AlbumsNovember 29, 201114,341 views

Ramallah Kill A Celebrity


Kill A Celebrity
01. The Other Side 02. Kill A Celebrity 03. Days Of Revenge 04. Ramallah 05. Drink The Kool-Aid 06. Oscar Cotton 07. Brother Malcolm 08. The Horror And The Gag 09. Shock And Awe 10. Act Of Faith 11. Just Walk Away 12. Heart Full Of Love 13. The Other Side (reprise) 14. A Day In The Life 15. If I Die Today MP3 16. Bye-Bye
2005 Thorp Records
Our score 8

11/2/2005

When Ramallah's debut MCD, But A Whimper, arrived out of nowhere in 2002 via Bridge 9 Records, it initially came across as White Trash Rob's primitive, solo, tough-guy side project. Also known as Rob Lind, the primary songwriter behind Boston's now-legendary Blood For Blood (whose legacy didn't take long to emerge at all) and the also Bridge 9-backed Saints & Sinners, the critics who either ignored Ramallah's debut or discredited it for being too by-the-numbers were administered a convincing wake-up call when the MCD went on to sell over fifteen thousand copies worldwide. Then again, fans of Lind were hardly surprised; case-in-point being his enormous success with Blood For Blood in reviving a once-dated, eighties punk-rock/hardcore style appreciated primarily by the dying breed of Taang! fans. So following Hatebreed's success with such a simple approach (unabashedly ripping off Bolt Thrower, Obituary, and Sepultura), numerous bands attempted to ride the bandwagon; Bury Your Dead were far from serious, Buried Alive were too serious, and Ramallah were just right. Throw in a heavy dose of political rabble-rousing and what was initially slated to be a studio one-off ended up in bookies requesting Ramallah to play shows and lots of them. At the end of the day however, the band was just Lind, and he had difficulties recruiting a reliable touring band. Furthermore, the band had only a small repertoire of songs to tour with. Kill A Celebrity will change all that. Both musically and lyrically, Lind is rebellious, risk-taking, and especially hungry for even greater attention with his debut full-length as Ramallah. Only about half of the tracks here are reminiscent of the spontaneous slab of hardcore ethic that characterized But A Whimper. The rest cover much more ground than I think Lind had ever intended to with Ramallah upon its inception, as the album sees less simple hardcore and more rock'n'roll, punk rock, and heavy metal prevail as the fabric of its most memorable moments, of which there are many. Lind comes from a hardcore background, but in recent years he has also rightfully gained a reputation for being a versatile and well-learned songwriter, not unlike Mike Ness. True, confident songwriters can reuse riffs and lyrics if they so please which is exactly what Lind does on Kill A Celebrity, using certain EP songs including "Ramallah" (re-recorded), "Sleep" (used in "Days of Revenge"), and "Al-Shifa" (now "Shock and Awe") to give the album a crowning sense of achievement for Lind ,which I doubt many people will take issue with considering the original impact of those songs. So if But A Whimper was the underground framework, then Kill A Celebrity is the entire building relying upon it. Perhaps the best representations of Lind's decision to branch out the Ramallah sound are "Oscar Cotton," easily one of the catchiest songs from start to finish that he has ever written. The churning, Hatebreed-styled verses of "The Horror And The Gag" give way to an instantly memorable chorus. On "Act Of Faith" and "Just Walk Away" (the latter based upon familiar Blood For Blood lyrics) however, Lind creates two of the most mainstream choruses he ever has; something that could easily end up on the radio, if it weren't for his predominantly gruff (although easily masked) voice and the band's hardcore roots. One thing sure to keep Ramallah underground, at least for the time being, is the socially and politically conscious approach to lyric writing taken by Lind. On "Heart Full Of Love," he pledges to rape a Hilton sister, burn down jewelry stores, and cut the brakes on SUV's worldwide. But for something less deeply buried in the album, one need not look farther than the first lines of the album's title track: "I'd love to detonate a car bomb at the doors of your precious MTV, and put some sarin gas in the central A/C at the VMA's, and watch those beautiful faces turn ashen grey. God will forgive me." And with that, the war on American mainstream popular culture rages on. Bottom Line: No stranger to Rob Lind's work with Blood For Blood can debate the conviction which the man possesses. He hates everything around him, both at home and abroad, and utilizes simple and potent musical approaches to communicate this hatred; the white trash family value. On Ramallah's debut full-length, he sings on about wider array of social and political ills than ever before, all to a backdrop of some of the most well-crafted songs he has ever written, with the great help of prominent keyboards, melodic background chanting, and layered guitars. One look at Lind's discography reveals a body of work more comprehensive and bulletproof than many artists older than he. And to think, he's only getting started.

44 comments

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Shahab nahid_ 10/18/2005 12:48:31 AM

this is a review and a comment, get this cd and do your self a favor, stop listening to the stap shitty hardcore, that lyrically touch on the same topics that and now worn out and tired. Hes almost a one man show with musical simplicity and genius, seriously this is a great album, and if your favorite band is avenged sevenfold, then dont even bother.

anonymous 11/2/2005 3:54:53 PM

this is the absolute worst review ever.

panzer_ 11/2/2005 3:56:45 PM

I enjoyed the sample tracks from before and the one linked here. Will definatly pick this up.

jerkface_ 11/2/2005 4:09:17 PM

Boy, Hatebreed sure do sound like Obituary.

rob_mcfeters_ 11/2/2005 4:14:37 PM

"say na na na" . . .

truthsayer_ 11/2/2005 4:29:08 PM

I cannot lie - I downloaded this album and I like it a lot more than I thought I would. Lyrically, it's insane. This review doesn't do the record justice.

Cory_ 11/2/2005 5:15:10 PM

I am a fan and supporter of Rob Lind and his various musical outlets, but on a few cursory listens, I was not particularly impressed by this album. From the socially extremist lyrics to the butchering of a Beatles tune, Lind seems to have made a variety of miscalculations on this album. He recycles lyrics and keyboard riffs from Blood for Blood, he reuses songs from his previous release and he doesn't bother to get Jake Bannon back to sing on them. I'm going to keep trying to like this record, b

carl the truth_ 11/2/2005 5:44:13 PM

holy long review. just say skinhead band for gays.

hula_ 11/2/2005 7:19:42 PM

jesus, lambgoat.. you guys love everything now.

huh?_ 11/2/2005 7:23:12 PM

What in the hell is so great about Ramallah? Sounds pretty middle of the road. Macaroni sucks without cheese, hardcore does not. Although I must thank Ramallah for that MP3, now I do not need to take my ambien to fall asleep. What year is it again? Lay it on me fellas but I can not stick around I have to go throw-up a few bench presses now.

xtroyx_ 11/2/2005 8:55:58 PM

i'm not that impressed by this record. it has some moments, fun riffs, and clever lyrics. but not an 8. 6/10

littlemac_ 11/2/2005 10:36:21 PM

you could have done this review without dissing buried alive. death of your perfect world > 95% of hardcore/metal released since, including this album

Mike_ 11/2/2005 11:27:23 PM

I am a huge fan of Buried Alive, if you weren't an illiterate hick you wouldn't make assumptions.

notorious_dob_ 11/3/2005 12:00:32 AM

ive said it once and ill say it many times again... ramallah is seriously one of the worst bands ive ever heard

tight_ 11/3/2005 12:44:07 AM

band is amazing.

notorious_dob_ 11/3/2005 4:17:25 AM

"I'd love to detonate a car bomb at the doors of your precious MTV, and put some sarin gas in the central A/C at the VMA's, and watch those beautiful faces turn ashen grey. God will forgive me." -------------- then why have i seen the video on headbangers ball?

NATE_ 11/3/2005 8:39:03 AM

death to your perfect world was/is an amazing album. Ramallah is the same washed out bullshit complaining that by this point is so overused it literally makes me physically ill. Only an idiot would give this an 8/10 while disrespecting buried alive.I used to be able to trust lambgoats opinion, but now you bitches give out 8/10 and 9/10 like their f*cking hotcakes. Gluck, you f*ck, your review is a piece of garbage as well.Ramallah is really horrible.

anonymous 11/3/2005 12:17:19 PM

i cant believe your statement on buried alive. f*cking kill yourself.

rob_mcfeters_ 11/3/2005 12:43:31 PM

dude...that one song has a line that says "say na na na"......i mean really.

Mike_ 11/3/2005 12:50:42 PM

haha rob you're bugging out on that part ATTN IDIOTS: I love buried alive and saw them 6 times before breaking up, probably more than you. Their subject matter was ultra serious and their songs ultra tight metal...which didn't do very well for them in the scene. BYD were ultra stupid lyrically and musically ultra sloppy...which ended up doing really well for them. The fact that I have to explain to you idiots what I meant shows just how stupid you are. I'm stupid too for responding.

kockrock_warlock_ 11/3/2005 1:01:24 PM

spit my last breath Blood for Blood was by far the best that white trash rob has ever done, and most stuff since has been very mediocore, including this. Probably deserved a 5 or 6. It is actually kind of cheesy. The problem is the review just goes way to overboard and more in depth then needed. Just someone trying to show off there literary skills by drawing needless and vague conclusions.

rodrigo_ 11/3/2005 1:25:45 PM

the song i heard off of this sounded really nu-metal to me and im not down with the sickness only reason byd is doing well is cuz commercialized now if buried alive were still around now they would be up there with them like hmmm whats that other vogel band oh yeah terror

rob_mcfeters_ 11/3/2005 2:21:38 PM

SAY NA NA NA!

anonymous 11/3/2005 2:25:47 PM

whaaaaaaaaa the record doesnt sound like buried alive whaaaaaaaaa

cancer_ 11/3/2005 3:04:06 PM

The new ramallah is amazing...I seriously cannot take it out of my cd player..if you have the first one this one tops it..if you have never heard check this cd out!

d willy_ 11/3/2005 3:16:50 PM

this review is f*cking terrible. so is this record. so am i.

TheWood_ 11/3/2005 4:43:39 PM

For somebody who saw Buried Alive SIX times, I find it comical that they would describe their sound as "ultra tight metal".

Mike_ 11/3/2005 4:59:27 PM

Live they were sloppy as hell...but tight as f*ck on record (their only actual record)...BYD are only tight now thanks to pro-tools...from the demo days on record to the Ozzfest days today, they are slop slop slop

willxcore_ 11/3/2005 8:46:46 PM

whoever wrote that first review.. sorry but i couldn't understand a word you were trying to tell us.. but the mp3 sucked big dck. sounded just like some cheesy nu metal mtv rock band. i didn't even bother with the review.

rob zombie_ 11/4/2005 5:16:23 PM

this sounds like rob zombie. the "hoo ha" part made me laugh out loud.

johnnycore_ 11/4/2005 5:23:18 PM

Buried Alive "attemted to ride the bandwagon"??? Put it this way: BURIED ALIVE > Any hXc band out since the late 90s

Larry_ 11/4/2005 7:13:48 PM

The comments section on this site always remind me that hardcore and metal appeal to the lowest common denominator. This CD is way over most of your brainless heads.

Smuckers Jam_ 11/4/2005 10:09:59 PM

I've been listening to this for the past couple of days at work. At first I hated it, now it doesn't bother me as much. I just can't get past all the cheese. "Say nanana", give me a f*ckin break! This is one step away from the crap he is condemning. New ideas don't necessarily translate into good ideas.

BryanFerry_ 11/5/2005 11:24:27 AM

Bands like this just don't know when to stop. This review paints Rob Lind as the f*cking John Lennon of hardcore; obviously, he isn't even the John Madden of hardcore. All of this pap and garbage is the reason why hardcore sucks, has sucked and will continue to suck. Grown men wrote this garbage; I lose faith in humanity.

richard head_ 11/5/2005 3:33:02 PM

dude you're totally right Buried Alive was obviously trying to cash in with there music, i mean you saw them a whopping six times so i guess you're the expert

anonymous 11/5/2005 3:37:11 PM

i wonder if Rob Lind will tackle the pressing issue of this "sick society" cause that would be pretty ground breaking for him

Truth_ 11/6/2005 7:42:01 PM

But a Whimper has sold no where near 15 thousand copies. More like 6

tidbits_ 11/9/2005 10:32:30 PM

One of the best releases of 2005, plain and simple. 9/10

David_ 11/25/2005 1:00:26 PM

Whats with all the negativity? OMG it's not a pure 3 chord, breakdown, then sing-along hardcore! Expand your horizons guys. I used to be into that "If it doesnt sound like the exploited or Sheer terror I refuse to listen to it" kind of mentality, but it just limits you. Does that mean I like Artsy-hardcore with the tight jeans? no. But it does mean That I give everything a chance. For those of you who are not from boston, You probably don't know about what blood for blood has done for the scene.

Sven_ 2/10/2006 4:58:31 PM

I like it! One of the best Albums i`ve got in the last years. You don`t like it? So don`t buy it - maybee too much reality for some Amerikans. Greets - The Devil is Swiss!

COLD AS LIFE!!!!!!!! DHC_ 7/31/2006 7:49:44 PM

Not one person said anything about members of COLD AS LIFE being in the band!! Come to Detroit and call it mediocre hardcore, I dare you! You'll get stomped before you get to the pit! CTYC

J Weav_ 8/28/2006 1:05:31 PM

First of all, Cold As Life is sweet and I had the chance to speak with an old member not too long ago. Second of all, point being made towards these "why isn't hardcore more innovative boo hoo" f*cks who complain on how "mediocre" the issues discussed throughout ramallah's songs are. What the f*ck do you expect these new hardcore bands to write about, pretty pink pony's? Hardcore is what it is, postively or negatively. Ramallah seems to choose the more negative approach as do many other of today

facky_ 10/18/2006 2:00:44 PM

this is the shittysest cd of theres yet, keyboards+toughguy hardcore do not mix.

lol@lol.com_ 2/19/2007 2:13:36 PM

lol