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
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.
