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Bill Madden Where Bill Madden has been, what he's seen and what he's experienced, one can only guess -- but what is certain is that his Eastern philosophical influences are engaged in a head-on collision with the disdain he has for the politics and abuses that are occurring around the world and in the country he loves. Rarely do we find an artist of Madden's grace, melody and poetic articulation who combines the word-play of early Dylan, the outrage and hope of John Lennon and Neil Young, along with the Eastern perspective of George Harrison. Blending lyrical dexterity with pop melodicism and an occasional crunching guitar -- what we are left with is a hell-of-a pissed off socially conscious artist who by the end of his album, "Samsara's Grip", not only has the listener emotionally charged, but full of the same hope and uplifting spirit while tapping his foot all along the inspiring journey. Samsara's Grip On the first track, "Om Tat Sat", from the opening words, "The world is goin' crazy", we're told that while the world is exploding all around him, the artist retains a calming centeredness while living life in the eye of the hurricane. "Masterpiece" reminds us that regardless of what lack of privilege we are born into, life remains an open canvass where all things are possible. "19 Miles" plays like an abbreviated John Cassavetes movie in which the tension slowly builds around a percussive background of doumbek, djembe and acoustic guitar -- taking the listener into the hell realm of a deteriorating relationship of obsession and attachment -- exploding into a finale of electric guitar and drums. "Fools' Parade" is an ambitious three-part story of different individual scenarios involving human ignorance. The song includes an extended vamp which plays like a song unto itself. In the album's title track, "Samsara's Grip", as Madden sings, "I can't get out of my head", the listener is introduced into an exaggerated, uneasy schizophrenia and paranoia caused by the constant chatter and inability to quiet the voices that are a relentless reminder of life's worries, anxieties and responsibilities. By the end of the haunting "Murder", you'd swear Madden has transformed himself into Peter Gabriel's sidekick, singer Youssou N'Dour, as he screams in a barely decipherable voice, "Why do we always need to play God?" This song is a three-part drama that reiterates the notion that death by way of unnatural cause takes on many forms -- all of which have one thing in common. In "Consequence Of War", the song's opening lines, "It's all around us, no one escapes", brings the horror of violence front and center. Not only of the war we're fighting abroad, but also of the war we fight in our everyday lives. In Madden's final verses, "Etched in our psyches like a tattoo... I see the future in my rear view", he connects the listener back to a line in the second verse, "Misguided teachings are passed for generations" -- the cycle of ignorance remains unbroken. The eighth track is one of the most musically sparse and poetically elegant on the album -- both in terms of lyrics, as well as the vocal. Something of a musical Alister Crowley soliloquy, "Right In The Head" is a song of superior grace and melody wrapped around bluesy guitar licks with a soaring vocal -- a tale of lust and sexual attraction with a pagan paramour who "ain't right in the head." "Shrink The Guru" has the wounded protagonist battling the arrogant influence of an all-knowing, pseudo sage and parental figure with a vocal slap-black reminiscent of John Lennon's "Instant Karma!" "World Just Is" is exactly that: A no-nonsense look at religion, terrorism, corporate greed and the consequences. Yet, in the last verse, Madden is once again inclined to remind the listener that "Among the dust and ruin"... "Young souls in soiled linen" still "dare to believe in miracles and incredible things." The album concludes with the Zen koan, "Experience". And in the end, Bill Madden's CD, "Samsara's Grip", is an experience and journey for all serious music lovers to consider -- especially those who are of the belief that people inspired by the power of music can, indeed, bring change to the world. Check out the artist's website: http://www.billmadden.com Track List: 1. Om Tat Sat 2. Masterpiece 3. 19 Miles 4. Fools' Parade 5. Samsara's Grip 6. Murder 7. Consequence Of War 8. Right In The Head 9. Shrink The Guru 10. World Just Is 11. Experience Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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