You Pay Your Money And You Take Your Chance Live
Recorded live at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin in May 1997, this EP deftly demonstrates Cockburn's ability to discuss politics without resorting to the sort of dull pedantry that usually overtakes such discussions.  As a Canadian singer-songwriter of great renown, he's moved away from the plaintive folk approach and injected his music with unusual rhythmic bounce, allowing synthesizers and other modern technology emblematic of world decline to color his world as he rails against it. The title says it all: "Call it Democracy," "Stolen Land," "Fascist Architecture." This is one serious dude.--Rob O'Connor