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| America Reborn |
Goblin Pride could be the greatest album ever. But it's too late for me. The Goblins have already taken over my home town. Save yourselves. Or maybe the best solution is to just submit to Goblin Mania and avoid annihilation. The mysterious Beau Grumpus, The Phantom Creeper, Dom Nation, Buh Zombie all do stuff and make songs. In a better world they would be filling Giants Stadium in New Jersey instead of Bon Jovi. Right now they are biding their time in the Windy City.....Like the Wyld Stallyns in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure they may just be that game changer, that wild card. I try to play their music every day, so that I can be prepared for the approaching New Goblin World Order.
They are clearly a band for the new millenium--their songs are adored by America's youth--they look to them in the same way young people idolized Bob Dylan in the 60's. The topics they address in their music touch on all the things Americans are most concerned about. The song Pride is about pride--why should we pay attention to anything else in the world. We've got our own problems, folks. Cutlass is about cars with a neat car horn solo, but there is a hidden message there regarding energy independence maybe. Giant Robot Rock N Roll is about the 2000K crisis and our nascent fear of being conquered by Robots. Selena is about the late tragic Tejano pop singer, but I think it also about the debate on immigration that is a big issue to some people in the US.
One of the highlights of this album is (The Police Are Just) Doing Their Jobs, and again there is that underlying issue again; how can we reconcile public safety with constitutional freedoms? The New Ordery tune Worst Brother Ever analyzes the complicated relationship between the Unabomber and the brother who ratted him out! I feel like I now see America's Civil War in a whole new light. Ken Burns should be ashamed. The songs are short but full of wisdom, like Haikus, or maybe Limericks. Their humanitarian side is unabashedly obvious here, I mean, have The Rolling Stones or Jay-Z written an anthem for the Special Olympics? But they aren't in the cutthroat world of Rock N Roll for accolades; they are here to teach us to be better.
One godsend are the autobiographical numbers included on this album. One look at the album and you will notice that these rock and roll superheroes keep their true identities anonymous. Who are these guys? You want to know everything there is to know about them and it eats you up in side when there is so little information available. Thankfully there are Living On Goblin Time, The Goblin Rider, and Goblin Girl to help fill in the blanks, so that we understand the unassuming men in the masks who are out keeping our streets safe so that bums like me can blog in peace. The first song makes it clear that we are Goblins. The Goblin Rider is an inside look at the fast paced world of rock icons like a sonic version of MTV's cribs. Goblin Girl uncovers the pain and frustration of being a Goblin, and is also a call for full female equality in our society.
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