The concept behind
Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11 is pretty straightforward -- gather behind the politically-minded artists who, as the liner notes state, "Michael Moore listened to as he created the motion picture Fahrenheit 9/11." This claim likely bends the truth a little bit -- something that shouldn't be much of a problem for Moore, come to think of it -- because there are previously unreleased songs here by
Rage Against the Machine members
Zack de la Rocha (a
Trent Reznor co-produced solo track called "We Want It All" that doesn't really go anywhere) and "Tom Morello" ("No One Left," a Dylanesque acoustic song performed under the name "the Nightwatchman", that doesn't really go anywhere either), and
Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now" was released two months after the movie. But hey, that's nit-picking, isn't it? What this is a collection of protest rock and folk from the familiar suspects -- Little Steven Van Zandt,
Springsteen,
John Fogerty,
the Clash,
Pearl Jam,
Dixie Chicks,
Nanci Griffith,
System of a Down -- plus
Black Eyed Peas. As an album, it holds together better than the official Fahrenheit 9/11 soundtrack, but it's hard to believe that the target audience doesn't already have
Bruce singing "Chimes of Freedom,"
Dylan's "With God on Our Side" or
the Clash's "Know Your Rights." But if they don't, this is a pretty good sampler of political rock and folk. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine