Tracks:
We Don't Stop - Spearhead/Gift of Gab
Ducky Boy - Jurassic 5/Babu
Last Trumpet, The - Lyrics Born/Lateef
Mass Destruction - Faithless
What Would You Do? - Paris
Arrest the President - Rawdog/Taskforce/Braintax
What For? - Maya Jupiter
Countries at War - Visionary Underground
State of the World - Lifesavas
We Want Your Soul - Free*Land
Starship Trooper - The Herd
Peace Not War - GM Babyz/SuparNovar
Counter War Terrorism - Train Of Thought
Revolution - Carpetface/FreeFall Collective
Fight Back - Mc Son Of Nun
Wmd Day - Angel/The Rub
New Kicks - Le Tigre
Not in My Name - Banco de Gaia
Power to the Peaceful - Anti-Flag
True Nature - Jane's Addiction
Welcome to the Occupation - Brad Postlethwaite
Albright Momument, Baghdad - Propagandhi
Animal - Ani DiFranco
On the Face of It - The Evens
Don't Kill - Hamell on Trial
War Is Coming - Sara Marlowe
To the Tap - Karma Sutra
Saddest Game, The - Martha Tilton
Jello From the Sky - Gertrude
Masters of Deception - Ghetto Priest
George Bush Is an Islamic Fundamentalist - The Rub
Someone New - Kelly Gang
Gratitude - Saritah
Day the World Said Stop the War, The - Robb Johnson
Peace Attack - Sonic Youth

Performer Notes:

• Released a month before the 2004 U.S. presidential elections, Peace Not War, Vol. 2 is a collection of 37 songs on two discs, one called "Beats" and the other "Chords." Everything was chosen from artist submissions, which means that, besides big names like Michael Franti, Faithless, Ani DiFranco, Anti-Flag, and quite a few groups off the Quannum label, there are a bunch of little-known musicians, as well. That's not to say there are poorly produced, messy songs on here. Thanks to easy access to reasonable home recording equipment, the tracks all have a professional quality to them, and many of the lesser-known indie artists (Son of Nun for example) sound every bit as good as their more famous counterparts. The musicians, all from the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, fall easily into the left side of the political spectrum and do a good deal of Bush/Blair/Howard bashing and questioning of the war on terrorism, especially those included on the "Beats" disc, which makes sense, as hip-hop generally tends to deal more directly and candidly with whichever issues it addresses. The "Chords" disc, with both hard electric and soft acoustic guitars (which, when in back-to-back songs, can be an almost unsettling combination), instead speaks about the broader themes of war, poverty, racism, deception, and government (an exception being the Rub's tongue-in-cheek "George Bush Is an Islamic Fundamentalist," which is about as far from inconspicuous as you can get). The intention of Peace Not War, Vol. 2 is to excite and anger as many young liberal voters as it can to stand up and speak out for what they believe in, so the album's producers are careful to choose songs that shy away from promoting aggression or extreme revolution or that focus too much on conspiracy theories. Instead, the tracks concentrate more on peaceful protest and on convincing the listeners of the injustice of war, both in general and in the Middle East. There are some weak points, where the line between sappy and poignant is crossed (Robb Johnson's "The Day the World Said Stop the War," or Liquid Blue's "Making Up," for example), but for the most part Peace Not War, Vol. 2 is a good mix of sounds, good for non-violent rallies that want to motivate the participants or for a listener who wants find music that supports his political views. ~ Marisa Brown

Format: CD (1 Disc); Stereo

Country: USA

Studio/Live: Studio

Release Date: 5 October, 2004

Label: Peace Not War