Zuma
No longer can any man look me in the eye and call himself a rock fanuntil he has heard this masterpiece of magical changes. This is no mererock performance, but a curse upon the Bush clan and their corporatecronies, a fiery invocation to hasten the inevitable fall of the USEmpire. For the opening attack the hardcases gather around the tableand the game is big picture. "The Death and Resurrection Show" sets thescene with an irresistably thunderous tribal dance beat from hardcoreskinbeating primitive Dave Grohl, a simply devastating give upultimatum to false metal guitarists from Geordie and some of the mostimportant imagery to ever be transmitted via the rock medium from themuch maligned and misunderstood genius Jaz Coleman. Next, a hesitantwoman of liberty asks how we can go up against the government anddecides we must all rise at once. Jaz is up for trying to inspire us todo so, and "Total Invasion" lays it on the line for the liars whoblaspheme our names in the infinitely cancerous pursuit of profit.Fireblast riffs and collapsing skyscraper drums lumber asunder as Jazstrangles lizards from his throat to exorcise the Bush-pig demons andlay them in the dirt to perish of thirst as revenge for the third ofthe world they are slowly, meanly, inhumanly killing to keep the coldblood gurgling through their hardened arteries with seconds to go.Next, Jaz assumes the form of an "Asteroid" which crashes into theocean, flooding and laying waste to the proliferating homogenoustechnocracy. It recalls "Whiteout" amped up a zillion volts. Redefiningcyber-punk, "Implant" questions the morality of techno-genetic hybridsand mourns the inevitable loss of diversity that is plunging the racetowards eternal DOOM. Like "Asteroid," the entire song grinds to a haltseveral times for Jaz to scream his rage at the cold science fools andtheir deathsucking paymasters — "You just want to FUCKING CONTROL!"Then the headlong rush of "Blood On Your Hands" orders them to atonefor their crimes and paints a picture of a world laid waste by theiridiotic short sighted greed. It would really be a swell single, and notjust for the blessed inspiration of hearing the lyric, "Poison thewater so only your GM crops grow," infiltrating wishy washy MTV land.This is far beyond mere MALICIOUS DAMAGE. This is the most preciselydirected and accurately targeted distillation of molten rage I haveever experienced. And I've heard a lot of so called hardcore over theyears. The second half briefly drops a rung into more personal headspace. The arm waving wasteland zombie bop "Loose Cannon" recallsimagery from the dreams that inspired their seminal debut album and thecircle is completed. Both this rather odd choice for a single and thenext track reclaim and embellish the "Eighties" chug that poor CursedCobain filched in admiration. This is the only band on the planet whocould get away with a lighters in the air ballad like "You'll Never GetTo Me" probably because they have torches. Shame they didn't replace itwith the rabid "Inferno" which closes UK copies, but has been left offin other regions for obvious reasons. The next single is out this weekand is rock perfected to sum up the personal anger and despair atfalsely mediated visions of a world gone mad. Your mission is to buy"Seeing Red" from a chart return shop NOW and shake up the fakemoney-love kiddypops charts with something of substance, a song upthere with such classics as "The Wait" and "Pssyche." What feeling,loving, angry human could resist the joy of hearing a tune open withthe line, "They're dropping bombs again, and they're doing it in yourname," and continue with the ultimate condemnation of limited smalltown England tedium and ignorance. Grohl's drums shine, reverting moreto Scream patterns than Nirvana. Geordie rips the burning sky to shredswith the greatest one note guitar spears and the bass line is a massivedescending roll of thunder. The most harrowing trip is the eerie anddesolate "Dark Forces" in which Jaz trawls the mind of a desecratingcorporate ogre and survives to report the megalomaniac creep churnings.I wouldn't like to spend an hour locked inside those heads but Jaz is asterner being than I. The final report the megalomaniac creepchurnings. I wouldn't like to spend an hour locked inside those headsbut Jaz is a sterner being than I. The final battle sees the fall of"The House That Pain Built" as Zeppelin's "Kashmir" is ripped apart andrendered a mere grunt. After pain we WILL have JOY. This is one band toempower the will like no other. Our Rubicon approaches. Lets all go tothe Fire Dances once again. So be it! - samples:
