ive wrote a review as im trying to get a job as a reviewer...(mainly for the free cds), and ive written a review. and well i want to know your opinion of it. as well why not. so here goes;

Refused – The Shape of Punk of Punk to come

The name The Shape of Punk to come was derived from a jazz album (the shape of jazz to come), the name of the band or artist escapes me, but never has a name for an album been so apt. Released in 1998 it was years ahead of it time as the hardcore community didn’t know what to make of it as it incorporated elements of jazz, dance and even an acoustic song which for a Hardcore Punk band was almost unheard of, but the album was quickly accepted and it wasn’t long before album and the band had a cult following, and making the transition from an ordinary hardcore band, to a legendary one. Well that’s getting away from the music itself, so ill get back to the album. If you class this album as political, you really are missing the point of this as a collection of songs. There are two faces to this album and they are music to thrash about and have fun to, and the second is a piece of music to really get you thinking. With songs like the new noise that has been credited as one of the greatest punk/hardcore songs of all time, which I personally don’t think it is even the best song on this record, which really puts its quality into perspective. This album jumps around with its pace from epic punk songs, “worms of the sense/faculties of the skull� to quick and manic punk, “Refused party programme� and still they sound like they belong to together, which is indeed an achievement on its own but that’s not even including one of the best songs ever written punk or not, “summer holidays vs. punk routine�. Refused are indeed a very politically minded band, whose political standpoint is very anti-capitalist and that much is obvious before you have even opened the case as on the back there they have written a piece about liberation from the corporations and from the stranglehold which the government has upon society. Then again once you have opened the Cd in the sleeve there is a lengthy piece about the false nature of popular culture and the government and that we should overthrow them to replace them with an open minded society and true freedom. Then we get to the songs, which talk about capitalism, radio playlists, slave labour, the arts, the spirit of the 60’s, and so on. To the music and wow its good, I could go on for a good while about the brilliance and complexities of the music and how it has influenced the punk world but I would just be reiterating what you already know and what has been written many times before, so I will just comment on the three most influential songs from my standpoint. Those three songs are Summer Holidays Vs Punk Routine, New Noise and The Apollo Programme was a Hoax. Summer Holidays Vs Punk Routine has one of those feelings when you first hear it that’s its going to be great maybe it’s the stigmata and image that is attached to refused, or maybe even its that riff, punk with a riff who would have imagined it. But either way the emotion that it stirs within me, it makes me want to get up and smash stuff with a smile on my face, a very similar affect to that which blacks flag’s TV party and six pack had on me. I have to comment on new noise really as the reaction which it has had, and part of that reaction was a cover by a certain rap rock band, whose name escapes me yet again. Anyway back to the point this song is the song which gave refused their cult following, the dance intro, the angry and rebellious vocals from front man Dennis Lyxzen and the energy of the song is incomparable in this day and age of corporate punk rock. The Apollo Programme is a Hoax is the song which a certain defunct English punk rock band took their name from (million dead). As well as that little fact it was also one of the first ever hardcore punk songs that I heard, which was acoustic, but that doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagine that it loses it voice and energy, it is the most powerful track on the whole album, that is so through the heartfelt sincerity of Dennis’ vocals which never falter towards acoustic cliché, and stay as punk as ever. But don’t let all that put you off given the current trend of punk with a political message, as they bubble and sway along with such swagger it puts them in a very special place in your heart much alike they have done with me, in a very similar place that cave-in and converge are. This album is a classic in every sense of the word, think you’re a punk and don’t own this album get yourself to the record shop and buy it NOW.

9/10 near perfect

Rob Simpson.

a bit long innit