Knight Rider for Liberty

For this Libertarian Rock Spotify playlist, I have two words: Knight. Rider.

(For sensitive listeners, this playlist does have some naughty words and titles.)

Check the playlist out here.

ArtistSongComments
David HasselhoffOpen Your EyesWhen the guy from Knight Rider is telling you to open your eyes, you LISTEN.
BackwordzYou, Are You
Crazy Eighty-EightKilling in the name
Diamond HeadNo RemorseAnother day, another death
Dillinger Escape PlanHighway Robbery “I suppose you thought you had our hands behind our back, the wool over our eyes”
Dream TheaterLord Nafaryus
HavokUnnatural Selection
Iron MaidenThe Trooper
Killswitch EngageThe Crownless KingBow to no one
LeahRuins of Illusion
MegadethPeace Sells
Alice CooperShut Up and RockThere is something to be said about not contaminating your music with dumb polical views.  Just get back to playing rebellious, anti-establishment rock riffs.  Paradoxically, this is political.  Oh well.
Bob DylanMasters of War
DoorsUnknown Soldier
KinksGive The People What They WantIsn’t this the M.O. of all elected politicians?  Votes in exchange for power.
Louis ArmstrongThe Real AmbassadorLouis Armstrong was hired by the US Government to tour eastern Europe to promote American ideals against communism at a time when Jim Crow laws were still in force.
Randy NewmanSail AwayFor the record, slavery is bad.  Pretty vicious satire.
Dominic FrisbyFuck the Government
The WailersGet Up, Stand Up
EconStoriesFear the Boom and BustMake sure you look up the video on YouTube
Rag’N’Bone ManHumanGovernments tend to put blame on people that are not guilty.  See my blog post about this song
Anti-FlagPower to the Peaceful
Anti-Nowhere LeagueLet’s Break the LawTo paraphrase MLK, “Immoral laws should be disobeyed.”
Bad ReligionLet Them Eat War
Dead KennedysGovernment Flu
Delta 5Mind Your Own Business
GoldfingerOpen Your Eyes
Green DayBack in the USA
MxPxYour Problem, My EmergencyGovernments find lots of problems (some real) and turn them into emergencies
NOFXFuck Euphemism
PennywiseLand of the Free?Free to control your life
Alter BridgeThe Writing on the Wall
Black SabbathChildren of the Grave
Blues TravelerSupport Your Local Emperor
Corporate AvengerVoting Doesn’t Work 
ExtremePoliticalamityAsk not what your country can do to a one world governmental zoo
Freak KitchenMorons
IncubusMegalomaniac
Jordan PageVictory Song
Killing JokeAutonomous ZoneCacophony, lovely ear-splitting noise
With wild abandon, give freedom a voice
Living outside of the grid is the goal
Misery lies at the heart of control
Matt BankertSend In the TanksEverything in this song is a true story.
The MenzingersAmerica (You’re Freakin’ Me Out)
MuseRuled By Secrecy?
Owen GlassThe Rope
Paul McCartneyFreedom
RushSomething For Nothing
SkilletIt’s Not Me It’s You
SoundgardenPretty Noose
The Last InternationaleFreedom
They Might Be GiantsYour Racist Friend
ThriceWake up
Zama RripaStone of Freedom
Tatiana MorozPlayin the Cards

Stay Inside for Good with Libertarian Rock

Libertarian Rock

What is the mood for this latest playlist? I suppose there are a good amount of songs addressing the recent peaceful and non-peaceful protests, like songs from MxPx, Alice Cooper, Machine Head, Muse, Owen-Glass, Rodriguez, Jordan Page, and yours truly. If you’re still in a COVID-19 lockdown mood, there is a pertinent song from Incubus.

Artist Song Comments
Dominic Frisby National Anthem of Libertaria
Backwordz The Great Equalizer
Black Label Society Empty Promises “You gave me empty promises with nothing in return.”  Does this sound like any government retirement and disability programs we know?
Crazy Eighty-Eight My Friends, You Bow To No One
Dillinger Escape Plan Hero of the Soviet Union “Conscience came right up to you, And then you threw it back, You are the scum of the earth”
According to Wikipedia “The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.”
Havok Merchants of Death
KMFDM A Drug Against War
Leah Palace of Dreams
Machine Head Stop the Bleeding
3rd World Leader Parasite
Alice Cooper Rats
Beatles Back in the USSR
Johnny Cash After Taxes
Kinks 20th Century Man
Rodriguez Establishment Blues
Leonard Cohen Everybody Knows Everybody knows the dice are loaded
Anti-Flag 911 for Peace
Bad Religion You Are (The Government)
MxPx Fist vs. Tact
Oingo Boingo Capitalism
Pennywise Time Marches On What is our fate? To make the same mistakes that we made yesterday?
The Interrupters Media Sensation
Bumblefoot Planetary Lockdown
Evanescence What You Want I’m everything you can’t control
Eve 6 Leech Suckin’ on my brain
Foo Fighters Holiday in Cambodia featuring Serj Tankian on vocals!
Freak Kitchen Propaganda Pie
Jordan Page Hour of Change
Matt Bankert Send In the Tanks Everything in this song is a true story.
Muse Uprising
Mutiny at Midnight The Beast
Owen Glass Hammer and Sickle
Prophets of Rage Who Owns Who
The Last Internationale Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down

Libertarian Rock – If You Want Blood, You Got It!

The latest Libertarian Rock Spotify playlist is here! Featuring AC/DC, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Owen-Glass, Derek Webb, The Stooges, Against Me, Anti-Flag, Green Day, Muse and these:

ArtistSongDetails
PennywiseWTO“Freedom will prevail” – Some libertarians see the World Trade Organization (WTO) as an unnecessary governmental body and a potential threat to national sovereignty. 
Alter BridgeNative SonNative son in a foreign land
Killing JokeWar on FreedomNo more peaceful demonstrations, militarise the police force
Matt BankertSend In the TanksEverything in this song is a true story.

Perhaps most importantly for the metalheads, we have Havok‘s blistering new album “V” in it’s entirety on the playlist. Do you like the year 1986? Like thrash? You will be in heaven listening to “V”. They don’t win any awards for originality (see Slayer or Testament), but that’s ok – they shred faces to bits and do it as well as anyone ever has. Maybe better, because they are also shredding minds with their truth-telling, anti-establishment lyrics.

Everybody Must Get Stoned! – Libertarian Rock Feb. 2020

“They’ll stone you when you’re at the breakfast table.” – Bob Dylan
Monthly pic - Feb 2020.jpg
Artist Song Comments
Avenged Sevenfold Hail to the King
Backwordz The Professional Protester
Black Label Society Peddlers of Death
Devin Townsend Project March of the Poozers
Dream Theater Prophets of War
Hatebreed All I Had I Gave
Havok Children of the Grave
Iron Maiden Run to the Hills
KMFDM Total State Machine
Megadeth Symphony of Destruction
Metallica Atlas, Rise
System of a Down War?
Thrice The Earth Will Shake
Tool Intolerance You lie, cheat, and steal
Alice Cooper School’s Out
Bob Dylan Rainy Day Women
Buffalo Springfield For What It’s Worth
Edwin Starr War
Hank Williams Mind Your own business
Kinks Apeman
John Lennon Gimme Some Truth All I want is the truth
MC5 American Ruse
rolling stones You Can’t Always Get What You Want “I went down to the demonstration to get my fair share of abuse”
Anti-Flag When You Don’t Control Your Government, People Want to Kill You
Dead Kennedys Government Flu
Delta 5 Mind Your Own Business
Goldfinger King for a Day Making plans to rule the world
Pennywise Fight ‘Til You Die A puppet government
Refused Economy of Death They have a line about capitalists doing the bidding – I know they are not capitalist-friendly guys, but otherwise, I don’t see anything in this song a libertarian couldn’t love. It’s more about crony capitalism than anything else.
Sick of it All The Snake (Break Free)
The Clash Know Your Rights
The Descendents Statue of Liberty
The Interrupters Outrage
The Offspring Meaning of Life
AC/DC Money Talks
Alter Bridge Native Son Native son in a foreign land
Anberlin The Resistance
Bad Wolves No Masters
Bob Murphy Get to Higher Ground
Calling All Astronauts Winter of Discontent
Charlie Daniels Band Long-Haired Country Boy
Corporate Avenger Voting Doesn’t Work
Freak Kitchen Rights to You
Grace Potter Ah, Mary
Incubus Love In A Time of Surveillence
Jane’s Addiction Been Caught Stealing Taxation is theft
Jordan Page & Tatiana Moroz Blowin’ In the Wind
Killing Joke Delete
Matt Bankert Economic Stimulus Blues
Metric Succexy
Muse Psycho
Mutiny at Midnight Starve the State
Owen Glass Paper Chains
Pink Floyd Happiest Days/Another Brick In The Wall
Project 86 Soma
Rush Something For Nothing
SR-71 Politically Correct
The Last Internationale Modern Man
Twisted Sister We’re Not Gonna Take It
U2 Staring At The Sun
Zama Rripa Live Your Thing Check this libertarian artist out – great rootsy rock

The Interrupters, TOOL, and Unpleasant Medical Procedures

Cover song: The Interrupters – Liberty

The Interrupters have a straight-forward pop-punk/ska sound with the novelty of a female vocalist and libertarian subject matter. Great things are happening for them, too: they are touring with a few semi-well-known bands called Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer.

Here is my “Johnny Cash” cover of their song, Liberty:

TOOL – Fear Inoculum

“Washington $%@& DC. This town needs a @#$% enema.” – Maynard James Keenan of Tool the other night before playing the song Ænema.

These TOOL fellows don’t mince words, and they chose their words provocatively. The experience of the TOOL performance recently in Washington DC on their Fear Inoculum tour was a sensory and mental assault of a prog-metal battering ram. The amazing stage effects, the cylindrical video screen that surrounded the performers, the multi-speaker surround-sound PA system distributed throughout the arena all contributed to the amazing night. The disturbing animations on the big screen were a nice compliment – my favorite part was when a flea (or louse?) had an eyeball with squid tentacles emerge from its thorax Alien-style. Of course, the center of it all was the band and their incredible music.

TOOL has something truly unique. There are plenty of other prog-metal bands, but there is only one TOOL. Adam Jones’ chunky, droning guitar riffs and haunting arpeggios and Justin Chancellor’s rhythmic bass riffs serve as the backbone gluing the songs together. Where in typical rock music, the drums serve as the rhythmic backbone, I wonder if this is reversed in TOOL. Though Jones and Chancellor are certainly not slouches in their musicianship, they tend to play simpler, understated, and repetitive progressions throughout the songs. You won’t find any John Petrucci guitar solos here. It is Danny Carey on drums that takes center stage literally as well as musically with his virtuosity and endless flow of improvisation. He is probably the member of the band that lets loose the most and is a constant fixture in the songs. Vocalist Maynard James Keenan is unparalleled for his distinctive, powerful voice, but because the songs tend to have extended instrumental parts, he is not present as often as Carey is.

Whoever the standout member may be, it is safe to say that each musician’s contributions are perfect for what the music needs. The marriage of vocals, bass, guitar and drums in TOOL is such that it doesn’t seem like it could be any other way. Adding another guitarist or keyboardist, or whatever, would actually take away from the musical chemistry they have.

Until the other night, I was only mildly impressed with TOOL’s latest album in about 14 years, Fear Inoculum. It is certainly a standard TOOL “style” and the songs are fine for what they are. However, there didn’t seem to be a stand out song on the album, like Schism or The Pot. The concert has changed my mind, though. Seeing the live performance of several of the tracks felt like that was how they are meant to be heard (and seen). Though I’m quite sure TOOL is anti-religion, I am a believer in Fear Inoculum now. I’d certainly recommend it, with the qualification that it may take you a few listens to really appreciate it.

Don’t forget:

VH1 Behind the Music, not with Matt Bankert

Is VH1 still around even?  Anyway, I wasn’t on VH1, but on the next best thing: YouTube.  Take a peek at this video giving some background on my new song, Enlighten Me:

video tn

Did you miss my song?  Check it out: www.MattBankert.com/enlighten-me

Libertarian Rock playlist

My latest Spotify playlist for November is here!

Artist Song Comments
Tim Hawkins The Government Can
All That Remains A War You Cannot Win
Backwordz Praxeology
Black Label Society Death March Peace through destruction
Dillinger Escape Plan Nong Eye Gong Your voice is the sound of nothing, butcher of every artform, peddler of deceit
Dragonforce War!
Havok I Am The State
Judas Priest Sword of Damocles
Killswitch Engage Know Your Enemy
Megadeth Killing Is My Business
Metallica And Justice for All
Rage Against the Machine Renegade of Funk Tom Paine was a renegade
Sons Of Liberty False Flag
Tool The Pot
Alice Cooper Private Public Breakdown
Bob Dylan I Shall Be Released
Death Politicians in my Eyes
Kinks Shangri-La The life of a retiree on a government pension
Nina Simone I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
Pete Seeger Draft Dodger Rag
Randy Newman It’s a Jungle Out There
Bad Religion The Kids are Alt-Right
Minor Threat Steppin’ Stone
Pennywise Land of the Free? Free to control your life
Sick of it All World Full of Hate
The Interrupters Liberty
Warehouse One Title Pending
Zebrahead Rescue Me
Aimee Allen Ron Paul Revolution
Alter Bridge Native Son Native son in a foreign land
Blacktop Mojo 8000 Lines
Cake Federal Funding
Corporate Avenger Taxes are Stealing
Elton John I Just Can’t Wait to Be King Rehearsed by every politician just before inauguration
Foo Fighters I’ll Stick Around I don’t owe you anything – but what about the social contract?
Incubus Megalomaniac
Jimi Hendrix Stone Free
Jordan Page The Ballad of Lavoy Finicum
Killers The Man They kiss the ring, I carry the crown
Matt Bankert Enlighten Me Pretentious intellectuals are annoying.
Muse Thought Contagion
Mutiny at Midnight Copperheads & Crows

My new song is HERE! – Become Enlightened – Plus, new Spotify playlist

I’m a Simple Man with No PhD

I am pleased to announce that my brand new song, Enlighten Me, is now available universe-wide anywhere you listen to or purchase digital music (emphasis on the purchase)!

I’d love to hear what you think!

Libertarian Rock – October

If one new song is not enough for you, give a listen to October’s Libertarian Rock playlist (which happens to include Enlighten Me)!

Artist Song Comments
Backwordz You, Are You
Devin Townsend Project March of the Poozers
Havok Wake Up
Iron Maiden Powerslave
Megadeth Death From Within
Metallica Don’t Tread On Me
Phinehas Burning Bright
Rage Against the Machine Guerilla Radio
Revocation Dismantle the Dictator
System of a Down War?
Thrice Firebreather
Alice Cooper Lock Me Up
Beatles Back in the USSR
Bob Dylan Disease of Conceit
Kinks 20th Century Man
Pete Seeger Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
The Who Ball and Chain Down in Guantanamo, we still got the ball and chain.
Jacob Banks Unholy War
Leonard Cohen Everybody Knows
Dead Kennedys Government Flu
Five Iron Frenzy Anthem
Motorhead God Save the Queen
Pennywise Revolution
Sick of it All World Full of Hate
The Interrupters Outrage
Warehouse One Wasteland
Alter Bridge Pay No Mind
Chevelle Comfortable Liar
David Hasselhoff Open Your Eyes When the guy from Knight Rider is telling you to open your eyes, you LISTEN.
Jordan Page Until The Race Is Won
Matt Bankert Enlighten Me
Muse Defecter
Robbie Robertson Hardwired People marching for peace, while looking for a fight
Rush The Necromancer
Scissorfight Granite State Destroyer
Smash Mouth Stoned
Soundgarden The Day I Tried to Live “I stole a million beggars’ change and gave it to the rich” – sounds like a certain Central Bank we all know! Isn’t this generally the folly of government programs? If one miscalculation doesn’t work, the solution is to add more and more miscalculations on top of it. “One more time around might do it.”
Switchfoot Politicians
Talking Heads Don’t Worry About the Government
The Last Internationale Hit ‘Em With Your Blues
U2 American Soul
Zama Rripa 6 Ways From Sunday
Tatiana Moroz Evolution to Revolution

Enter the Matt Bankert Music Contest! plus, new Libertarian Rock

Today is your lucky day. First off, there is still time to enter a picture in my music art contest! Follow the directions here and you could win a virtual mini concert with me! Hurry, though! You only have until July 29th!

Second off, here is a brand new Spotify playlist just for you! And whoever else wants to listen to it, so don’t get selfish.