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| Singing the changes |
Various, Not in our Name CD (Songs for Change, 2007; £11 incl p&p http://www.stopwar.org.uk)
Reviewed by: MAYA EVANS
"Where are all the anti war songs?" is a common cry from folk both inside and outside the movement. Where indeed, and why aren't the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Girls Aloud and Britney Spears making anti-war songs? This CD may not be an example of mainstream pop, but like the peace movement it's varied, heart felt, quirky in parts and sometimes educational.
Admittedly, on first listen much of the album didn't grab me, but by the second I had grown to like most of the tracks. There are some great offerings on this eclectic compilation, mainly folk and country, but also rock, pop and world fusion. My favourite track was undoubtedly Robb Johnson's We all said stop the war, which is a wonderfully inspiring, celebratory account of the international protests which took place in the run up to the Iraq war.
My other top faves were Seize the Day  who in my opinion can do no wrong - with United States, and Rory McLeod with No more blood for oil: musically interesting and lyrically poetic. Both tracks are very inspiring and probably strong enough to grab a non-activist audience.
Anti-war songs are probably the trickiest to get right in terms of tone and message and few really achieve this balance of being tasteful, powerful and musically worthwhile.
To summarise, there are some really great tracks on this compilation, though the mix doesn't always come together smoothly and it sometimes gets bogged down with cynicism.
I like the sleeve very much, the design is consistent throughout and smacks of right on idealism; it's honest and represents the product fairly. I'd listen to this compilation again but probably wouldn't leave it on at a party.