Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman - The Fabled City [CD]

Sony BMG Music Entertainment

October 2, 2008, 01:06 PM

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Although this isn't a positive way to start a review, I am going to say it anyway, simply because it's my prerogative and I can say it...... political music, it's just a bit, well... shit.

Yes Bob Dylan's lyrics were polital and he is still today highly respected, yes John Lennon probably saved the world by staying in bed and getting trollied off his face everyday and yes The Sex Pistols were the soundtrack for an entire generation of rebels (although they were as manufactured as Girls Aloud.... take that punk fans) but with the exception of the odd few who deserve respect for their beliefs and determination to save the world from becoming one massive Tesco, does anybody care about what these musicians actually say? I'm not so ignorant that I don't realize that they believe their music to be a great outlet to reach out and to inspire thousands of people, because they do actually have a point and feel strongly about their beliefs, but I'm not entirely convinced that the consumers of the work share the same sentiment.

Tom Morello is an incredibly respected musician and activist, and before I get a million angry e-mails that granted, I provoked, you must understand that nobody is a bigger fan of this man's talent than myself. The whole reason why I decided to pick up a bass guitar five years ago is because of the music of Rage Against The Machine and System Of A Down (whose vocalist Serj features on track eight, 'Lazerus On Down'). The uplifting, fist raising, pentatonic blues influenced rock and roll feel of Morello's playing is simply enthralling, not to mention his technological genuis as a revolutionary of morphing and manipulating the electric guitar to make sounds that it was not designed to make. Music that your Grandparents would call noise. But it was amazing.

A decade down the line in 2008, Morello still has that creative spark that makes him stand out from his contemporaries; the album definitely has it's own unique sound and is as diverse as one would expect from a man of his experience. Most of the tracks are sonically different, like a litle audible bag of Revels, you never know whats next, it could be the sensual coffee pleasure of 'Mignight In The City of Destruction', the orangey tang of 'Saint Isabelle' or the disappointing blandness of the regular solid chocolateyness of 'The King Of Hell'. If you're a fan of RATM looking for your next fix of lets-start-a-revolution-in-DMajorPentatonic then don't bother with this album; it really isn't for you. however if it's Tom Morello's exquisite compositional skills that seduce you, then you would definitely appreciate this record and it is therefore well worth a listen. There's still one underlying problem however...... he can't sing.

Bite me.

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