Title: Rebel
Artist: The Wallflowers: Rebel, Sweetheart
With over 6 million records sold and 2 Grammy’s under their belts, The Wallflowers have released their fifth album and first with producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen). Rebel, Sweetheart is the welcome re-introduction to a grown up rock & roll band with a renewed sense of purpose. The Wallflowers have created an album that yearns for clarity while reflecting the world’s complexity– these are songs written by a man and performed by a band that’s already lived a little. From the powerful expression of hope on the first single "The Beautiful Side Of Somewhere" to the moodily stunning "We’re Already There", Rebel, Sweetheart is poised to be the most focused and accomplished album of their career.
Review by
JACOB SAHMS
Rebel, Sweetheart kicks off with the war all around in “Days of Wonder,” as the Wallflowers recognize the affects of their environment, regardless of how much they might like to ignore it. The optimism to rise above situations permeates the album, but the recognition of the negative environment remains, a dense fog through which hope must penetrate.
As “The Passenger” headed straight to oblivion, the Wallflowers sarcastically dismiss themselves of any fault, “ Adam took the apple, I was not involved/I’m not responsible for how lost we are.” Jakob Dylan’s throaty vocals suggest that the band knows they’re part of the overall problem but are unsure how to be part of the solution. Still, in “The beautiful side of somewhere,” hope comes sparkling through: With the realization that “ tomorrow is gonna make you cry/it’s gonna make you kneel,” he is “ ready to wake up/there in the exodus/on the beautiful side of somewhere.” The present may be bitter but there still appears somewhere to wake up, safe and happy—but first come the tough blows that force a person to prayer.
Rebel, Sweetheart dives back into sad reflection and disillusionment in “Here he comes/confessions of a drunken marionette,” where having a guilty conscience means that you at least have one and “ what you give is what you get/these days I worry about your debt.” The divine is mentioned in “We’re already there,” but not because hope has triumphed in any way. Still worse, “God says nothing back” and He is joined by time, love, and death—none of the big guns have anything to add to humanity’s pain other than ‘I told you so.’
I still found the last round of songs to be the optimistic ending to a contemplative journey through ups and downs, doubts and belief. In “From the bottom of my heart,” Dylan sings, “ From the bottom of my heart/A battle will come/From the depths/Into the rays of the sun.” Granted, this heart is waging war against itself, but whose isn’t? If the darkness is all about, success must be found in the warmth of the sun—the Son of God, I’m forced to ask? There is sarcasm left, too, as “How far you come,” seems to be an anthem to the self-pitying. “ It’s okay to believe that you’re not good enough/God is not angry, not blind, deaf or dumb/He knows how far you’ve come.” Bravo for mediocre? I agree with the assessment of God…but the tongue-in-cheek of Adam’s sole responsibility rings in again here.
As “All things new again” rises up at the end of the album, the cyclic rise and fall of human action, emotion, and journey ring out from Dylan’s mouth. “ New heaven over a brand new sky/new breed of wonder on the vine/among the living/there is new promise in this night,” sings Dylan, possessing “ a new will to honor all God’s creations.” Bitterness has been overcome, with a lesson for us all: the bigots need to lay down their bias, the greedy their desire for more, the careless their wastefulness, etc.—if all God’s creations will be truly honored. With the end of the old, the new begins, with new chances, opportunities, and journeys to make, all under the watchful eye of the Creator God.
