Tom Morello – The Nightwatchman: The Fabled City

I am really digging the new album from the man who is arguably this generation’s greatest guitar slinger, Tom Morello. His work with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave makes up one of the stronger resumes of any rock guitarist over the last 20 years. The Fabled City disc, the second disc under the name of The NIghtwatchman, is an easy listen, considering that the lyrics paint a dreary picture of today’s America.  Titles such as “King of Hell” and ”Midnight in the City of Destruction” give an indication that Morello doesn’t feel as though things are just hunky-dory in the good ol’ US of A.  While it shouldn’t surprise anyone to know that this album is far more effective and interesting from a musical and lyrical perpsective than from a vocal stand-point, the vocal performance does serves the other two perspectives quite well in its deep, almost foreboding monotone. I also will applaud the album for its foray into the ”Irish Pub Sing-Along” realm with the bombastic, rousing “Saint Isabelle”, which seems to be one of the albums “pro-union” offerings.

Regardless of your political views, this is a solid disc from an artist who seems as determined to break the chains of type-casting as much as he is to alter the nation’s political landscape.  My buddies over at Twangville offer a good review and commentary on this album and some of the inspirations that Morello followed in the making of this record.