• Voto:
Intendiamoci, non c’è molto da dire, lo possiamo definire come una sorta di “presentazione” del gruppo, senza veri e propri capolavori, che invece saranno presenti soprattutto in "Smash" ed "Ixnay On The Hombre", ma senza nemmeno cadute di stile, fortunatamente.
Ma sono presenti delle cartucce da sparare senza remora alcuna. C’è la coinvolgente “Jennifer Lost The War”, traccia che apre le danze, uno dei punti più alti del CD e una delle tracce più incomprese della discografia della band secondo me. C’è “Tehran”, altro picco del disco caratterizzato da un riff orientale che non è la prima volta che viene "maneggiato" dagli Offspring (infatti in “Smash” e nel rarissimo EP “Baghdad” quest’idea verrà ripresa). E ci sono anche i primi due pezzi ufficiali della band, “Blackball” e “I’ll Be Waiting”, nati tre anni prima dell’uscita dell’album e all’epoca suonati con James Lilja alla batteria al posto di Welty. Oppure “Beheaded”, scritta proprio assieme a James durante gli anni di permanenza nella band. O ancora “Out On Patrol”, canzone che più di tutte richiama qualcosa dei Bad Religion. A chiudere il tutto è la polemica “Kill The President”, forse esagerata ma comunque accompagnata da una buona base strumentale che accompagna egregiamente la voce di Holland.
Il vinile verrà ristampato due volte su CD: la prima nel 1995, con la copertina cupa che conosciamo tutti, e la seconda 6 anni dopo, ma con la rimozione di “Kill The President”. Non si sa di preciso per quale ragione, ma Dexter sostiene sia stato fatto per evitare denuncie legali verso loro e la Nitro Records.
Questo disco è importante, poiché lascia intravedere la via che seguirà la band soprattutto nei tre dischi successivi, dove darà il meglio di sé, prima della svolta venuta in parte bene (“Americana” e “Conspiracy Of One”, seppure io preferisca il primo al secondo, hanno delle perle senza alcun dubbio) ed in parte male (“Splinter”, di cui si è già stradiscusso). Per l’ultimo album, ho paura di rimanere ancora una volta deluso ma sotto sotto ho anche fiducia in un disco degno del loro nome, dopo aver sentito il buon singolo "Hammerhead".
Ma questa è un'altra storia...
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Jennifer Lost the War (02:35)
Jennifer lost the war today
You'll find her burned and raped
Through it all
She must have wondered
What have I done
But nobody really cares today
The world's a busy place
Guess she must have really sinned
I guess we're all just soldiers
She was only six years old
Left to die by strangers
Her family waits
And if we're all just soldiers
Is it so wrong to be afraid
Phoebe lost the war today
There must be some mistake
Say it happens all the time
And it's said and done
And Little Miss 1565 Your soul remains unclaimed
Guess you must have really sinned
Morality won't help her
When she lies silent in a morgue
And all our sorrows just don't count at all
But will the morning headlines
Even say that it's a shame
What are we headin' for
Seen it all before
Silent on the ground
As he's walking away
And I wonder how many more
Everybody takes it
Like it's nothing at all
Jennifer lost the war
02 Elders (02:11)
When we younger
There always seemed like
Some perfect mold
That we're supposed to be
But now we're growing up and
I see it's just not that way
Now I feel like someones lied to me
Cause I've been true
Made good for you
And now I feel used
I'm asking you
How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be like you
Tell me now elders
What were your reasons for
Making it seem
Like you were so much more
If you want to feel good
Because of our accomplishments
Why the fuck
Don't you just do it yourself
Cause I've tried
Man I've tried
While you all lied
So now just tell me
How does it feel
How does it feel
03 Out on Patrol (02:32)
Look at my soldier boy now
With that big gun in your little hand
As you patrol this foreign land
Hear the mine that clicks beneath your feet
Now do you see the light
Fading while your world is crumbling
Out on patrol
And all you can do is sit and stare
What revelation have you now
What culmination to your speck of life
Your moment in time
As you sit here all alone
Will your buddies come and save your life
But as the enemy appears
See your life flash before your eyes
04 Crossroads (02:48)
Time has washed away
And now I may wonder
How did it all slip by
Cause I always thought
We had forever
Future calls to me
To take me away from things
I don't want to leave behind
Like I'm slipping away
I can't hold on
Find that path alone
Crossroads lead me away
But that's not what worries me
I just want to know what's home
Through it all
My mind still wanders
To the one who touched my soul
Though her road leads away
She's still my
True love
I could believe
Will is not enough when all those
Lost days stand in the way
But she was
My hopes and dreams my
Whole world
I could believe
I still want to know
Who can see for me
Crossroads tell me
Now you'll have to trade
Your past away
And find another day
So is change a friend or an enemy
Through what comes to pass
I'll find my way
I've seen it all before
But is the best you can be
The best thing to be
Some people say
You're just wasting time
But that's not what worries me
I just want to know what's home
05 Demons (03:10)
Clouds pass over the moon
Like an eye that shows impending doom
Tension in this misty air
Souls pass into the room
Drawn in by a lost memory
You will join them in the moonlight
You are my offering
Your soul transcends
The centuries of pain
Your misery in life
Is your ecstasy in death
Time passes like the wind
As we race to beat days dusky grin
Mornings just a moment away
Your body glistens in candlelight
As we all look on in fiendish delight
The ritual is just beginning
Come fulfill the prophecy
With our demons of debauchery
As virgins and spectres sing
This madness will never cease
In the dead of night
You will follow
In the footsteps of many others
Who have come before
I will show you the altar
Your Aztec eyes, Egyptian hair
Your beauty bestoved upon my lair
I've loved you before, in other lives
But you've never meant as much to me
Never meant as much to me as now
In this night of sacrifice
where blood is spilt
That will never spill again
But in your linen robes
We want you now
We want you now
You could never ask for more than that
You are my offering
Your soul transcends
The centuries of pain
Your misery in life
Is your ecstasy in
Come fulfill the prophecy
With our demons of debauchery
This madness will never cease
06 Beheaded (02:52)
Mommy doesn't have a head any more
Keep it underneath my bed on the floor
Well that's alright, that's OK
She never really used her head anyway
Daddy called me a silly bore
Bet he won't say that any more
Because the way his body is severed too
His vocal chords are gonna be hard to use
Beheaded, watch you spurt like a garden hose
Beheaded, bloody mess all over my clothes
Watch my girl friend come to the door
Chop off her head, she falls to the floor
Now watching my baby's jugular blow
Really makes my motor go
Wrap a towel round the bloody stump
Take my baby's body to the city dump
Then wipe the mess off the bloody axe
Scoop all the heads into my burlap sack
Beheaded, watch her spurt like a garden hose
Beheaded, bloody mess all over my clothes
All my collection, adorns my room on bamboo poles
Use to be a little, but a little got more and more
Now I'm craving yours
Night brings bad dreams, bad dreams and guillotines
Off with her head
Off with her head
Off with her head
Off with her head
Off with her head
Off with her head
Find another victim for my machine
Put him in a home-made guillotine
Blade falls, gonna need a casket
Watch your head plop in a wicker basket
Leave the house at a quarter to four
Come back with sixteen or more
Cause the more I walk, the more I see
I got a funny feeling coming over me
Beheaded, watch you spurt like a garden hose
Beheaded, bloody mess all over my clothes
07 Tehran (03:06)
In your plane in the blue sky
You roam again
Words that echo in your mind
Make your heart beat faster
This is no Vietnam
We will win in Iran
The Captain said kill or die
Islam be damned
Make your last stand
In Tehran
Warrior, the time bomb's
About to go
What will you feel
Will you even wonder
If the man that's in your sights
Ever kissed his girl goodbye
The President said let it ride
Islam be damned
Make your last stand
In Tehran
Great Satan
Our flags our burning
Soon America may find
Its young men in the sand
Where their casualty
Is just a number
In Iran
The President said let it ride
You will be damned
Make your last stand
In Tehran
09 Blackball (03:24)
In this world of hate and shallowness
Where enemies become your consolation
And those of us who win the game give up our minds
I don't call that winning
Say this doesn't apply to you
But ask yourself first
What have I done today to win the game
And just what have I sacrificed
Win the battle lose the war
I know I've played this game before
When people were still real
I don't want this anymore
It's time for me to close the door
There's nothing left to feel
Reflect on all our yesterdays
My own words choke me
Why were they spoken
Regret for the things I've said and done
Just can't compare with
Regret for those that I have never tried
So blame this world or blame yourself
It's really all the same
When you are standing on the precipice
From which you just cannot return
Win the battle or lose the war
I know I've played this game before
When people were still real
I don't want this anymore
It's time for me to close the door
There's nothing left to feel
In the style of forgotten men
I look to my horizon
I see nothing
While thoughts of guns and desecration
Sweep through my mind
But only coffins and bones remain
As I look to you
The emptiness behind your eyes
Seals my decision
Can't carry on in this world of jugglers
Where all this thoughtlessness and bludgeonings
Your key to success
What kind of tradition to carry on
Blackball The new disease
Blackball The new disease
Blackball Your evil ways
Have found their way inside me
Blackball The new disease
Blackball The new disease
Blackball For a better life
In this high tech dog eat dog existence
10 I'll Be Waiting (03:12)
Once I had a friend that I could count on
So I thought
Well so it seemed
But times of need are not enough
To prove your friendship to me now
Once I saw a face that I believed in
But a mask was all there was
So who wears the masks and who wears the faces
Well I guess I'll never know
But as I stand here alone in a room full of people
With nothing to say
Beer on their minds, and smoke in the air
Call them friends but they just don't care
Friend for life
Such shallow words for broken minds
Show me a friend for life
Cause I'll be waiting for that day to arrive
When I'll feel alive
I'll be waiting for that day
Once I found a love I had to know
Now we might know each other just too well
Cause when we're together we just can't get enough
Or is it we just can't get what we want
Once I saw a dream, I had to chase it
Dreams quickly turn to reality
Who's at fault in this game of yours and mine
Well I guess I'll never know
But as I sit here alone
Think of the girl who came softly inside me
The look in her eyes, the smell of her hair
Call her my own but is she really there?
Love for life
Such noble words for noble minds
Show me a love for life
Cause I'll be waiting for that day to arrive
When I'll feel alive
I'll be waiting for that day
Once I had a friend that I could count on
Times of need are not enough
Once I found a love I had to know
Now we might know each other just too well
Once I saw a dream I had to chase it
Dreams quickly turn to reality
Now let me close my eyes
Because I don't want to see anything anymore
11 Kill the President (03:22)
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that you're saving
Will always be yours
Kill the President
Listen to the voice of reason
Unify with that single line
Stop the man with the power
Of the government
A leader's not the center
Of democracy
In a world without leaders
Who'd make people starve?
The world that we're saving
Will always be ours
Everyone says
Well maybe I'll make a difference
Thinking they've got plenty of time
But you're squeezed
A little tighter everyday
Punished before you can commit a crime
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that you're saving
Will always be yours
Kill the President
Listen to the voice of reason
Unify with that single line
Stop the man with the power
Of the goverment
A leader's not the center
Of democracy
America
All of your enemies
Come from within
But you lash out so
It is seen
Like some frightened child
In an angry world
Or the fall of Rome
Your demise comes
From your own hands
In a world without leaders
Who'd start all the wars?
The world that you're saving
Will always be yours
In a world without leaders
We might have a chance
But we'll never see it
As long as there's
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