Living With War - Neil Young

Living with War may just be the capstone of Neil's Career, merging folksy acoustic protest songs with the bombastic electric work that earned him the nickname- the "Godfather of grunge". It is a perfect protest album crafted with the experience and exposure to protests that espoused half truths, languished in metaphor, or succeeded only through polarization. Living With War is biting, honest, hopeful, tragic, angry, and above all patriotic. Stream it.

Neil doesn't repeat the mistakes of his generations Vietnam's protests. He doesn't vilify soldiers. They are shown to be courageous people, doing a job, and wishing that they could be back with their families. The religion of the silent majority isn't mocked as outdated or hypocritical. Instead, it is declared "hijacked" to manipulate the masses.

The songs aren't written on party lines. While Neil spares no criticism of the Bush Administration, there are voices for democrats and republicans in these protest songs. Colin Powell and Barack Obama are named as potential leaders who could unify America after the next election.

Who would have guessed that America's most moving political album in years would be penned by a Canadian ex-pat. Yet somehow, Neil Young manages to embody America's great spirit and give it a voice to express outrage and hope for peace. He lashes out at consumerism, the war in Iraq, wire taps, and the mismanagement of New Orleans during Katrina.

Living with War is raw, unadulterated Neil Young. The instrumentation is simply Neil's guitar rich with analog distortion, bass, drums and the occasional trumpet. A 100 voice choir of lay people provides an emotive depth, and populist relevance. There are some warts in the recording, some missed timings, and awkward harmonies. These flaws add to the albums homespun feel. It's nothing if not a genuine expression of Neil Young's current take on US politics.

Perhaps the poignancy of the songs comes from Neil's point of view as an American who truly feels mislead. He wasn't anti-Bush from day 1. Like most Americans, Neil was deeply angered by 9/11; but ,unlike many of his hippie compatriots, Neil spoke in favor of the patriot act. He wrote songs honoring the Hero's of Flight 93 and expanding a metaphor justifying war to stop evil.

It really doesn't matter why it's effective. Living with War is simply the most moving record I've heard since Springsteen's "The Rising".

Rating: 5/5
Top Track: Let's Impeach The President
Reason to Buy: Honesty....Patriotism....Hope.... That's three... Sorry.
Reasons Not to Buy this Album: You're an ostrich with your head in the sand.

Sound the Alarm - Saves the Day

To offset the lovefest that this blog has become, I bring this mediocrity. Admittedly, it's high-end mediocrity at that.

I started off deciding against this album. I know Saves the Day well, and I'm well past the emo scene, given how it's sold out in the last 5 years. However, after a few listens to the album... I can't deny it. It might be my past affinity for the band playing tricks on my mind, but the music itself is solid for the genre and head and shoulders above contemporaries such as Fall Out Boy.

The guitar work is simple, but effective. The songwriting is whiny and overly graphic at times, but tolerable. The bass, however, is the shining star. While simple, like the guitar work, Manny Carrero gets a great growl out of his bass, especially on Shattered and Bones. The notes he's playing aren't amazing, but he knows his instrument and knows how to get just the right sound out of it. While powerful, it doesn't overpower other tracks and is used when and where it is most effective.

Chris Conley does a good job with the songwriting, as always. His lyrics are often unnecessarily gruesome in describing his whiny inner torment, but they end up at least marginally better than lyrics of other bands on the scene. The music itself is catchy emo/pop-punk. In the end, it in many ways sounds like a cross between whiny pop-emo and harder music like Green Day. So, marginally closer to punk than what you'll see playing on MTV2. Something I respect, since it shows that maybe, just maybe, their primary desire in making music isn't to sell out as quickly as possible.

Head For the Hills, the opener, sets the tone for an energetic album that doesn't pause for the first 8 tracks. With Don't Know Why, the album takes a slight turn and you see Saves the Day branching out a touch into something slower and a bit more melodic for the next 5 tracks, closing with Delusional and Hell is Here, which pick up the energy a bit before the end.

Compared to other works by Saves the Day, it doesn't compare to Through Being Cool, but beats the hell out of Stay What You Are, which I found to become annoying rather quickly. There isn't a great range in the album, but after the response to their last album, I can't blame them for sticking with what works. Overall, this is a solid album from one of the better emo bands out there. There aren't many to speak of, so finding one is nice. To see them not actively trying to whore themselves out to MTV is even better.

Rating: 2.5/5
Top Track: Shattered
Reason to Buy: You want good emo/punk minus the really poppy elements
Reasons Not to Buy this Album: You don't want to feel like an angsty high schooler all over again.