From the Front Lines ; Two New Cds Put a Firsthand Spin On War's Devastation

Summary

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With America immersed in an increasingly controversial war in Iraq and soldiers coming home weekly in body bags, protest music is once again flourishing. In recent months, high-profile artists such as Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Pink, Audioslave, the Flaming Lips and the Roots have addressed the conflict in songs or on entire albums.

Most of that music comes from a second- and third-hand perspective, an outraged response to newscasts and media reports from overseas. But two recent albums break the mold. They address the consequences of war from a more personal vantage point; they're musical bulletins from the front lines.

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From the Front Lines ; Two New Cds Put a Firsthand Spin On War's Devastation

On the Refugee All Stars' debut album, "Living Like a Refugee" (Anti), a ragtag group of musicians and singers who survived Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war tells its story in song, an epic tale of slaughter, exile and redemption. Michael Franti and Spearhead's "Y...

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