CAN MUSIC CHANGE THE WORLD?

Heavy Metal Islam by Mark LeVine seems like an interesting book. It's about heavy metal, and punk, and hip-hop and reggae artists in the Muslim world, who sort of buck the boogie man stereotype. Not to say that they are the majority, but it is an interesting alternate look into the lives of young people in the Middle East.

The author, by the way, is a Jewish guy who has played guitar for Mick Jagger and Dr. John. Read the New York Times review here. The guy who wrote the Times review describes LeVine's vision as "that old-time Lennon/Bono rock idealism reimagined for a post-Cannibal Corpse world, and that's winning on a case-by-case basis."

Funny enough, I read about this book the same week that a Reuters blogger wrote a post asking whether Bruce Springsteen deserves any credit for the fall of the Berlin Wall. I think that may be a bit much. I mean, Bob Dylan didn't end the Vietnam war either, to say he did seems to be an oversimplifcation. But I do think artists inspire people to move on their feelings, so who knows? Predictably, conservative websites are whining about this post already, even attacking Bruce's patriotism, and complaining that he might be taking some credit that is due to Ronald Reagan. Waaaaah.