Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWP_-rSxBbU
While Against Me! might have a renewed sense of purpose in its focus on transgender topics, the band’s instrumentation hasn’t been exciting since As The Eternal Cowboy.
What did you think of this album? Love it? Hate it? Why? What should I review next, eh?
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FAV TRACKS: TRANSGENDER DYSPHORIA BLUES, TRUE TRANS SOUL REBEL, FUCK MY LIFE666
LEAST FAV TRACK: UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
AGAINST ME! – TRANSGENDER DYSPHORIA BLUES / 2014 / SIRE RECORDS / PUNK ROCK, SINGER-SONGWRITER
5/10
Y’all know this is just my opinion, right?
Price: $1.99
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The Blues Brothers
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I love this album. Against Me! is also one of the best live bands ever.
I couldn’t agree more with this review
Wow lol Green Day songs are sugary…..are you listening to the same fuckin music?!?! haha Go see them in concert you’ll be proven wrong immediately.
thumb up for the album thumb down for your review, i respect your judgement, but i don’t agree at all.
Reinventing Axl Rose is perhaps my 1st or 2nd favorite album ever.
I understand what you mean. But the title track of this album honestly changed my life and helped me understand who I am more than any other media about trans people.
I absolutely love this album. While I do agree that the instrumentation at times can get a little uninspired, in my mind the lyrics and Laura’s delivery totally make up for it. I identify really strongly with the lyrics, to the point where listening to it is an emotional event, so that probably has something to do with it.
So like, I feel that this album maybe resonates a lot harder if you’ve actually dealt with gender dysphoria? I think people shouldn’t have expected this big tell all album from Laura, or expect her to suddenly come out with this big insightful piece that would resonate with everyone while also going into gender hard in each song. For me personally, being a transgender woman myself, this album hits me on an incredibly personal note all the way through. A lot of what you talked about seems much more focused on a difference in musical taste, and that’s entirely fair, and from a technical perspective I suppose it’d be easy for you to judge. But from a lyrical and tonal perspective, this album I think is hard for a lot of people to really wrap their heads around, because what they expected isn’t exactly what they got? Coming out and dealing with gender dysphoria doesn’t suddenly mean you have all this insight and all these answers. It’s just another thing in your life. A big thing, a thing that’s incredibly affecting, but it doesn’t mean you have any more information than anybody else. The fact that this album exists at all is kind of a big deal in and of itself, as albums about this kind of thing don’t get the kind of publicity or are even released like this one was. She came out very publicly, and wrote the album about her feelings, and if you’re trans a lot of the songs hit WAY harder than they would for you. For instance, Unconditional Love is fucking HEAVY, as the whole point of it is that even if your loved ones get behind what you’re doing and love you no matter what and support you, that’s often not enough to validate you to yourself, so you’re just stuck in this cycle that no amount of validation can get you out of. Osama Bin Laden as the Crucified Christ has lines like “what’s the best that you can hope for? Pitty fucks and tabelscraps,” and speaks to the way trans women are often just used as fetishistic one night stands. There’s a lot to these songs if you’re trans is what I’m saying.
If you’re reviewing a record and naming songs, at least get the names of the songs right.
Obama Bin Laden? 7:32
Disco Before The Breakdown is one of my favourite songs of all time
KNIFE MAN IN THE BACKGROUND !
I personally think this is a great album. My favourite by the band since Reinventing Axl Rose.
Am I the only one here who thinks guy seems like kind of a jackass? “This record doesn’t stimulate me it’s too tame” oh well gee I’m SO SORRY that you can’t relate to the subject matter here. This album is literally the reason I came out as a trans girl. Without Laura I would still be hating myself every time I look in the mirror. There are people who don’t know how to stay in their lane and this guy is one of them. This album deserves no less than a 9.5/10 tops. I f you were expecting another dozen songs with some white guy waxing political than get the fuck out. Sometimes people like me and the wider trans community needs shit like this.
I really don’t think Laura was ready to fully divulge everything she was feeling when they released this record. Coming out publicly in Rolling Stone and titling the album “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” were huge, risky steps and were likely intimidating enough as it was. Her book really gives a detailed and personal insight to how she has felt over her lifetime. I know this is an album review but I just thought I’d give my opinion 🙂
Searching For A Former Clarity should not be brushed off, it is their best album, lyrically, and has the best songs.
Also I can’t stand you.
shut up nerd
review the new christian scott ablum! Ruler rebel!
Finally got around to picking this up the other day, I really liked it, some very nice tunes and great messages
Glad you gave backround on the band. They really started sounding straight up corny once White Crosses came out.
a bunch of people watch theneedledrop and THEY JUST SEE A FAGGOT
Wut. Unconditional love is “obnoxiously sugary?” Did you even LISTEN to the album before you made this review?
“Prison cell exercises, solitary sport entertainment
What makes you think you’re gonna die any different?
Even if your love was unconditional
It still wouldn’t be enough to save me
Don’t worry, young suicides, the vultures will pick your bones dry
Half digested and eternal, somewhere lost in the ephemeral
Welcome to the future, an always ice-cold nightmare
Burnt coffee and Percocets, yeah, this night, too, will end.”
You call THAT *obnoxiously SUGARY?!*
“This wasn’t the shocking tell-all album I was expecting.” If you’d listen closely to it, this album is pretty shocking. Laura doesn’t piss around the issues discussed in this album. Oppression, discrimination, violence, depression, and suicide are all major themes, although they’re not done in a shock value way. They’re real issues going on all around, and that’s what she’s trying to get across. Some of the music is a little tamer, but in terms of the message, this is by *far* Against Me!’s darkest album, in case the album art didn’t tip you off. Also, it’s not “Obama bin laden as the crucified christ,” it’s OSAMA.
I actually got into Against me! with their newer records…and I love them. I love their older stuff too…..but I gotta disagree…..I don’t agree they’ve got “tamer” I mean people get older….doesn’t mean their views change but like she said before how she always saw the world in a very black and white way but when you get older that starts to grey.
I thought your review was alright, some points on, others I’m not sure I agree with. Dead friend for example, I thought the contrast between the uplifting instrumentation and the rather depressing subject matter of the song was great! I mean depressing songs about depressing subject matter with depressing instrumentation becomes a bit cliche and did I say depressing:P. Also I thought that unconditional love , although not instrumentally my favorite track, is an extremely heavy lyrical track and the lyrics really pull the weight on that one. And I thought two coffins was kinda sweet bearing in mind that the song was written for her daughter, I had no issue with that track. I wasn’t a huge fan of Obama Bin Laden… Melodically didn’t feel that strong, and although the song black me out is great intrumentally and lyrically, I thought that track was the most forced vocally, but a great track anyway. I think that lyric content should often direct and influence the instrumentation of an album and I think on those terms this album was top notch, in all honesty , one of my favorite albums I’ve heard in a while! Enjoyed the review and hearing your opinion though , keep it up!
im still confused do you hate or like green day?
Go see this live. It is fucking perfect.