Think Tank

Album Review

For the uninitiated, Henry Rollins may be a puzzling dichotomy at best. Perhaps best known for his aggro-punk musical rantings and bulging tattoos, Rollins contains a very opposite side within his imposing frame. On this two-disc, live album, which was recorded on opposite ends of the Earth, Rollins lets both sides loose on the ears and minds of his devoted fans and those who may want to enter his maddened world. Clever, sharp, and brutally honest, Rollins has the self-control of a dormant volcano and sets his vocal lava upon the people and places that make our lives a little more aggravating. And no one is safe! From "Bubba" Clinton to Kenneth Starr, David Hasselhoff to Michael "Bolt-head" Bolton, husbands and wives, and the cast of Friends, everybody gets a taste of Rollins' right-minded rage. Along the way, he brings his two sides together by dipping into his musical realm as well. From the opening singalong and the renaming of El Niño as "The First Four Black Sabbath Albums," to the closing lounge lizard rendition of the Rollins Band's appropriately two-faced shredder "Liar," Rollins realizes his nefarious talents and alternative icon status and uses them to a combined effect which is simultaneously duplicitous and unifying, demonstrating his command of words and emotions to open our eyes and ears more than they may want to be. Dangerously intelligent commentary.