just a really great record. although not quite as catchy as Last Wave Rockers, the musicality is further advanced and on a side note, Midnight Passenger must be listened to with headphones at least once to really appreciate it. if anybody thinks they like common rider more than i do, i will have to eliminate him or her.

-blacklungfever

yeah exactly... youre environment plays a large role in your beliefs. i started getting really into the punk left wing thing... then as i got older i actually had discussions with my friends who turned out to be alot more right wing than me - not extreme or anyhting crazy... just alot more centralized - and so i started thinking like i do now, which id like to belive, is pretty much central.

so who your friends are has alot to do with who you are too. same with parents, as you said.

and about the polisci classes, i agree totally. unforuntaly university in some places (us) can be way too expensive for most people so i think maybe we should all be forced to take classe slike that in highschool.

in canada they make you take a second language and english course and all that... well i think economics and polisci are much more important that speaking a language you will forget shortly (i cant remember much spanish, and i no longer know more than 3-4 words in french, haha) or discussing classic literature. classes that teach you how to properly pick a politican to vote for are MUCH more important, i would think.

and about the prof. so he was doing soemthing illegal... even if its a stupid law, its still a law and to NOT arrest him would be illegal too. the problem here isnt with his arrest, its with the law itself. we have representitives in our goverment and laws can be re evaluated. i have no idea how cuz ive never been bothered enough by stupid laws to go out and do anything, but the reason we ahve these representitvves is for this very reason... they are there for the people (supposidly) and thus they need to listen to you

anyways, this review is hard to get at now, so if you want to reply or anything, feel free to email me at neck_man@yahoo.com

I do think that students should have required classes in political theory, taught without bias. But I'm not so sure that it would make such a difference. It seems to me that political beliefs are inherited, as much or sometimes more than religion is. When you grow up hearing people sing praises of right-wing warhawks, it seems that you generally end up singing their praises yourself. Either that or you rebel and take the opposite view point.

That said, I think that decisions are made, not so much from information presented, but from what their beliefs are. Obvioiusly, if you take a pacifist socialist and a right-wing warhawk, present them with the same information and ask them if we should declare war, they will most likely not give the same answer.

And in a democracy, you just have to trust the masses with decisions, because democracy is, ideally, the people governing themselves. And, again, I think decisions (unless presented with biased information) are generally chosen depending on beliefs.

And about the professor, he did break a law, the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). It's just one of those bullshit, unjust laws passed by bought politicians for the corporations that own them. Oh, the woes of our society...

Bad...

I can't put my finger on the band that they're trying to be. But it's kind of a crappy Sublime imitation with maybe some old acoustic style hippie crap. Then there's the occasional song with some poorly done punk and ska influences. The lyrics are terrible. They're what brings the band down. Especially in the song A Place Where We Can Stay. But fuckit. We're all punkx0r rock kids right?! Guy from Op Ivy, he's like a founder of punk cause I've seen the hardcore kids at school wear Op Ivy patches stapled on because they failed sewing class. Therefore it must be good punk.

again, the message below was from me, JOE

about the professor... i have never heard of it before, so i really cant comment... all im hearing is the story from your side, which gives me a little bit of the picture. i do find it hard to believe that a man was thrown injail for breaking no laws... there are many processes that are needed to go through.

and about the government keeping secrets from us - i dont think that the population being mostly ignorant is a bad thing, i just dont think id trust alot of my peers to be able to fully understand why the government is doing certain things (i dont think id be able to understand any of it either, im just an engineer). and i CERTAINLY dont think that knowledge is only for the eliete upper class.

i come froma lower middle class fmaily, as do most of my frieds, and we ALL are going to university right now... we are not upper class people. of course, this is a canadian speaking, and our universitys are much cheaper than they are in the US. here, anyone who can get off their ass and work at a minimum wage job all summer can afford a university education, SO, (again, im talking about canada) the people who go to university are not just the rich... they are the motivated also.

dont get me wrong, if someone is perfectly happy washing dishes at a small restauant, then good for them, theyre happy - thats great. i just wouldnt trust them to be able to form logical opinions based on facts you can only throughly learn in university.

its incredibly easy to get a mob of ignorant people on your side... both the right and the left have their share of scary scary propaghanda tactics that are incredibly effective. it honestly scares me when i see extreme leftist/rightist posters up talking about protesting/hating this and that.

so i guess what im saying is that its easy to convince people of your beliefs when they dont have the educational backround to form their own.

to answer your question, i think if the governemt gave out all sorts of secrets and such, youd have many many rebellous uprisings, some by people who may know what theyre talking about, and others by people who dont.

bands constantly talking about evil rich people are creating a hatered of all rich. obviously there is corruption among the rich... but to hate someone becasue they want to be a doctor is just wrong. what if they want to be a doctor becasue they love the work and not just the luxury sports cars that come with it?

for example, when i saw rancid last summer at the warped tour... lars was all like "were [talking about the people in the crowd] not fucking doctors or lawyers!... were not rocket fucking scientists!! were fucking punk rockers" then everyone was like "YEEAAAAAAAH!!!". well that pissed me off. i mean, so what if im going to make lots of money and be important becasue im an engineer, why would that make me not belong at a rancid concert?

its just troubling is all.

the common mans veiw of the world can easily be altered by nothing more than a a guy standing on a stage pumping his fist into the air. and that is scary.

Joe, your response seemed sane, but I was a little shocked at your opinions. About the professor, why should he have been imprisoned for pointing out security flaws? Firstly, we learn from our mistakes. If the information is publicly available, then yes, it could end up in someone's hands who knows how to exploit it, but at the same time it will also end up in the hands of the people who made that software, people who make other similar software, and in the whole security community, where a patch can be made to plug up the hole. Could you imagine if your systems administrator had no idea about how people could get into the system? The professor was not doing something illegal, he was not even talking about something illegal, he just pissed off a corporation. (The logic that supports the freedom of expressing ideas like this is much the same as gun control; owning a weapon hardly makes you a murderer, no?)

I am also very shocked in your views about the government keeping secrets from us. You did not even come at it from a security standpoint, which I could understand, but from the belief that the masses are ignorant! I am not very fond of people either, but the western world is supposed to have governments by and for the people, not by some elitist upper class! And your support for them does nothing but further seperate the government and the people. I don't know about you, but I would not prefer fascism, no sirree. And, I ask you, would the government releasing their secrets do anything but further the common man's comprehension of the world?

the last message was from me, JOE

obviously there are problems, it cant be perfect... nothing is... and nothing will be (until robots take over the world.

so yes, speak out... as much as we cant be perfect, we can be better. but saying "fuck the governemt" just sounds like youre a pissed off 14 year old whose main source of anger is that you cant yet drive.

so give opinions, sure... talk about things (but MATURELY!)

if youre arguing with someone and you start yelling and swearing, saying "FUCK YOU", youre never going to change his opinion/arguement. you might as well argue with a wall at that point.

however, if you talk, and hold calm conversations, its very simple to change someones opinios/arguements (provided you ahve facts and evidence to back up your own).

and about the prof who was telling people exactly how to do something illegal.... well yes, you ggo to jail for that. whats the problem? if he was explaining to the class the best way to get a little boy to suck your cock, i also think he should go to jail.

about the government keeping secrets - also good. the population of canada and the US is made up of mostly un educated people who dont understand the concepts behind economy and forien politics.

ie: when anti flag hears something to do with rich people, they flip out and start going on and on about greed and so forth. why is this? becasue they never took economics in university - they dont understand why we need lots of rich people in the economy.

if the public was made up of primarily phD/masters/bachelors graduates, then i can gauruntee you that the governemt would be alot more open with what they know. but until then, im glad they dont tell us everything.

Joe, Joe, Joe...

I don't know too much about how things are in Canada, but I know here in America people DO get in trouble for saying things, and freedoms granted by the US constitution ARE infringed upon (the foreign professor who was imprisoned under the DMCA for speaking in public about security flaws in software, the Patriot Act, the people imprisoned in regards to 9/11, military tribunals, the list goes on). And you're fooling yourself if you think the government doesn't lie to you (isn't there a secretary of PR now?), or that corporations don't own the politicians. My point is, yeah, I would rather be in the modern Western World than in feudal england, but we could be so much happier...

And if I have the freedom to say stuff, why shouldn't I?

i think its great that we live in a place where people can actually wear shirts that say "fuck the governemnt" without being killed off or punished. try wearing a shirt like that back in the day in communist russia... fun things would happen

i mean seriously.... why the hell do we say "fuck the governemt" to one that allows us to hold concerts and forums where we are allowed to discuss opinions and say whatever we want about whom ever we want???

i think its great and so i would never wear a shirt like that.

i am canadian, and im damn proud of the way of life i have been able to create for myself.

~JOE

(ps: im not a rich fancy boy talking about how nice my life is.. im broke and currently paying my way through university with the money i make at my job... i just thought id mention that to avoid the obvious statements i figured would follow)

STOP COMPARING BANDS....you cant compare bands everyband has its own thing...cmon Anti-Flag is great i like them this cd isnt that bad but they can work on it...

I thought the review was alright but who gives a fuck, this band is AMAZING. Last wave rockers was great and from what I've heard of this cd, it is too. Man these guys better come up to Ottawa soon!

That reveiw sucked.

Maybe i'm just really tired, but the whole paragraph about the record being (not quite) brilliant was confusing... what was being said?

I haven't heard this new record yet, but last wave rockers is awesome... if you haven't heard it, give it a chance.

Anti Flag is just using their power to get a message out. Whether it is on a t-shirt or at one of their shows. These same guys would feel the same way even if they weren't in a band.
But they are...so they can do and say whatever the fuck they want and more people will listen.

I thought the review was appropriate. The album was amazing, there isn't a whole lot you can say about it.

I mean, look, most of this feedback isn't even about Common Rider. It is about a brief comment about some other band.

Freedom of speech.

If Anti Flag wants to sell a shirt, and you think they are hypocritical, then don't but it.

It would be hypocritical if they forced you to buy it.

The review gets a 6, it was pretty lame.

I don't understand why a band can't sell a shirt that says fuck the government, unless we're ruled by the cotton industry, Its okay with me.

wyzo

being political doesnt always mean being anti-capitalist, and being anti-capitalist makes it almost impossible to live in a capitalist world (especially when you're in a band). See the lyrics to Randy's "Randy, I dont need you".. quite appropriate, actually.

CRASS have about a million political shirts and you can't tell me that band was hypocritical

any band (mostly propagandhi, fat wreck bands, anti-flag) that has a bunch of "politics" claiming to say "fuck the government" yet sell t-shirts that say "fuck the government" is lame and hypocritical of their above said belief, fuck them, Common rider rocks! "politcal" fat wreck punk sucks

I love you chemicalburst.

"last wave rockers" was my favorite album of summer 1999. this album has a kindof crappy name and i'm super poor so i'm not sure i should buy it. this review helped me none.
COBRA

this album has nothing in the world to do with anti-flag... and it doesnt sound at all like op ivy, for anyone who's never heard it.. definitely has the feel of a clash record.

Chemicalburst, you rule.

-sickboi

Really good album (despite a poorly written review). I saw them last night in San Francisco, and the set was excellent, I'll write up a review of it soon.

please do not compare this groundbreaking record in any way to anti-flag. while jesse michaels a talented poet, subtle, insightful, and sincere; anti-flag are vapid, artificial, whiny, psuedo-intellectual, and hypocritically counter-revolutionary. the two only have a clash influence in common, with michaels carrying their legacy, and anti-flag disgracing their memory.

-chimericalburst