(Acoustic Punk) Against Me! - Reinventing Axl Rose

[pedro durruti]

http://www.againstme.net/axllp2.jpg

No Idea Records 2002
(Recorded on 7/23/01, 12/21/01, 12/28/01, and 1/12/02)

Guitar/Vocals - Tom Gabel
Guitar/Vocals – James Bowman
Bass – Dustin Fridkin
Drums – Warren Oakes

Track listing:
1. Pints of Guinness Make You Strong
2. The Politics of Starving
3. We Laugh at Danger (and Break All the Rules)
4. I Still Love You Julie
5. Scream it Until You’re Coughing up Blood
6. Jordan’s 1st Choice
7. Those Anarcho Punks are Mysterious…
8. Reinventing Axl Rose
9. Baby, I’m an Anarchist
10. Walking is Still Honest
11. 8 Full Hours of Sleep

Against Me! is known to be an acoustic band, but the majority of their songs are not acoustic. I once thought this also. Reinventing Axl Rose stands out from the other seven albums Against Me! released, due to its collection of great songs like� Pints of Guinness Make You Strong� and “We Laugh at Danger (and Break All the Rules)�.

This is probably the most energetic and sing-along-able CD I own. It has not only great sound and energy, but also has a good message. The lyrics of this album range from politics to hope of an ideal music scene to a tribute to two grandparent’s eternal love. The instruments on this album are great. My favorites are the drums, which give great beat and foot-tapping potential in almost every song, and the vocals. A lot of the songs are presented in a unique and wonderful sounding scream or a rough but gentle singing voice. A great example of the screaming on this album is “The Politics of Starving�- it makes the song twice as good and shows how talented Tom is at doing it.

One of my favorite things about Against Me! is their choruses. I LOVE the choruses on “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong�, “Those Anarcho Punks are Mysterious…� and “We Laugh at Danger (and Break All the Rules)�. Their choruses are what make the album so sing-along-able and awesome. The chorus of “We Laugh at Danger (and Break All the Rules)� is what makes it my favorite song. That and the part where they are all singing without any instruments and one of them goes “Whooo!� and everything picks up again in such a glorious moment.

The only two things I find wrong with this CD is that some of the songs were different than the mp3s I downloaded and was used to and that it wasn’t that long (31:03). But neither of those things matter because it is such a great album and band.

4/5

[fatmatt51]

i heard the first song, thought against me! were great. heard the rest of the album and felt ill.

[AIRIC]

I love this band so much.

[The Raz]

1. "Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong" - one of the best songs on the album. Great sing-a-long chorus that I picture a bunch of Irish drunks in a bar in unison singing this song.
2. "The Politics Of Starving" - An okay song, doesn't stand out amongst the other songs (other than the screaming). It's not bad, but not excellent. I love the little verse-opening riff.
3. "We Laugh At Danger (And Break All The Rules)" - Another great sing-a-long song. In the last song, I felt the screaming didn't fit. This one the little bites of yelp help the song. It's a great one.
4. "I Still Love You Julie" - It's a good song, good little chorus, the "STILL SAVE US ALL" is brilliant. I love the background tapping of drumsticks I think. It's great.
5. "Scream It Until You're Coughing Up Blood" - Not a stand-out song, but good nonetheless.
6. "Jordan's First Choice" - A blues-like song (even though must punk is truely blues at the core). "We were never in this, together". I love this song!
7. "Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious..." - One of my favourites on this album. One of their political songs that stick-out combined with a good old rock-and-roll moral.
8. "Reinventing Axl Rose" - A good snap/clap-a-long ballad. The title track always has to be good, and this song lives up to that law. Another one of my favourites.
9. "Baby, I'm An Anarchist!" - Do I even have to bother with this one? It's obviously one of their best songs, fusing their two main lyrical patterns in their songs (love and politics) to create an inhuman super-freak of a song. It's amazing. Simply amazing.
10. "Walking Is Still Honest" - Another good song, but not a stand-out. Wouldn't skip it, wouldn't go out of me way to listen to it. Still, great lyrics though.
11. "8 Full Hours Of Sleep" - A perfect ender to a perfect CD. I used this song in Drama class (yes, I'm a thespian) as a music to a person's skip, she said it was amazing.

STAND OUT SONGS
Pints Of Guinness Make You Stronger
Reinventing Axl Rose
Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious
Baby, I'm An Anarchist!
8 Full Hours Of Sleep

This has to be one of the best albums I have ever listened to. I burned this CD, so I suggest you make up for the "crime" I commited and buy thirty thousand copies of this CD. Simply amazing.
9/10

[llama1600]

i suggest buying everything against Me! has ever put out.

[skamakesmehorny]

i suggest buying everything against Me! has ever put out.
ME TOO! I'm going to see them october 16!!!!


XXX

[streotypicicalskater]

i recently purchased an mp3 player and took it to my friends place and uploaded his entire collection of music.
Amongst all the crap was against me! and all the music by them he could find.
after hearing the first few songs from reinventing axle rose i knew i would instantly love this band. The lyrics to songs like "baby,im an anarchist" and "8 full hours of sleep" are some of the best ive herd and i couldnt have done better myself. I am now a huge fan which is why i was devistated to find out that i missed their one concert in sydney.

in the above comments i noticed that "scream untill your coughing up blood" is not everbodys favourate. What are you people crazy? this is possibly my fav from this cd and i recomened you give it more of a chance.