Black Ribbons

"Black Ribbons" is the latest album from Shooter Jennings and his new band Hierophant. It is a richly constructed musical exposition about a fictional, yet not wholly impossible, future America, which has fallen under the rule of fascist oppression. With censorship as the order of the day, it is a dystopian view of the world that we could be headed towards - a world where they have lost the idea of who they are; where they have lost the ability to tell fact from fiction - or speech from propaganda. It is a gray world, with little hope of getting brighter, and it's brought brilliantly to life by Hierophant.

This album is a nuanced and layered look at the price we, as a society, pay when we surrender freedom and liberty in the name of political correctness and "safety". It takes a hard look at the political class and how they strive to divide us. A look at how they manufacture crisis after crisis - all with the purpose of setting themselves up as the only ones who have the solutions. It is a stunningly conceived piece of work that serves both to reflect the listener's own biases back at him, as well as to challenge him to really check his assumptions about the world we live in. Be you left or right, people forget that politics is a circle, not a straight-line continuum. If you go far enough left or far enough right, you end up at the same place - fascism and tyranny. That end result is what the album really serves to warn against. You can find more of my thoughts at thewordzombie.

Jennings debuted this album on his Sirius Satellite Radio show a few months back and I was floored. I never cared much for his stuff before, didn't dislike it either, but at any rate, this record is phenomenal. I suggest listening to this, then backing it up with Frank Zappa's "Joe's Garage, 1, 2, & 3." Thematically it works, and Zappa's stuff will lighten your mood a bit after your time with Jennings. I now count myself a fan.

Shooter Jennings really disappointed me on this one. How can you have a song titled, "Let's Put The O Back in Country" and then release this hippy gibberish? I really got derailed by this album, expecting some great southern country from Waylon's boy only to get some twenty minute keyboard solos by someone who must have taken some really good drugs. True Shooter fans will want to avoid this wreck at all costs. At least we can listen to some Hank III until Shooter gets back from his acid trip....

I got a $5 mp3 credit from Amazon and decided to download this without any knowledge of the band or their music. I am pretty much in love with the album already with only one track (Don't Feed the Animals) being less than spectacular.

Sorry, but this purchased as a requested gift. The recipient was thrilled, thinking that I went to a lot of trouble for her! Ha-ha.