This should have been one of the best records of 2004. Instead, the brothers Berlin endured a year-and-change of label-politics hell before Ahead of the Lions got to see daylight. But the wait was worth it, and the timing, ironically, has been perfect. Living Things wage righteous warfare on a nation blinded by fear and frozen with doubt, surging through the disco-AC/DC banzai of "Bom Bom Bom" and the Nirvana-metal ire of "On All Fours" with the vintage revolutionary zeal of the MC5 -- no great shock, as Mama Berlin was a radical activist.

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