Pennywise

Land of the Free? (2001)

Chris Moran

It seems all I've been hearing about this new Pennywise album for the last 6 months is "blah blah political", "blah blah best-ever", "blah blah sounds like their old stuff". Naturally, being a Pennywise fan myself for quite some time now, I had to get the new album immediatley and judge for myself.

Let me start by syaing if you got into Pennywise during the popularity of "Straight Ahead", then you may want to stop reading now. This album is much faster, louder and pissed off than you would like. "LOTF" starts off with 'Time Marches On', which is unquestionably one of the album's best tracks. Fletcher's work on the guitar has you imagining that he probably went through a couple packs of guitar strings trying to record this one. And Jim's vocal's keep up with this harder, faster pace.
The title track, 'Land of the Free', is another that will have you in amazement of the rebirth of old-school Pennywise. Play attention to Byron's drumming on this one, simply incredible.

If every album has a track that stands out as one you can imagine being performed at almost every show, 'Fuck Authority' is it. The guitars, drumming and Jim's vocals have made this an instant Pennywise classic. The chrorus, "I say fuck authority, silent majority, raised by the system, now it's time to rise against them", is one of the punkest statements I think the band has ever made. And along with the bullshit displayed by the retards of West Hollywood, this song will a crowd pleaser whereever Pennywise plays.
Other noteworthy tracks include 'The World', 'Something Wrong with Me', 'Whose on your side' (which was co-written by Mr. 'Punker-than-you' Brett Gurewitz), 'Set Me Free' and 'Anyone Listening'.

After listening to this album about 7 or 8 times since I got it, I still can't figure out one thing. What pissed off Pennywise so much? Sure its a rotten world, but these guys have gone cynical. Its a good move though. This album will have you thinking fond memories of the first time you listend to "About Time" or "Unknown Road". All in all, this is a damn good album. Not the best Pennywise ever, but a must have for both diehard Pennywise fans and people who like music that doesn't suck.