Search - Consolidated :: Play More Music

A MeltingPot Production

Edward Abbey | MA USA | 01/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Consolidated is one of those groups that you will love or hate. They have a huge political agenda and throw it right in your face much like Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy or more recently System of a Down. The MAJOR difference is two-fold: First they love to piss off their fans. They expose their political views like a raw nerve and then let people who have bought tickets to their shows get up to the mike and either rant or rave. And Consolidated is happy to instigate arguments. You'll find a lot of that on this album. This is pretty interesting as it represents a wide swath of viewpoints from around the world. The second major difference is that the album is musically as diverse as the people they talk to. They have put together (with their own twist) a compilation of rock, rap, electronica, punk, and a plethora of sound bytes on the twenty-seven plus tracks within the album. While normally most critics would hound on a group for a lack of consistency, because of their strong political agenda and wit, the album is held together well and flows from one track to another seamlessly. Part of that is because of the "live" feeling of the album. Most major tracks have a live sound byte inserted between them leading you to the next song or finishing off the thoughts of the previous one. They are masters of mixing.



If you are a person that buys music for the sound and never listens to the lyrics then don't buy this album. You won't be able to get by its strong vocal personality. While the music holds a little something for everyone, (this album is much like a sound-track in some respects with many genres represented) you have accept (or bear to hear) alternative viewpoints in respects to religion, environment, politics, gays and lesbians, drugs, consumerism, capitalism and much more. They profess, for example on the "Hip O Crits" track (number 23) "...yeah, we are hypocrites: For the left." Generally speaking, folks from the blue states will LOVE this album and those from the red states will HATE it. For those of us in-between it's a hilarious harsh mix of bashing with a great beat that you can dance to. And that's another good point. They do have a great mix of comedy ranging from the Beastie Boys parody "Yeasty Girls" singing "You Suck", to track 18 "The Men's Movement" with great bytes from the old WWF "Summer Slam" woven into angry concert-goers comments.



When rating albums I consider originality first and lyrics and music second (but equally important). In the end this album gets five stars because of how unique and original it is more than anything else. While I like the sounds and the vibe you will be hard-pressed to find another album anything like this one. This may be the reason why it constantly finds its way to the front of the list of the thousands of albums I own. It's a real classic.

"

An inspiring album

Giles T. O'Dell | Olympia, WA United States | 12/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an important album as it documents a segment of sample-based music that should take a space in music history alongside the politically and socially relevant compositions of Public Enemy and KRS-ONE. In the early 90s, when most so-called "alternative" and "punk" music had dozed off into an apolitical stupor, Consolidated was one of the most intriguing bands. They invited debate with live audiences and passed mics around -- probably the only real innovation in live rock in decades. Their political focus was well-documented. But most often overlooked by the squeamish white press was the fact that the instrumental aspect of Consolidated's music is accomplished and exhilarating. In their heyday, no one was indifferent to Consolidated. With the latest Bush administration, their early 90s music has, sadly, become equally relevant in 2002."

Oh yeah, A HUGE inspiration, to break the CD

Micheal Hunt | Hellbourne | 04/22/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I wish I could do just a two word review and say, "Stupid Crap" and let that stand as all that should be needed to be told about this album.



The other day I found a song on youtube called "You Suck" and really wanted to track down where it came from because I thought it was hilarious.



I was expecting this to be a comedy album; but now, after one listen, I have thrown the CD up against the wall and stomped all over it. And realize the song wasn't meant to be a comedic song, it was political B.S.



This is nothing but a stupid album filled with 10 second audio clips of political speeches and debates, and a lame attempt to get kids to say no to drugs, get into politics and save the world.... you may as well think of this album as Captain Planet mixing up some hip hop songs which consist of a form of music that is usually somebody elses song's chopped up into beats and tid bits and scratchy sound effects while these guys rap over the top of it. However the Captain Planet theme had more impact on kids then anything on this album.



But what is worse, is how annoying there arrangement's are. just non stop political gibberish with the same beat repeating over and over and over and no chorus, no stand out lyric, no memorable parts... the songs kick off like there going to be ok, but it just goes stale not changing or mixing anything up.... and yeah, the annoying lyrics for what they are.



The only decent track on here is the "You Suck" song, featuring the yeastie girls, whoever they where. That track alone I give 4 to 5 stars to, but I see why it was not easy to track down, as no body in there right mind would play any other song off of this thing again.



And reviewers saying it was really inspirational? huh?????? no chorus, no catchy tune, just stolen beats with political crap over it? Might inspire a person to make a Frisbee out of the CD, or drive them insane, so I guess the inspiration was not positive related.



The other thing that made me cringe was the attempt to make the same song into more then one genre; most of the crap attempts on here at music is hip-hop, but they have tried to add some rock and alternative to, and to the reviewer who was praising them for expanding out into other sounds as creative and keeping people interested... i disagree, i see it as a lame attempt to try and get everyone's attention and ram there way of life down people's neck... and I for one am glad it failed.



I am not saying they did not send out positive messages, or have good intentions to help benefit people... but hey, I can tell you from my own experience, I do not do illegal drugs, or support them, due to an ex girlfriend of mine becoming a heroin addict... and I have seen it first hand, what effects these can have on loved ones, friends and family around the user... but I do not believe in trying to preach to kids staying off drugs and staying in school and all that stuff because when I think back to the times when people would come to our schools and give these lectures on things to stay away from, probably 9 out of every 10 kids listened and decided to stay off it. And reading things from that ex she wrote in school at the age of 8 about how drugs are bad and they want to save the planet just change by a certain age, and they just figure they need to find out for themselves if it is so bad or not... and you only truly learn these lessons in life by experiencing it, and I am not referring to experiencing drugs, i am talking about the consequences and outcomes that come from it, in a negative matter... and even then, some will just never learn.



So let these guys preach all they want, try to ram it down everyone's neck, but they can sit around now wondering what went wrong from the fact that the major majority of people in this world do not want to hear this stuff.



To the normal person, this is about as appealing to them as politicians writing there own hiphop/rap songs and having them take over every radio station in the world... would you want to listen to the radio again?



So please, i can understand you complementing this album on it being different, and thought provoking, a little different from other artists, but even going in this direction, they couldn't even get a decent tune to ring out, this simply is just not music. It's preaching with a soundtrack behind it."