Having caught this group opening for the NIN/JA tour, and while already being a big fan of the group leaders' previous outputs, I was eagerly anticipating the release of this album. Tom Morello is the most familiar face, throwing riffs and scratchy soloing into the hugely successful Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave. HNIC Boots Riley, though, is only known the select awesome few of us who paid attention to his excellent underground rap group, The Coup. I had actually become introduced to Boots when he played with Tom at the Vogue in Broad Ripple as part of a protest tour with Steve Earle et al.
Obviously, Tom's previous work in the rap-rock genre prepared him well for this. An easy comparison, but listener's will first notice that the fire and intensity of Rage's music has been traded for a looser, funkier, party jam. This fits well with Boots' lyrical delivery, which are similar but different than Zach de la Rocha's.
First of all, you will never find Boots screaming anything. The lyrics may be just as incendiary: "Somewhere in the world it's midnight, and the guerrillas just shot two pigs." But if Rage's songs were meant to start riots, SSSC's music will be playing in the axe-sharpening castle-storming conspiracy meetings. Boots makes his point clearly and concisely, but also with a flair and swagger of someone who probably learned his gift of gab from his corner pimp. i.e "Till we make the revolution, I just hope your life sucks"
In the end, I knocked 'em down a star because, like SSSC, I'm communist and wanted to redistribute the wealth to other albums. (Congratulations Def Leppard!) Just kidding. But really, the album doesn't quite have enough dexterity to differentiate some of the songs apart. The first song, for example, "Fight! Smash! Win!" is actually a pretty lame example of Tom Morello's talents. But there's enough here to keep you totally rocked. And when you stop and listen to the lyrics, you might put down your beer and start assembling your Molotov cocktail. (4 out of 5 stars)
Obviously, Tom's previous work in the rap-rock genre prepared him well for this. An easy comparison, but listener's will first notice that the fire and intensity of Rage's music has been traded for a looser, funkier, party jam. This fits well with Boots' lyrical delivery, which are similar but different than Zach de la Rocha's.
First of all, you will never find Boots screaming anything. The lyrics may be just as incendiary: "Somewhere in the world it's midnight, and the guerrillas just shot two pigs." But if Rage's songs were meant to start riots, SSSC's music will be playing in the axe-sharpening castle-storming conspiracy meetings. Boots makes his point clearly and concisely, but also with a flair and swagger of someone who probably learned his gift of gab from his corner pimp. i.e "Till we make the revolution, I just hope your life sucks"
In the end, I knocked 'em down a star because, like SSSC, I'm communist and wanted to redistribute the wealth to other albums. (Congratulations Def Leppard!) Just kidding. But really, the album doesn't quite have enough dexterity to differentiate some of the songs apart. The first song, for example, "Fight! Smash! Win!" is actually a pretty lame example of Tom Morello's talents. But there's enough here to keep you totally rocked. And when you stop and listen to the lyrics, you might put down your beer and start assembling your Molotov cocktail. (4 out of 5 stars)
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