Best Anti-War Rock Songs of All Time

Sick of the Iraq war? Better yet, are you feeling intensely anti-war right about now that you need a cathartic release? Well, here are a few songs to get you there and in a hurry. What I consider to be the best five anti-war songs ever. Not just peace or protest songs — but tunes that stick to the brutality of war.

1. Black Sabbath - War Pigs (above, from 1978). Lyrics such as “As the war machine keeps turning” will make you think of war profiteers Halliburton and Blackwater and curse them loudly.

2. Bob Dylan - Masters of War. One of the most caustic songs you will ever hear on the politics of war. In fact, if this song were written today the lyrics could be a good reference to Cheney or Rummy, among others. The song ends at the politician’s grave, where the songwriter gives the ultimate disrespect.

3. Edwin Starr-War. Simple and to-the-point, this song pretty much says it all in a catchy and popular tune.

4. The Doors - The Unkown Soldier. Basically all Jim Morrison here. About the senselessness of the battlefield and the faceless statistics that carry home.

5. Metallica - One. This song takes you directly into the experience of a wounded soldier. A musical essay on how a soldier’s existence is human and not merely an automaton with a gun.

And as an extra: Best anti-war album of all-time is U2’s War. An anti-war masterpiece.

Feel free to pick more favorites in comments below.

For Those Who Rocked, We Salute You

Bon Scott, late AC/DC singer, was an influence to many, but in his birthplace in Kirriemuir, Scotland they honor the man annually. The third annual Bon Scott Weekend is being held today with young rock bands and AC/DC tribute bands (pre-Back In Black, I suppose).

As fate would have, Bon’s family moved to Australia when he was six and the rest is (rock) history.

Metallica Embraces Digital Age (Somewhat)

Metallica may notoriously go down in history as the band that turned in their fans for MP3 filesharing (just like tape trading, right Lars?). So they want to make nice (as much as they can). Hence, the launch of Mission Metallica. A website dedicated to helping Metallica fans experience the making of the band’s new disc, among other niceties.

Not only will fans get to win extras from the band, there will be inside footage of the band writing and recording, riffs and excerpts from new material, candid studio photos, band interviews, etc. Did I mention backstage passes, yet?

Maybe you can be a part in choosing the name of the album, too; since it has no name yet.

But one thing I would like to see is Metallica have a free online album ala NIne Inch Nails, or even a name-you-own-price album ala Radiohead. Now that will make up for the filesharing controversy.

Somehow, I think Metallica would never do that.

Judas Priest Get Help From Widget

You heard that right. This widget helped promote their new CD. ReverNation’s TuneWidget helps bands promote themselves when they don’t normally get mainstream airplay. Priest was able to create a widget for fans to post new Nostradamus material to their websites, blogs, MySpace pages, etc. (Priest had 200K+ of impressions on launch day alone!).

In fact, if you pre-order the new CD here you can get a Judas Priest poster. www.reverbnation.com/judaspriest

The last time I had a Judas Priest poster(s) on my wall was over 25 years ago. Ah, those were the days. Pre-widgets. I wish I still had one of them. It would be worth some money. Maybe.

Wino and Pete Doherty Play House With Baby Mice

Doherty puts video of the two playing with baby mice on his YouTube account (below).

Maybe Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty are practicing to be parents (God help us) or just f—ed up. I’ll take the latter. This is just plain dirtbaggish.

A few questions here:

1. On the mice: Don’t they know that the mother will not accept the babies once they are touched by human hands? She will probably eat them.

2. Why does Doherty compare one mouse to Razorlight singer Johnny Borrell when the mouse looks more like him.

3. What would these two be doing if they weren’t popular music artists?

4. Does Doherty ever wash his hands?

We could do a blog just on these two. Really. We almost have.

Enjoy the scummy video.

Amy Winehouse’s Aunt Calls In To BBC Five Live To Tell Press To Back Off

Amy Winehouse’s aunt, who called herself Sue but did not give her last name, phoned in to a program on the talk radio station BBC Five Live earlier this week to request that the press leave Winehouse alone. Sue said:

“Please let her finish her rehabilitation - let her try to get off the stuff and then we’ll have the Amy we all want.”

She went on to say:

“Amy has the press knocking on her door at two o’clock, three o’clock in the morning and some of the photos of Amy at her worst is when she’s had no sleep and gone downstairs to say ‘leave me alone, shut up, I want to go to sleep.’ “ 

If that second quote is true, the police should step in to keep the press from bothering Winehouse in the middle of the night. What the press is doing should be considered harrassment. The last time I checked, harrassment was still against the law. I suppose that the public creates a market for that type of journalism, but I’ll never understand it. I cringe when I see photos of Winehouse looking haggard. Do some people get off on hearing about stars having trouble in their lives because it makes them feel better about themselves? Sad, really.

Interestingly, Sue refused to comment on the rumors that Winehouse is looking to divorce her still-incarcerated husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.

Winehouse is scheduled to play a number of large outdoor music festivals in Europe this summer. Hopefully, she will fulfill all of those engagements.

To read the full article on the BBC News Web site, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7402772.stm.

final reminder for the delico show

just a final reminder to all the love psychedelico fans in the bay area:

live acoustic gig

saturday the 17th tomorrow!

apple store 4pm

1 stockton street

san francisco

(seating will be limited, so get there early)

later same day -

meet the band, buy cd’s, get autographs

kinokuniya bookstore 6:30pm

1581 webster street (japantown)

san francisco

looks to be a winner of a day. see you there.

Coldplay Donate Piano to Flooded School

You have to hand it to these guys. They are always there for good causes.

A school in England lost all its instruments in a flood and the band provided the means to get a new piano and other musical instruments.

Read more here.

A Cappella of Metallica’s “Battery”

German singing group Van Canto does an a capella of Metallica’s Battery. Pretty strange stuff. You have to see it to believe it.

Check it out at www.myvideo.de/watch/4200263/VAN_CANTO_Battery_Video

bush n blair - gay bar

since the o’reilly bit has everyone all riled up, i thought posting this gem from a few yeras ago was in order.