Pages

Sunday 5 May 2013

Sunday Sessions: Blow Up Hollywood

Following on from my previous post about Local Resident Failure, here's a socio-political statement of a different nature, with an all-too honest focus on the horrors of war.

New York based band Blow Up Hollywood released what many consider to be one of the best albums of the last 10 years, "The Diaries of Private Henry Hill" in 2006. Leader of the band, Steve Messina, met a man who had ventured into the homeless shelter he was managing. The man was in a state of shock after hearing the news that his son had died fighting in the Iraq conflict in 2004. The man lent Steve his late son's diaries, written from the front lines in the conflict.

The album the band created based on the diaries is both poignant and thought-provoking. It neither promotes, supports, nor condemns the war, but rather it weaves an aural story in the listener's mind that encourages them to form their own opinions. It is truly an astounding album, up there with the best concept records of Pink Floyd. Featured below is the first single from the album. The opening track, and scene setter for the album proper, "WMD".

Enjoy.



Take a listen to the album:

No comments:

Post a Comment