Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes
Encyclopedia
Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes is the third album
by Canadian
punk rock
band Propagandhi
, released February 6, 2001.
One of the album's tracks, "Back to the Motor League", indirectly refers to two songs by the Dead Kennedys
, "Triumph of the Swill" and "Chickenshit Conformist
", as well the year of their release on the 1986 album Bedtime for Democracy
. The "Back to the Motor League" lyrics state: "fifteen years later it still reeks of swill and chickenshit conformists". Both the Dead Kennedys songs and the Propagandhi track concern the co-opting of punk ideology
by the corporate record industry.
"Purina Hall of Fame" is a reference to the Nestlé
owned pet food company, The Ralston Purina Company. The title is cynical take on the Purina Animal Hall of Fame, a site that celebrates animals who have saved human lives. The lyrics of "Purina Hall of Fame" obliquely outline Propagandhi's concerns about animal cruelty.
. Propagandhi continued this motif of using established artists to provide their cover artwork on their next two albums, Potemkin City Limits
, using a piece by anarchist artist Eric Drooker, and Supporting Caste
, which featured a painting entitled "The Triumph of Mischief" by Kent Monkman
.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Propagandhi
Propagandhi
Propagandhi is a Canadian punk band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba....
, released February 6, 2001.
One of the album's tracks, "Back to the Motor League", indirectly refers to two songs by the Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
, "Triumph of the Swill" and "Chickenshit Conformist
Chickenshit Conformist
"Chickenshit Conformist" is a song by the Dead Kennedys; released on their 1986 album Bedtime for Democracy. It accuses punk rock of becoming "a closed-minded, self-centred social club", and accuses the punks of becoming "chickenshit conformist[s] like [their] parents."The song also mentions the...
", as well the year of their release on the 1986 album Bedtime for Democracy
Bedtime for Democracy
Bedtime for Democracy is the fourth album released by Dead Kennedys. Songs on this album cover such common punk subjects as conformity, Reaganomics, the military, and even criticizing aspects of their own punk movement. The title of the album is a reference to the 1951 comedy film, Bedtime for...
. The "Back to the Motor League" lyrics state: "fifteen years later it still reeks of swill and chickenshit conformists". Both the Dead Kennedys songs and the Propagandhi track concern the co-opting of punk ideology
Punk ideology
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture. In its original incarnation, the punk subculture was primarily concerned with concepts such as rebellion, anti-authoritarianism, individualism, free thought and discontent...
by the corporate record industry.
"Purina Hall of Fame" is a reference to the Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
owned pet food company, The Ralston Purina Company. The title is cynical take on the Purina Animal Hall of Fame, a site that celebrates animals who have saved human lives. The lyrics of "Purina Hall of Fame" obliquely outline Propagandhi's concerns about animal cruelty.
Track listing
- "Mate Ka Moris Ukun Rasik An" – 3:03
- "Fuck the Border" – 1:31
- "Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes" – 2:37
- "Back to the Motor League" (mp3) – 2:40
- "Natural Disasters" – 2:04
- "With Friends Like These Who the Fuck Needs COINTELPROCOINTELPROCOINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
?" – 3:23 - "Albright Monument, Baghdad" – 2:27
- "Ordinary People Do Fucked-Up Things when Fucked-Up Things Become Ordinary" – 2:17
- "Ladies' Nite in Loserville" – 1:45
- "Ego Fum Papa (I Am the Pope)" – 1:38
- "New Homes for Idle Hands" – 1:44
- "Bullshit Politicians" – 1:33
- "March of the Crabs" – 1:56
- "Purina Hall of Fame" – 4:43
Personnel
- Chris Hannah - Guitar, Vocals
- Jord Samolesky - Drums
- Todd KowalskiTodd KowalskiTodd "The Rod" Kowalski is a Canadian electric bassist and singer, currently a member of hardcore punk band Propagandhi. Along with his band, he lives a vegan lifestyle and supports animal rights.-Career:...
- Bass, Vocals
Cover art
The album art is credited to the painting The Unfinished Flag of the United States by American poet Lawrence FerlinghettiLawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
. Propagandhi continued this motif of using established artists to provide their cover artwork on their next two albums, Potemkin City Limits
Potemkin City Limits
Potemkin City Limits is the fourth full length album by the Canadian band Propagandhi, released on October 18, 2005. It was released on the band's own G7 Welcoming Committee Records label in Canada, and Fat Wreck Chords elsewhere....
, using a piece by anarchist artist Eric Drooker, and Supporting Caste
Supporting Caste
Supporting Caste is the fifth full-length album by the punk rock band Propagandhi. It was released on March 10, 2009 through G7 Welcoming Committee Records and Smallman Records in Canada and North America, Hassle Records in the UK and Europe, and Grand Hotel van Cleef in Germany...
, which featured a painting entitled "The Triumph of Mischief" by Kent Monkman
Kent Monkman
Kent Monkman is a Canadian First Nations artist of Cree and Irish ancestry. His works examine the way indigenous American and Canadian history has been presented in art by 19th and 20th Century artists such as George Catlin and Paul Kane, and "constructs new stories through images that take into...
.
External links
- Album lyrics at the official Propagandhi website
- Album information at the G7 Welcoming Committee Records website