Guns Into Guitars

Album Review

This Detroit-born singer/songwriter isn't shy about conveying his political views and overriding antiwar stance, creating a blistering new twist on the "Give Peace a Chance" idea via the electric guitar explosion behind the biting lyrics of the title track. But he balances his harsh and edgy views of the false gods of this world ("Caravan Shadows," "The Freedom's in Your Head") with kinder, gentler aspirations to think positive. "Into the Blue" weaves a graceful, trippy hypnosis as it takes you to some transcendent place above it all, while "Don't Let It Get to You" comes across as something of an earthy, alt-rock twist on "We Shall Overcome." In the midst, he softens even more on the wistful romantic ballad "Hold Me," which implies that an intimate touch can block out the terror for just a moment. McLeod's strengths are more lyrical then melodic, and what he says has more conviction than the voice that sings it (despite some nice harmonies), but in a long line of activist tradition that begins with the similarly challenged Bob Dylan, this is actually kind of cool. McLeod's is a musical viewpoint that demands to be heard.