Customer Reviews

Peace Not War

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

 

 

Inspiring works of harsh political reality. ...Not just music, but a sobering slap in the face concerning the injustices being served up by a President un-elect.

This cd is a must for people who are anti-war activists, and for those who are tired of the Bush Administrations bad deeds. Ani DiFranco's "Self Evident" and Public Enemy's "Son of a Bush" will have you fist pumping and ready to march onto the streets.

As I am an anti-war supporter, I felt vaguely obligated to purchase this CD. While not disappointed, unless you feel extremely strong about the political benefit in purchasing this album, there's not any huge reason to reccommend it. The tracks by Ani DiFranco (Self Evident) Billy Bragg (Price of Oil) are alone absolutely wonderful songs, with an excellently communicated message and catchy, as well. Sadly, tracks such as Nagasaki Nightmare are common, seem disturbingly out of place, and generally distract from the overall feel of this album. As far as compilation discs go, I feel that mood or tone were lost in favor of a similar message; however, this ends up in distracting from the whole, turning this album into an excercise in tolerance (at worst) or abuse of your next track button.

Buy it if you're strongly against the war in Iraq. If you don't care, buy Ani DiFranco or Billy Bragg albums on their own - much more cohesive and often brilliant.

I think I ordered this before the Iraq war started and by the time it arrived the war was "over". You can now view it as an "historical" document of the pre-Iraq anti-war movement or you can listen to it as a statement of ongoing opposition to US/British neocolonialism. I don't believe the war is really done and think this compilation will continue to have some resonance in the next few months and years.
And... I like a lot of the music. I am a lifelong Midnight Oil fan (check out their catalogue if you want real rock and roll activism!)I am familiar with Public Enemy, Billy Bragg, and Ani Difranco (and you probably are too) but I hadn't heard many of the other artists. I was pleasantly surprised by many of the other tracks and think that the compilers of this CD did a fine job of representing a variety of musical styles. Outstanding tracks are DJ Disorientalist, Alabama 3, Torben and Joe, and a fun and faithful version of the Pistol's "God Save the Queen": Persian Carpets' "Allah Save Queens".
Buy it now. You can dance to this compilation and it probably won't be in print for long. And Cuba, Iran, and Syria are looming on the horizon....