Labelling Asian Dub Foundation is always going to be reductive. Are they ethnic electronica? Are they world music's only true punks? The Asian Rage Against The Machine? The British Public Enemy? All of the above, and more.
Wildly ambitious, furiously intelligent, and perfectly realized, this is a world ahead of the monotone RAFI's Revenge, and is Asian Dub Foundation's defining statement. From the 1984-referencing powerhouse "Memory War", to the stark "Colour Line", to the celebratory "New Way, New Life", to the cocky "Rebel Warrior", everything on the record is right on point, as they tackle the political staples (racism, police brutality, war), and reveal themselves as the only band with the balls to write about Britain's immigration 'crisis' in an intelligent manner.
They'd go on to write better individual songs ("Fortress Europe", "1000 Mirrors"), but they never again sounded as vital as they did here.
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