Customer Reviews

Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Songs........ WOW what an album, ever song is solid. Adding a new bassist added a new sound of music that's all on it's own. You can't put this album in words, you just can't. Keep yours ears open and listen to the unique style that has hooked myself and pretty much everyone else that i have made listen to it. This album will never die.

if you are looking at this, and know of refused, you should already have it! if not, then buy it! it's that essential to the refused collection. so don't hesitate, you gonna like it... just go on and get it!

In my humble opinion, this is Refused best album. The Shape of Punk to Come is great, but sometimes it lacks what makes this album great: its non-stop aggressiveness. The Shape of Punk to Come tries to tackle too many styles, and ends up being disorganized, and it tends to slow down. For a band that preaches so ruthlessly, ruthless music is necessary, and SONGS TO FAN THE FLAMES... is truly ruthless. It's not the typical scream and swear and growl hardcore album. It is intelligent, powerful, and sometimes very emotional hardcore that will make you clench your fists. So buy it!

Yes this recording is excellent. Yes the Shape of Punk to Come album is even better(explosive, punk only wishes it could duplicate this sound) NO NO NO you can't see them live because they broke up almost a year and a half ago. Stop listening to rage against the machine now, support the underground before your favorite underground band, well goes under.Refused may be dead but their sound and attitude live in the wake of their existence. Viva Refused!

Now that the dust has settled, it's obvious that Refused belong in the upper echelons of truly great hardcore bands. Their over-heralded final album is often cited as the reason, even though it's essentially an extended tribute to Nation of Ulysses. Personally, I find the album previous, 'Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent', far more interesting and engaging. That's because it is a heavy, crunching mid-90's metallic hardcore record. It marks a departure from the old school flavours of 'This Just Might Be...', but it is also several steps removed from the overblown eccentricity of `The Shape of Punk to Come'.

Opener 'Rather Be Dead' qualifies as one of the definitive hardcore anthems of the 90's. If you think about the hidden Earth Crisis influence on this record, then this song is essentially their `Firestorm'. Accordingly, it begins with a series of open metallic chugs that develop into a rolling crescendo of righteous vitriol. Lyrically, it is slyly dressed up as angst driven self-loathing, but at the final moment it is turned on its head by repeated closing lines of 'but I'd rather be alive'. This reveals it to be a personal diatribe about the virtues of individuality within a half-state of mundane existence.

All of the lyrics are worth a mention, for example, the excellent 'Return to the Closet' which deals with homophobic insecurities. The lyrics benefit from being very obvious and very succinct. They are completely devoid of any of the philosophical pretention that would plague their next album. A good example of this is 'It's not OK...' which blazes past in just over a minute and merely twice repeats the phrase 'It's not OK to pretend that everything is alright'. This, for me at least, defines what punk and hardcore is all about. Refused manage to pack more clarity and depth into one line of one song than most hardcore bands will ever do in their entire existence.

Musically, of course, it's tight as hell, compact, crushing and subtly musical. There is a lot of complex stopping and starting, but you barely notice how technical it is because the song-writing is so damn good. There's a Slayer influence everywhere, 'Crusader of Hopelessness' being the obvious example, but the influence is assimilated into the band's overall sound rather than merely cutting and pasting like so many other metallic hardcore bands of the time.

Bottom line, this is a brilliant record, one of the best hardcore albums of the era and one that rewards repeated listening. If you're a fan of 'The Shape of Punk to Come' then you owe it to yourself to check this out. Perhaps more importantly, if you're NOT a fan of 'The Shape of Punk to Come', then you owe it to Refused to check this out.

I got this album only after listening to The Shape of Punk to Come roughly 487 times. At first I wasn't sure it quite stood up to the later album, but after a few listens I really began to love it. It's a bit harder and more raw, with more metal influences and less of the experimental tendencies of The Shape, but it truly is a special album. "Rather Be Dead" is one of the best lead off tracks ever- it really sets the tone for the whole record. Other favorites are "Hook, Line, and Sinker", "Beauty", and "Last Minute Pointer".

REFUSED - Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent
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Twelve songs of pure anarchistic beauty, aggression and the beginning of their soundtrack for a call to Revolution...
These Swedes are one of my all time favorite bands... Ever! And to be honest I'm not even really into Hardcore Punk... but Refused, and the legacy they left behind is undeniable... Keep their legacy alive buy this, download this or more importantly tell people about it.

Favorite Songs: Coup D'Etat, Crusader of Hopelessness, Worthless is the Freedom Bought, and The Slayer.
-4.75 Stars.

After listening to this album a few times, I was just blown away. Damn these guys are awesome musicians. The drummer is so damn fast and the guitarists add in all sorts of little fills between seriously crushing riffs. I haven't seen them live, but I think the only guitarists I've heard that play with this level on intensity are the guys from Snapcase. The songwriting is awesome, almost of the songs have really cool riffs in them. If you like hardcore, get this CD.

the refused didnt go under IAN. the refused broke up so they could make five seperate side projects, with similar revolutionary and society changing ideas. The Refused are dead, but the music and ideology are still alive, long live refused. oh yeah, album is stunning. THE NEW BEAT x1000