Customer Reviews

Terror State

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Right, so now I'm the idiot. Wake up, you're government is ruining the world. And there are many well-published scholars that have pointed out blatant facts contradicting what you've stated. Just because you can pull some ambiguous numbers and facts out of your ass doesn't mean that you're any smarter then anyone else. I'm Canadian and highly Anti-American. America maybe killed 400-1000 bad guys during the war, but that doesn't count the innumerable innocent civilians that died during the rains on "potential" extremist targets.

Iraq had actually no ties at all to any form of terrorists, and was not found to be harboring them. You're so patriotic because you've fallen victim to your own government's propaganda. If you really want to blame someone for 9/11, blame your government, who had every capability and resource to stop it, but yet they didn't. You cry for the 2700 people that died in the World Trade Centers, but where's you're bleeding heart for the children of the middle east that die every day due to a war that they will probably never see the end of. Whole generations of children have never known what actual peace is, while not only you, but also all of us, bask in the warm glow of television.

In America now there are designated "free speech zones", were protesters (mainly anti-bush activists) are allowed to publicly denounce the government. But I'll ask you this, shouldn't your country, that was founded on free speech and equality for all, always be a free speech zone? Your government has become a democracy of hypocrisy. If you're allowed to voice your opinion without the threat of persecution, everyone should be able to do the same. I'm not the ignorant one, I'm not the one that blindly follows a flag and states "my country right or wrong".

You seem to have left out one important invasion. America invaded Chile during the 1950's to oppose communism, and in the process, assassinated the leader and blamed it on a suicide. The true reason was the nationalization of American corporations, which would subsequently loose all profits. You can't argue with historical fact. You're country is destroying the world for the sake of capitalistic gain. If you don't understand what I just said, maybe you should educate yourself as well.

PS - Puke is spelt p-u-k-e, not puck. That's like a hockey puck you moron. And it's the rest of us that are stupid, right?
Email me back, I want to see your humorous retorts.
kyle_bond@hotmail.com

This Cd totally rocks, but if your a big fan of Anti-Flag, is may just disappoint you a bit. This Cd mixes more pop and clean cut sound into thier music. The lyrics are outstanding, but everyone is political, good? Maybe, but sometimes its nice to hear a funny/ect song. If your into really well done music, this is for you, but if you like it raw, its mostly not. Older Anti-Flag was better for that type of thing. I personally do love tihs Cd though, even with its strands of pop sound, the its awesome, and JustinSanes/Chris #2s voices are extrordinary! I would highly recomend this Cd!

1. Turncoat 8/10
2. Rank-N-File 10/10
3. Post-War Breakout 9.5/10
4. Sold as Freedom 9/10: great song to dance to!
5. Power to the Peaceful 8/10:
6. Mind the G.A.T.T. 10/10
7. You Can Kill the Protester, But You Can't Kill the Protest: 7/10
8. When You Don't Control Your Government People Want to Kill You 10/10
9. Wake Up! 10/10
10. Tearing Down the Borders 9.5/10
11. Death of a Nation 9/10
12. Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L.) 10/10
13. One People, One Struggle 9/10

i cant stand to give any song less than a 7!! thier all great!

Alright, here's hoping this will change the minds of the A-F haters out there. I, for one, find the fact that Anti-Flag has the ability to put out insightful material that is also technically tight and musically sound a refreshing change of pace. So many of today's "punk" is really repackaged pop that is devoid of any soul or depth and is only recorded for its commercial viability(seriously, Ashlee Simpson is sometimes referred to by the mainstream music media as punk...a travesty of epic proportions!).

While Anti-Flag's new material has an unmistakable musicality that is often not present in much of today's hard-core scene, I believe one would be sorely mistaken to call it pop. Witty lyrics and catchy hooks do not a pop album make. There is definitely an undeniable hard-core edge to every track on this cd. "You Can Kill the Protester, You Can't Kill the Protest", for example, actually gives me goosebumps because it's a powerfully worded, evocative song that is also impossible not to sing and scream along and pump your fist to (I think I'll get started organizing a protest after I finish this review). I also found the liner notes to this cd very thorough and helpful in explaining the positions A-F takes in their material (Paul Hawken is my new hero...read the notes, seriously), so I'm not quite sure where the reviewer who said it's all standard "the government is evil" stuff was coming from. Check out the websites they mention in the liner notes, they'll open your eyes.

In closing, one wonders if a politically active band such as A-F is perhaps simply trying to further dissemenate the information they have by broadening their target audience a bit. It would certainly help A-F to more easily achieve the social change they seek to affect. Buy this cd and visit Anti-Flag's website to see how you can help support the drive to make a positive change in our government. Then, start rocking out! Peace, love and Cloverleafs.

I'm not gonna really do a review on this cd. I have read alot of negative reviews on how Anti-Flag are typical punk without having a clue and their facts are all wrong. I'm willing to bet that the name Anti-Flag has thrown alot of people off and 99% of the negative reviews are coming from people who haven't even listend to this cd, met these guys, read their lyrics etc. They aren't your typical punk rock band. Most bands today are about complaining and sitting on their butts waiting for the problem to be solved by someone else. Recently members of A-F joined the father and sister of Columbine victim Daniel Mauser at aprotest ralley against the NRA. Member of Anti-Flag also came down to DC to get involved with the Pro-Choice ralley. Anti-Flag isn't all talk, no action. They are out there with everyone else protesting and standing up for their beliefs rather than sitting at home on their butts complaining about how something or someone sucks and not doing anything about it. I've also read that someone people are saying they are forcing their message down people's throats. How so? If your a fan of the band you most likely agree with alot of what they are saying in their music so nothing is really forced onto you. It's not like all the pro-war people saying your Anti-American if you don't agree with Bush or agree with this war and then rush out to Wal-Mart to buy up a American flag t-shirt to try and prove how patriotic they are. Yes this is still a free country (but for how much longer). Anti-Flag are alllowed to speak their minds but if Bush and his people had it their way people like Anti-Flag would be silenced. If you agree with Anti-Flag then listen. They aren't forcing you to. They aren't going on t.v. and forcing their music and message upon you like most musicians. If you don't agree, don't listen and if you wanna judge why not learn some facts before you bash them. After all, you say they don't know their facts so why not learn something about them and their background before saying they are like everyone else and missinformed?

I really like this album. It seems anti-flag has really progressed, their lyrics are really intelegent.

As for that guy john down below, his argument is full of flaws. He's calling anti-flag ignorant, yet he claims the reason we were in El Salvador and Nicaragua was because of drug smuggling. The U.S. government didn't even use that as an excuse. In Nicaragua we were funding the drug smugglers, the contras. They were trafficing drugs into the U.S. in exchange for weapon money to overthrow the Sandinista government. And El Salvador? We funded sadistic death squads that brutaly killed any progressives, from catholic priests to activists. It has nothing to do with drugs, it had to do with preventing a popular movement from taking power. Even to justify mass slaughter by saying their were "drug smuggling" is idiotic and immoral. U.S. tobacco companies export huge amounts of tobacco to other countries. When Thailand tried to limit the amount of tobacco coming in, the U.S. threatened sactions. Does this mean all these countries that the U.S. is "trafficing" tobacco in have the right to blow up Washington? The part about Vietnam was most misleading. The U.S. was in Vietnam before the north invaded. The U.S. sent thousands of military advisers to Vietnam in direct violation of the Geneva Acords. The U.S. also carried out aggression against south vietnamese villages that supported ho chi minh. They prevented the free elections from taking place because they knew the communists would win, because they had the people's support. That's why the north invaded. They were fighting for self-determination. In conclusion, before accusing others of being ignorant, and shouting mindless jingoist slogans, YOU should pick up a book. Your argument is childlike.

...I think that The Terror State (combined with Underground Network) make Anti-Flag the best Political Punk band of all time (yes, even ahead of the Dead Kennedys, who I still think is an awesome band). This CD really took awhile to grow on me. I purchased this one about a month before I saw Anti-Flag live, and while I didn't play it that much (I was still really into "A New Kind of Army" and "Underground Network"), but after I saw A-F live, I found myself playing this more in the two days that followed than in that one month I had it before I saw them!

There's not a single dull spot on this CD that I managed to find, but that's just my opinion. And in the spirit of Underground Network, Anti-Flag uses the CD cover/booklet to clarifiy their lyrics. Not only does Anti-Flag bash Bu$h by saying "TURNCOAT! KILLER! LIAR! THIEF!", but the CD cover/booklet also clarifys why the American President is all four of these.

The Terror State isn't totally about the war. Songs like "You can Kill the Protester, but You can't Kill the Protest" is an excellent sort of tribute song to those who died for their beliefs (the booklet gives examples ranging from the 1914 "Ludlow Massacare" to the 2003 killing of Iraqi demonstrators in Fallaujah). Post-war Breakout is a cover of a song originally done by Woody Guthrie, and while cover songs are almost never as good as the originals, I've always enjoyed hearing Punk bands cover songs. And Rank-n-File is a great tribute to non-conformists everywhere (even though the song says "this song is for those countless souls, who died in vain for someone else's gain"), and left me with tears of joy!

Comparing this to all of Anti-Flag's other work, I'd rate this one as being equal with Underground Network... For some reason, I can't say it's better, but by no means is it not as good as! Ever since this CD grew on me, I wanted to hear more and more music by Anti-Flag (as "Die for the Government" and "Their System Doesn't Work for You" just didn't hit the spot), and I can only hope that Anti-Flag's next CD (whenever it's released) will be equally solid. It will be a difficult standard for Anti-Flag to uphold, but if they do it, then I think more people will agree with me when I say that Anti-Flag is the best Political Punk band of all time.

A note to the person who says "Anti-Flag" is still only 19: Members of Anti-Flag claimed that they're a whole bunch of different ages. If it's true that either Justin Sane or Pat Thetic are only 19 years old, it would be wise to look at the cover of "Die For the Government," which was released in 1996, and would have made them 11 years old at the time. And they *DO NOT* look like they're 11 on the cover, and not even Andy Flag (who left the group before A New Kind of Army)!

I love all the messages they really get through in this album and it is a very good recording,i love it. they really kno what theyre talking about and can present it through a style of music that is great.

"Terror State" is my favorite album of the band's. It has a similar sound to previous albums, pretty straight-forward street-punk. And it's decent. I know a lot of people who won't listen to Anti-Flag because of the vocals. In some cases it's the singing, which, if you've never heard the vocals, listen to some samples, it is very possible you'll either find them wicked annoying, or you'll think they're unique and brilliant. In other cases, it's the lyrics themselves. I like the lyrics, they're very politically charged. I think that trait gives their songs a lot of emotional power, which is something that I love about old school punk bands (and what many call "true punk" which is definitely not an argument I care to address).

It seems like this band is too often under-rated and over-hated. There are some great tracks that really stand out as thought-provoking and even moving on this album. I definitely recommend giving them a chance. My favorites include "One People, One Struggle," "You Can Kill The Protestor, But You Can't Kill The Protest" and "Death of a Nation."

I dont usually like punk because it doesnt usually have a melody, but the songs on this album has wonderful melody as well as great vocals and bass.
The message the songs send out alone makes the album worth buying.

Throughout their career, Anti-Flag has steadily improved with every passing album, so I guess eventually they were bound to produce an album like The Terror State. In 13 songs and 36 minutes, Anti-Flag delivers the strongest punk album in recent memory. It's very rare that you can say this, but every single song on this album is amazing. Terror State really shows how much A-F has grown over the years. Their lyrics have developed a sense of nuance and satire (witness "Sold As Freedom"'s subversive take on the war on terror) and developed an excellent ear for melody. And to those who accuse this album of being un-American, I suggest they listen a little closer. When Justin Sane sings "Screaming for freedom, pleading for liberty," he's delivering a more deeply patriotic message than any other artist I can think of. And with albums like The Terror State, they have a shot at making the world a better place.