Songs (And Ultimately Albums) That Changed My Life [Part 2]

Keep in mind everyone, these songs and albums don't necessarily constitute a list of my favorite albums, or a must-have list. That is completely different (and will probably pop up in a later posting). I could potentially put every Soul Coughing album on that list.  Some, however, might make both lists, but you’ll have to wait and see. 

So to continue…

3. Evil Empire by Rage Against the Machine

Thru most of high school, no music grabbed my attention.  That’s not to say I didn’t buy anything, but it was very rare.  I think by the time college rolled around, I only owned about 30 albums. Anyway, there was one album, which ripped open my chest, grabbed my heart, and cut an authority-defying scar on it.

Evil Empire was my first introduction to rebellion and politically charged music, and began my journey down the road to the extreme left.  And in 1996, when the album was released, it wasn’t me who bought the album.  I actually didn’t buy it until about 5 years later. 

Well, technically, that isn’t true.  After Coconuts Records closed, or rather, after it was run out of town by Media Play (an early version of Best Buy), Alex and I had no choice but to begin record shopping there.  I remember clearly how it all went down.  Alex asked me to buy Evil Empire for him b/c he thought I looked older than him, and Media Play was hella anal about selling albums with Parental Advisory stickers to kids under the age of 16.  They used to ask for ID and everything.  I guess he thought at 15 I looked 16, like there’s much of a difference.  Anyway, apparently, I looked old enough, the cashier didn’t card me, and I made the purchase for my good friend.

We pedaled as fast as we could back to Alex’s house and blasted Rage.  Of course, this was yet another new flavor added to my musical palette.  I had never heard such amazing, and original guitar work; Tom Morello played notes and made sounds come out of his guitar to this day I can’t figure out where they come from.  Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk were the strongest rhythm section I had ever heard.  And Zach de la Rocha’s words are timeless and are as important today as they were when he wrote them 12 years ago. 

Evil Empire was the album that made me realize how important politically motivated music was to society.  How powerful it can be in encouraging young minds to get up and learn about real problems in government and authority.  And lighting the fire to get us up off our asses and actually do something. 

And it began my hatred of our government and our political figureheads. 

4. Rock Against Bush Vol. 1 & 2 released by Fat Wreck Chords

I never realized just how fuct our country was under GW Jr. until 2004 when I heard these albums.  Fifty-eight bands came together and acted as one voice to unite the younger generations of voters against the Bush administration. I knew the guy was an idiot, and I was never a fan, but I never realized how horrible a president he was until I heard these albums, and decided to do a little research on just what had been going on under his tyrannical presidency.

Here is a little snippet of what I discovered back in 2004 about G-Dub’s first term in office.

• Under Bush Jr. there are 43 million Americans without health insurance.
• Bush Jr. cut healthcare for war veterans.
•  Wasted federal resources on a public relations trip to Baghdad where he staged a Thanksgiving meal at 6:00 AM with troops that were screened based on their political affiliation.  The turkey he brought was fake, so they never actually ate.
•  He cut funding for 375,000 low-income college students and reduced Pell Grant amounts to such a severe degree that it effectively caused 84,000 students to no longer be eligible for Pell Grants.  Pell amounts have been overall reduced for 1.5 million students.
•  Bush Jr. has never attended a funeral for a soldier who has died in Iraq.
•  He greatly reduced funding to the Violence Against Women Act.
•  He’s responsible for a 521 billion dollar deficit.  Four years earlier he inherited a 200 billion dollar surplus (It is now over 8 trillion dollars!)
• He appointed Charles Pinkering, a huge segregation supporter from Mississippi, to the position of Federal Judge.  He appointed this racist asshole on Martin Luther King Day.
•  On numerous occasions, Bush Jr. has stopped the public’s investigation into 9/11.
•  Bush Jr. has set the all-time record for most people WORLDWIDE to simultaneously protest a political leader (approx. 10 million people) shattering the record for protests against any single person in the history of mankind

Need I continue?..

PS: This is kinda just something I want to get off my chest:  I hate when people from the United States refer to their heritage by saying they are American.  You do realize that people who live in Canada and Mexico are also Americans right? B/c they LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA!  We are all American, but if you live in the US, you are a US citizen.  There is no formal name for a resident of this country.  Thank you… you hosers.