DK albums, as songs like "Stars and Stripes of Corruption" and "MTV Get Off the Air" are kind of funny at first.

If you enjoyed the much of the late-era DK albums, then I would advise you to buy this C+ rated spoken word CD. If you could stand the most rambling parts of albums like "Bedtime for Democracy" you might be able to get some pleasure and enlightenment from "No More Cocoons." Remember that Biafra's sophomoric radicalism can be tedious, if you are used to a higher caliber of punk rock music (Television, the Stooges, Ramones, Dictators, etc.) or political satire: George Carlin; et al.

I have listented to this and The High Priest of Harmful Matter and they are both excellent depictions of the PMRC and the idiocy of our government. I disagree with his overall political ideologies but I agree that something must be done about the status quo. END

very good. expand your knowledge with this set