Various Artists – Rock Against Bush Vol. 1

“This compilation is not about making a profit; it’s about making a difference. It’s not about ‘let’s be punk rock and hate the government’; it’s about ‘let’s be punk rock and change the government.’ It’s not about who’s a sellout or who’s more punk; it’s about uniting against a common enemy.” Punkvoter.com and Fat Mike’s views have yet to be said in a better way then the way they are presented in the liner notes in the first installment of the Rock Against Bush compilation series. This 26 song album shows that Fat Mike is not alone in his dream to free the United States from the “dangerous, destructive, and deadly policies of George W. Bush and his administration.” And with the wide range of bands on here, it won’t take long until the punk community receives the message.

The compilation is made up of mostly unreleased or rare tracks, a total of seventeen in fact, and the standout tracks are all over the place. Alkaline Trio‘s Warbrain is a strong song by the band, with Matt Skiba’s dark vocals coming with full force; the way we’ve come to expect them. Sum 41‘s Moron is a great punk rock tune along the lines of what we heard on 2002’s Does This Look Infected?. The new Descendents song, Sad State Of Affairs, is a surprising one with a ska chorus! The World/Inferno Friendship Society lends us a great sing along acoustic track with The Expatriate Act. The School of Assassins is a perfect Anti-Flag song with hard hitting, three chord punk rock and Justin Sane’s classic angry voice ripping through your speakers. Rise Against‘s song, Give It All, shows us that they have not lost anything since signing onto Dreamwork Records. Its still a powerful, hard hitting punk song, just like RA always gives. I’m looking forward to hearing their new album because of this. New Found Glory‘s track, No News Is Good News, also makes you want to hear Catalyst as soon as possible.

There are a few down tracks though. The Offspring went back and revisited one of their old songs, Tehran, changed the lyrics and re-recorded it and gave Fat Mike Baghdad to put on the CD. It would have been a lot better to just give a new song rather then go through all that trouble, because Baghdad is really not up to standard with the rest of the album. The Ataris also did a cover of Bad Religion’sHeaven Is Falling, but the production on that is really weak. Kris Roe seems to be too far away, and that puts a damper on the song.

Once you’ve listened to all 26 songs, your still not done. There is a bonus DVD that comes along with it, there are a few anti-Bush documentaries, some Bush In 30 Seconds Ad Contest commercials, four music videos (NOFX, Bad Religion, Strike Anywhere and Anti-Flag) along with part of a David Crosscomedy skit. This is another interesting watch.

Even though there is a lot of genre-hopping throughout the album, the disc still flows really well. From punk, to rock, to emo, somehow it works. Despite there being a few weak songs, I definitely recommend picking up the compilation.