Songs And Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11
Filmmaker/political provocateur extraordinaire Michael Moore's marketing instincts have often proven the equal of his amusingly skewed agitprop. Here, theFahrenheit 9/11director offers up the diverse slate of pop and rock he claims inspired him and his crew as they were toiling on the anti-Bush administration documentary that became 2004's most unlikely blockbuster. The opening duet of Little Steven's "I Am a Patriot" and Springsteen's live take on "Chimes of Freedom" underscores the deep love of America Moore insists drives him and his work. The latter's writer, Bob Dylan, understandably becomes one of the collection's focal points, via his own rendition of the pointed "With God on Our Side" and Pearl Jam's brooding 2003 live acoustic cover of "Masters of War." Other stand-outs range from a muscular live take of John Fogerty's tone-setting "Fortunate Son" and the country-punk crunch of Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts Now" to the Dixie Chicks' folksy "Travelin' Soldier" and the techno-thrash of Rage Against the Machine's Zack De La Rocha's new cut, "We Want It All," while the inclusion of Justin Timberblake and Black Eyed Peas' hip-pop "Where Is the Love" underscores just how shrewd Moore's marketing sense really is.-- Jerry McCulley