Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day has a solo acoustic version of a song called "Life During Wartime" he did in another band some years ago. Not bad, actually, it has the decency to be brief and the lyrics are quite good... it's just Billie Joe himself I have reservations about. A pop-punk musician being mature and serious with an acoustic guitar isn't always a pretty sight. Still, he doesn't disgrace himself. It'll do.
Oddly enough, John Mellencamp's "To Washington" wasn't too bad either. I didn't fancy the look of the lyrics on the website, nor the description of his new album as "folk", and the song itself is, well, folky. But, casting prejudice and fear aside, it has to be said it's not bad at all. Bounces along nicely and inoffensively.
Best of the bunch by far is Zack de la Rocha and DJ Shadow's "March of Death". This one really has it, being driven by a sense of righteous anger which is harnessed just rightly into a combination of neat wordplay and downright evil noise (that fuzz bass and the scratching in particular). Never used to like RATM that much (my favourite track of theirs, apart from "Killing In The Name Of", was their version of Springsteen's "Ghost Of Tom Joad"), but Zack is undeniably on the money this time. Out of all this crop, "March of Death" is the song that so far bears the most repeat listens. Billy and the Beasties, however, I suspect I can live without hearing theirs again.
Article comments
1 - noname
I disagree with your views, I beleive that the best current protest/anti-war music is only punk/hardcore. If you want to hear good anti-war music, you should listen to Rise Against, The Casualties, and The Clash. Also if there wasn't a message saying personal attacks aren't allowed, i would use much more protestful language if you know what I mean....