Top 10 Albums of 2008: #9
The Terrorism Of Everyday Life - Hamell On Trial
Ed Hamell is an acquired taste not unlike tequila shooters on an empty stomach. The immediate shock to your digestive system, if you haven't suffered a blow like it before, will send you running from the room to catch your breath before you pass out from the fury. This time, Ed takes the stage solo. Without a band, he evokes the incendiary fury of a full rock band from the tattered body of his poor, battered Gibson guitar. Tracks alternate between heavy metal songs (played on acoustic guitar) and the stories behind the songs. Hamell peppers his soliloquies of alternative politics with profane, yet wildly engaging, perspectives on his life, family, and evolution as a human being and father. Weak-kneed, faint-hearted, right-wing sympathizers need not attend.
Click to view