Sony
2007
One Man Revolution
About This Album
In the space between Chris Cornell leaving Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine reuniting, Tom Morello released a solo album under the name the Nightwatchman. One Man Revolution, as it's called, is comprised of socially and politically critical acoustic folk songs, some of which were written as early as 2003 (including the first single, "The Road I Must Travel"), when Morello first began performing alone. These are musically simple pieces, borrowing from early Dylan and Springsteen, where two or three strummed chords are all that are needed to properly display the stories told. The melodies, like many folk melodies, are familiar ("Let Freedom Ring" even sounds an awful lot like "Wayfaring Stranger" at times), but Morello's not aiming for intricacy and innovation here. Instead, he's attempting to be, and succeeding at being, to quote Rage, a "Voice for the Voiceless." He's concerned with the circumstances of others, of the downtrodden and the under-represented, of a general uprising of the oppressed, and so his words focus on this, on the characters he creates. His lyrics aren't overly complicated -- simple rhyme-scheme and imagery dominate -- but they're highly detailed and affective because of it.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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