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Album

Album cover

Sea of Mass Confusion

Songs:
1) Sea of Mass Confusion
2) White Collar Criminal
3) Orphans Sleep Alone
4) Empty Sky
5) My Morning Mirror
6) The World Is Flat
7) Think It's Time
8) Happily Ever After
9) It Fades Away
10) Heroin
11) Colonel Ted

As far as the music behind the lyrics is concerned, it's forgettable. It's basic rock with a hint of country and folk. Now, let's talk about the lyrics. This is protest rock, very literal protest rock. Sea of Mass Confusion is about as straightforward as a kick to the shins. In most songs, Bill takes the position of any 22-year-old college student and sets it to standard music.

"Our vote is all you need / but power is like a cancer / and it's growing like a weed." Little bit of a mixed metaphor here. Not really a big deal except for two things: 1) protest rock is all about its words (the music is nothing special) and 2) this sort of mistake is pervasive throughout the CD.

"Orphans often sleep alone / their tears are always dry / and who would care to lay beside the anguish of an orphan's cry." Orphans sleep alone because they cry and they cry because they sleep alone. Oh, and they cry dry tears. (?) But, don't worry about that. Just agree with him. Who can argue with orphans?

And who can argue with "Let's take the guns and gas / and stick them up the ass / of these thieves, politicians, generals and bigots." This is the same sentiment that won Toby Keith awards from the pro-war crowd and cries of "idiot!" from the opposition.

So, if you want affirmation that white-collar criminals are bad, war and gas are bad, and orphans are good, then I'll leave you with this last expression from Bill: "But if you could turn back a page on the wall / you may see a smile through the tears of it all / you dream of tomorrow, you waste your today / your skies remain cloudy, your ship sails away." The tears and smiles and clouds and ships of a page on the wall. Got it.

--- Hometown CD Review 5-11-06

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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