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////// cd : The Diaries of Private Henry Hill
Based on the diaries of a soldier who died while serving
his country in Iraq, this conceptual album by New York art
rockers Blow Up Hollywood is a mesmerizing look into the hardships
of war. On the surface, songs like "WMD," "Bombs
Away," "Puppet," and "Shots Fired"
are acoustic pop songs with mellow melodies that bear strong
resemblances to bands like Pink Floyd and Radiohead. But underneath
are excruciatingly melancholy lyrics about a small town boy
who enlists as a way to see the world, only to realize the
war he is sent to fight is no noble adventure. Instrumental
orchestral numbers like "Shock and Awe" and "Requiem"
are filled with an equally emotive angst and sadness. And
the bonus DVD includes an animated video for "WMD"
that hammers the message home that much harder.
Jonathan Williams (Music Editor)
A concept album built around the true-life diaries and letters
of a young U.S. serviceman killed in Iraq, The Diaries of
Private Henry Hill is one of those rare (too rare, considering
how many of the things there are out there!) thematic offerings
that is as impressive in execution as it was in conception.
Blow Up Hollywood frontman Steve Messina first heard of Hill
when the young man's bereaved father walked into the homeless
shelter that he, Messina, was running. They talked, of course,
of war and loss, but it was only when he was loaned the soldier's
own writings that Messina comprehended the true nature —
and horror — of the war. The result was
a collection of songs and themes that neither support nor
attack the conflict, but simply show it from the point of
view of the people who are actually there: the only people,
in fact, whose opinions on the rights and wrongs of the war
actually matter. Musically, it is easy to compare Private
Henry Hill with latter-day Pink Floyd, if they hadn't gone
so horribly off-course with and after The Wall. Of course,
the theme is one that is likewise dear to Roger Waters' heart,
but more than that, the performance possesses that same sense
of gut-wrenching drama that was the hallmark of Waters' most
effective compositions. Lyrics are forthright and to the point,
but they are also sparingly used — the
album is at its best when the instrumental passages paint
the pictures in your mind, with the occasional well-chosen
sound effect to hammer home the precise time and place. Such
comparisons, however, are also a cop-out —
Private Henry Hill deserves to be viewed alone, heard in isolation,
and appreciated within the nightmarish darkness of the shell-torn
foxhole in which Henry Hill wrote his original words —
and in which countless thousands of other, unknown Henry Hills
are still writing their own. Thanks to the Internet, the Iraq
War has already established itself as the most literate conflict
the world has ever seen. More albums like Private Henry Hill
could also see it become the most musical.
allmuisc.com - by Dave Thompson
If the 60's had Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
and Country Joe and the Fish's "Feel Like I'm Fixing
to Die Rag," then today we have the anti-war concept
album, The Diaries of Private Henry Hill. Created by the mysterious
entity known as Blow Up Hollywood (BUH), this CD/DVD, like
Trumbo's book, takes a soldier-eyed view of the hell that
is war. The group is completely anonymous. Their faces are
never seen, neither on CD covers nor during live performances.
Blow Up Hollywood's intention is stated in their manifesto:
"Beyond the illusion, without regard of egoism... comes
a new breed of artists for the new millennium... Blow up Hollywood
is a metaphor expressing our willingness to eradicate all
hype.
musicdish
Anti-war songs are on the march. Artists of all stripes are
rallying for a cause that many regarded as career kryptonite
three years ago, when a patriotic fervor favored flag-waving
anthems and punished naysayers.
As public frustration with the war mounted, so did the decibel
level of music targeting the president and his policies. Last
fall, the Rolling Stones dubbed Dubya a hypocrite on controversial
Sweet Neo-Con, and System of a Down raged against "pathetic
flag-waving ignorant geeks" on its Hypnotize album.Today,
the mood and the marketplace are accommodating Let's Impeach
the President, one of the most vitriolic titles on Neil Young's
Living with War album. It was delivered because the veteran
felt that younger stars weren't speaking up. In fact, armies
of musicians are churning out anti-war songs. Arriving Tuesday
is The Diaries of Private Henry Hill by New York band Blow
Up Hollywood, which mined a dead soldier's journals for its
searing anti-war concept album.
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
blue space radio top picks for 2006
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1. Modern Times -
Bob Dylan
Continues his late-career renaissance with writing as
good as anything he's ever done. Timeless. |
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2. The Diaries of Private Henry Hill -
Blow Up Hollywood
For me this will be the most vivid and important album
inspired by the Iraq war. Based on diaries of a soldier
tragically killed in Iraq, the album traces his development
from naive enlistee to numb and confused soldier who
has no clue what he is fighting for. Amazingly powerful |
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3. Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth
Possibly my favorite Sonic Youth album. Some of the
best tunes they have ever written. Worth it just for
"Do You Believe in Rapture?" |
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4. Fear is on Our Side - I Love You But I've
Chosen Darkness
Dense and hard to penetrate. Would not have been out
of place in the post-punk era alongside bands like Joy
Division/early New Order, Section 25, A Certain Ratio,
Wire, etc. Also harkens back somewhat to My Bloody Valentine.
"According to Plan" is one of the most hypnotic
rock tracks you'll ever hear. |
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5. Living with War - Neil Young
A sad album for a sad war. It's a last gasp from a prior
generation, wondering why the current generation failed
to learn anything from history. Neil let it burst out
raw and immediate, and it's a messy affair - as is the
norm with Neil - and he wears his heart on his sleeve,
and it's not particularly artful..... but it has real
feeling and passion. |
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6. Fundamental - Pet Shop Boys
Razor-sharp as ever. "Fundamental" has some
of the PSB's best tunes since early-90's classics "Behavior"
and "Very." Trevor Horn's production shines,
especially on "Minimal.' |
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7. Powder Burns - The Twilight Singers
Drug-addled and anguished. Greg Dulli - formerly of
Afghan Whigs - has never been written more powerfully.
It's a shame so few seem to be noticing, as the Twilight
Singers seem to operate mostly in the shadows. |
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8. Thunderbird - Cassandra Wilson
Sumptuous and gorgeous as ever. Cassandra has the kind
of voice that taps right into your soul and doesn't
leave. |
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9. The Captain and the Kid - Elton
John
The much older and wiser sequel to "Captain Fantastic
and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Not going for pop artifice,
it's all about looking back over a long career as it
winds to its close. Elton can be so clownish in his
public persona, it's a surprise sometimes how great
he can be when he really puts his mind to it. |
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10. In Bocca al Lupo - Murder
by Death
A sorta demented netherworld occupied by the likes of
Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Best listened to in the dark. |
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11. Highway Companion - Tom Petty
One of the comeback albums of the year. Solid throughout,
"Highway Companion" made it clear that Tom
Petty still has a place in rock 'n' roll in 2006 as
a wizened elder-statesman. |
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12. The Eraser - Thom Yorke
Thom York sits at his laptop and emits some gurgles,
bleeps, and blips... and it's all so beautiful. |
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13. Nine Times that Same Song -
Love is All
Post-punk revival. Not particularly unique, just damn
good. Romeo Void meets X-Ray Spex meets Yeah Yeah Yeahs...
a bridge between 1980 and 2006, and it rocks. |
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14. 3121 - Prince
The man is a genius but so fucking frustrating. Brilliant
moments alongside lackadaisacal tripe, but even his
most throwaway moments are better than 99% of anything
played on pop radio. |
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15. Everything All The Time -
Band of Horses
Gorgeous songwriting, melancholy and sentimental. Great
driving music. Reminds me of my trip to Cape Cod this
year. We listened to it in the car, along with Grace
Jones and Avenged Sevenfold. Fun trip!! |
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16. Sam's Town -
The Killers
Bombastic and wonderfully over-the-top. "When You
Were Young" is one of the best pure pop pleasures
of the year. |
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17. The Flaming Lips - At War
with the Mystics
A woeful disappointment after the brilliance of "Yoshimi",
but still a great record. Space-rock, suitable for zoning
out into the stratosphere.
|
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18. Give Me a Wall - Forward Russia
Demented new wave revivalists with great songs that
go off in all sorts of different and odd directions.
Not sure why they had the gimmick of all song titles
being numbers, but I don't mind... 'Thirteen' is the
best of the bunch. |
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19. I'm Not Dead - Pink
Great pop/rock album. Pink is so much ballsier than
her contemporaries. I saw her live at the 930 club in
DC, and it was basically a rock show. She's an amazing
performer and vocalist. I think she'll be around for
a long, long time. |
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20. Under the Influence of Giants (self-titled)
"In the Clouds" is the most insanely singable
song of the year, and it just won't leave my skull.
But I don't mind very much 8-)
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////// cd : fake
"blow up hollywood bends, nay, breaks musical genre
lines without even trying. every single track strikes the
listener to the core, and most defy definition."
Kelly Marshall - Rocket Fuel
July 15, 2004
"Pure Artistry...this album reveals the
inner most thoughts of the human psyche..a musical epiphony."
Mike Vincenti - thefreezer.com
May 18, 2004
"In a category all by themselves...Once
again, Blow Up Hollywood captured my imagination with thought
provoking soundscapes and wove an intelligent provocative
story within their music. Intellectual music for everyone,
how many bands are making music like that?"
© Keith "MuzikMan"
Hannaleck-http://www.muzikreviews.com
May 22, 2004
"Overwhelming and astonishingly powerful...Blow Up Hollywood's
full-blown huge sound is a marvel to behold. The songs evolve
slowly, taking on one idea after another without sounding
forced. And when the summation arrives, it's like a revelation
from beyond the veil. Blow Up Hollywood is definitely putting
itself in the running as a truly "important" band."
Aiding and Abetting - July 1st 2004
"This anonymous band inhabits a musical terrain that
can be soncially and rythmically traced to the seminal 1970's
masterpiece "Dark Side Of The Moon". The orchestral
backdrops coupled with acoustic guitars, somnambulent ride
cymbal patterns, instrumental interludes, cosmic effects and
dramatic dynamic shifts all hark back to the heady days of
lava lamps, day glo-posters, and mind altering substances.
The other good news is the songs are as good as their influences.
"Oceans", a sleepy love song embellished with legato
slide guitar textures and celestial harmonies is the centerpiece
here, running the gamut from subtle to bombastic. The title
cut emerges as an epic tale of alienation with an area rock
chorus to kill for. And Goth fans will appreciate the spooky
romance of "being there". For fans of Radiohead,
solo-Dave Gahan/Martin Gore, and Messrs, Waters, Gilmore,
Wright and Mason, this Fake is the real deal."
Tom Semioli - Amplifier - Sept/Oct 2004
"Very heartfelt and expansive in scope, Blow Up Hollywood's
release Fake has an orchestral feel that is hard to ignore.
The production and song construction are first-rate. These
anonymous guys really deserve credit for a piece of artwork
like this." (SJM)
Impact Press - Sept 2004
"Very rarely has a band knocked me completely off of
my noggin and left me speechless. Thanks to a very good friend
and the timely contact of their promotions material, the band
Blow Up Hollyood has done that for me. On first listen, this
album has stunned me in a way that few albums could. It's
an album that - I must preface this - is meant to be heard
in the correct atmosphere. You need to be listening to it
at night, preferrably in a somber mood. You need a great bottle
of wine (red, preferrably). You need the room lit up in candles,
to initiate a mood. You also need someone special besides
you in order to appreciate the power coming out of the speakers.
There are no words to describe the feeling you should get
while listening to this music, but the mood should put you
in the position to receive what BUH is trying to show you."
Michael Ostrich - progscape.com - Sept 2004
"They know how to write the sort of songs that sound
large enough to fill an arena, and with Fake they have created
a virtually flawless album, from the songwriting right down
to the production."
Eddie Fournier - GhettoBlaster Magazine - Sept 2004
////// cd : blow up hollywood
"Blow Up Hollywood is an ambitious project that combines
stark photographic imagery with tactical singer songwriter
performances that come to life via a self-titled 13-track
release. While the amount of information about the project's
performers is mysteriously hidden, there's nothing on this
flawlessly produced disc to be ashamed of. Quite the contrary,
actually, as the crisp delivery of the well written rock ballads
("Kite") have a Counting Crows feel musically with
a more laid back frontman, which adds a touch of sadness to
the entire foray ("It's Not Me") a la Pink Floyd
in the latter years of Roger Waters ("Adrift").
Factor in a slew of mood altering instrumental numbers, which
dually borrow from the playbooks of both Moby and Trent Reznor
("Beyond The Stars") and you've got an electronically
orchestral adventure with depth and heart on your hands."
Reviewed by Mike SOS, pollutedezine.com,
November 2002
Rockbites.com
top 20 records of the year for 2002
"Somber as rain over a funeral, Blow up Hollywood brings
out life’s darker moments through lush orchestrations
and acoustic folksy pop. Just as dark as the album cover indicates,
Blow up Hollywood immerses itself in a feeling that’s
more alone than lonely on tracks like “It’s Not
Me,” where a cascade of pianos compliment dejected, sad-puppy
vocals and strings, and on “Beyond the Stars,” an
instrumental whose melodrama is apt for a major motion picture.
For that matter, the tone throughout the 13 songs on here
is much like that of a movie soundtrack whose songs appear
in the more drama-ridden scenes. It’s a listening experience
that’s not as glum as the music itself."
Reviewed by Omar Perez, altarnative.com,
November 2002
"This music is very intriguing, as dark, brooding, and
haunting as the angel of death itself."
Reviewed by Keith Hannaleck,
Progressive World, July 2002
"Moody pop songs with a whaleload of sonic ideas behind
them. The songs
themselves have a nice flow, blending the diverse sounds into
a solid unit. Some conceptual bands sound contrived. Not these
folks. Not by a long shot."
Reviewed by Aiding and Abetting,
July 2002
"blowuphollywood" seems like an ironic moniker
considering that the
project comes across as a soundtrack for a film noir . . .
though, ahem, certainly not a Hollywood film score. This music
is somehow simultaneously as disturbing as it is beatific,
conjoining dirgelike acoustic guitars, surrealistic strings
and languorous vocal harmonies into tone poems which literally
follow one individual's ethereal passage into afterlife. The
mystery is reinforced by the artists' decision to reveal no
credits, names or photos, a surprisingly egoless kowtow to
the art considering the incredible professionalism of this
production. Fans of Lisa Gerrard or Sigur Rós will
like this."
Reviewed by Alan Fark, Minor
Seventh, July 2002
"While there is a bunch of ethereal, instrumental music
that seems
cinematically inclined, this self-titled disc from Blow Up
Hollywood takes things a step further, serving as a literal
soundtrack for a film in the works. In the future, the band
will score the film live as it's projected on three screens
in front of audiences. Based on the music, one expects an
evocative, eerie B & W kind of film, with its plotline
about a boy who dies and has a trip to Heaven interrupted
by detours to Purgatory and Hell."
Reviewed by Suite101.com, July
2002
"blow up hollywood is a stark and thoughtfully composed
meditation on death, dying, life and the afterlife, featuring
plaintiff pianos, viably poignant vocals and mournful strings
that quickly and consistently carve the path for clarity and
introspection. It's hard to find words for a release this
fresh and intelligent, so it's probably best to say that this
is an absolute essential meant for those who wish to brace
both beauty and sadness.
Reviewed by Jedd Beaudoin,
ytsejam.com August 2002
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