HardCore and Encore

If I had to keep a hardcore album? The Shape of Punk to Come of Refused, obviously, because it has everything this album: (! And yes) of intelligent aggression of musical exploration, melodic grace, humor also ... And yet, by diverting the title of a legendary album Ornette Coleman, Swedish had put the bar high, very high.
What's even crazier is that nothing a priori no indication this leap forward, this sonic revolution, the group that had previously not exactly shone for his tremendous originality. Obviously, Song To Fan The Flames Of Discontent, two years earlier, had impressed for his passionate approach, power unconventional but not really for its uniqueness, an excellent album yes, an exceptional album not. So, here's The Shape of Punk to Come, an opus where creative freedom is associated with compositional excellence. Of course, there is the single, flawless and relentless New Noise and electronic additions welcome boost from a composition both catchy and aggressive, a triumph. But it is far from all Refused giving way to all his desires, all his extravagances like a Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull and Protest Song '68 where 5 alternately blow hot and cold, a Liberation Frequency or Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine to almost pop and yet still paces furiously harcore a Tannhäuser / Derived where, with the assistance of a cello, the other boys and not plunge into the art-punk post-rock trend with a class and a talent that leaves speechless, or a The Apollo Program Was a Hoax to unexpected gaits slo-core. The rest of the cake, more typically "core" is not so far as to neglect the group, without seeming to touch it, to create a hybrid where their original genre is alive and well but also as fuel for realistic and successful artistic ambitions. In short in a thousand? A Rolls this album!
The Deluxe edition, recommended if you do not have this indispensable, offers a bonus for capturing good quality recorded at a festival in their homeland in April 1998. A great way not only to prolong the experience but also to find out what the group did before via excerpts from his two previous albums and a documentary about the journey of these guys out of the ordinary.
At last, after some reunion concerts sold as exceptional, Refused will indeed be back in early summer with her, only the fourth album, Freedom. To say that much is expected of this recurrence 17 years after discgraphique undeniably holds an understatement. Meanwhile, you can immerse yourself in this exciting Shape of Punk to Come, which has not only not aged but remains at the forefront of a genre, hardcore, or the misfits of their kind are not legion. In a word? Required!

CD 1 - Album
1. Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull 7:05
2. Liberation Frequency 4:08
3. The Deadly Rhythm 3:34
4. Summerholidays vs. 4:01 Punkroutine
5. Bruitist Pome # 5 1:25
6. New Noise 5:08
7. The Refused Party Program 2:38
8. Protest Song '68 4:32
9. Refused Are F ** in 'Dead 5:08
10. The Shape of Punk to Come 5:06
11. Tannhauser / Derive 8:07
12. The Apollo Programme Was a Hoax 4:13

CD 2 - Bonus
Live at Umeå Open festival (April 3, 1998)
1. The Shape of Punk to Come 4:38
2. The Refused Party Program 1:28
3. Circle Pit 2:48
4. Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull 5:31
5. Hook, Line and Sinker 2:51
6. Summerholidays vs. 3:54 Punkroutine
7. Rather Be Dead 3:42
8. Burn It 2:33
9. The Deadly Rhythm 4:05
10. Coup of State with 5:10
11. New Noise 4:48
12. Tannhäuser 7:30

Dennis Lyxzén - vocals
Kristofer Steen - guitars, drums
Jon Brännström - guitars, samples, programming, synthesizers
David Sandström - drums, melodica
Magnus Björklund - bass guitar, cello
&
Torbjörn Näsbom - violin
Jakob Munck - upright bass
Pelle Henricsson - tambourine