Without question, no other band’s success has benefited more from being featured in the Guitar Hero video games.

Rise Against are a good band and please no one call them an emo band. They have more in common with melodic hardcore punk than emo. Still I hate it when bands are political and put it in thier songs, but I’ll judge them on the music and not the politics.

They definitely didn’t become big from guitar hero. Sure Prayer of the Refugee might have helped them pick up more fans, but they were huge before appeal to reason came out (re-education through labor on Gh4)

TheCoz > I couldn’t disagree more. RA have been popular for a lot longer than their Guitar Hero 3 appearance. They’ve been around too long, released too many albums and toured too many time for GH to be a factor. DragonForce’ recent success has much more to do with GH than RA.

This is mainly directed at TheCoz. Are you talking about Rise Against? Because what you said is grossly inaccurate. What about Dragonforce? A band that sucks live, has no stage presence, and yet everybody and their sister has “Through the Fire and Flames” in their music library because they know some guy who can play it on expert. Rise Against have stuck to their beliefs, stayed true to their fans, and have constantly improved their live shows. Sure, GH may have garnered a few bandwagon fans, but that is nothing compared to the diehard, long time fans who support the band as much as they do.

Dude Man, they’re a punk band. Not to be rude, but how can you expect them not to be political in their music?

I would be very dispointed if Rise Against went on High School Musical, like Tim said, its not them(at all). Being the diehard Rise fan that I am I know what they write about, and it’s not ALL about politics. It’s punk and everything but people like the Rolling Stone don’t know EVERYTHING about punk. So they just ask him dumb questions.
-ROCK ON FOREVER RISE!
Billy G

Rise Against is such an amazing band… there success has not at all been becouse of guitar hero… they write good music that actually matters and people like that and tim has such a unique voice… i agree dragonforce is definitely the most benefited band

This song is atrocious, it portrays the amereican soldiers that keep our asses comfortable safe, and naive at home while they are out there everyday risking their lives, as savage beasts. Sure we have bad apples, but to go as far as to portray our soldiers like this is un-American. remeber in war there is only one way to win. As for the media, i would rather not our kids see the mangled bodies, that were blown up by roadside bombs ad terrorists. Maybe someday people will learn, reality is what it is, no amount of anti war wishful thinking will change this, theese people would and have done the same to us. If your ready to be a martyr and let people kill you because you believe that war is not correct, step up to the firing line. As far as im concerned Any american that risks his or her life for our country is a hero in my book. i am tired of hearing how wrong we are, the anti american semitism is all around the world, we dont need it trickling into our mainstream media, that would destroy that which somany have worked for. Good and Freedom. Remember Hitler, yeh WE stopped him, when no one else could. A policy of no war just does not work, if we isolate ourselves and dont protect our rights, who will?

It is RIDICULOUS that the guys in Rise Against have the audacity to say that American soldiers aren’t heroes. I would really like to see them go to war. I honestly doubt they would get through it. I will never buy their music ever again because of this. If weren’t for American soldiers, the United States would not be the country it is today.

I hate this

This singer is the biggest pussy in the world and I now hate him. He sees this song is “just telling a story”. But what story. I doubt he knows anyone who’s gone to war and had a story like this. I oubt he knows many military people in general because if he did he wouldn’t talk like this. He writes a song like this but doenst have the balls to ever go off and fight himself. I will never support rise against from here on. God bless our troops and god bless america.

There is a tremendous difference between supporting people who volunteer to serve in the military and “soldier worship.” Respect is due and admirable. But soldier worship is an evil that characterizes nations slipping into political death. This song is controversial. It portrays a beating of a POW and the questionably justifiable killing of a civilian in a combat area. These are both realities of war in general and the war in Iraq is no exception. The charcater in the song is a good person confronted with bad situations. The song isn’t disrespectful and if anything points to the inate humanity of the soldier. If you are a soldier worshipper rather than a patriot you won’t understand that. Yes, I have served and been to war. I found the song painful and pointed but moving and true at a lot of levels.

In this video, I see no evidence that this band has familiarity with or knowledge about the military. As far as I can tell, they get their information from “Mother Jones” and “The Nation.” It appears that they simply wanted to make a political statement rather than be a responsible contributor to an issue.

The song is written as if detainee abuse is somehow typical or accepted in Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s not. Detainee abuse has happened, but it is not common and it is very much forbidden by the military. The Army will put you in prison for doing the things that are described in this video. So why sing a song misrepresenting the situation?

I have no problems with speaking your mind and criticizing the military, but if you obviously are doing it from a position of naivete or ignorance, then your opinion should receive a commensurate level of recognition.

I dont know what your talking about misrepresenting the army if like you said it does go on. If something is against the rules it does not mean it is not done. Torture and citizen’s being killed are very much a reality of war. They are not misrepresenting anything in this song.

the song never says that detainee torture happens regularly but it does happen. the band is anti-war not anti-soldier, i cant beleve people can just automatically hate something just cause they dont completely get the message that this stuff does happen and how someone would react to it.

I’ll be honest. I love this song beyond reason. no joke the first time I heard it i cried. i’m not a soldier. i just turned 18. and yes i am against war. but this song does speak the truth and its a truth that does need to be heard. they wrote this song based on information they gathered from soldiers and veterans from the iraqi war, so you can’t say its fake. you can’t say that the torture is “rare” because they put it in the song, and if they did they must have heard about it alot from alot of veterans. I’m not an anti soldier person. I am thankful that there are people in this country that would fight to protect it. but at the same time a war isn’t the answer. we just end up killing more than we save. wars have psychological effects on soldiers. people need to understand that. you could go to war a happy guy and come back a complete mess. it screws you up. the things you see, the decisions you have to make, its just plain horrible. i hope i never have to go to a war. yea it’d be to protect the ones i love, but i’d basically be forced into it. i don’t want to fight in a war, i just want to protect the ones i love.

i think people should listen to the song not just once, but again and again to really get the meaning. i showed the video (downloaded off itunes) and at first he hated it but i told him to listen to it a few times and then he started getting it. what started as anger ended in tears. its a powerful song that deserves the utmost attention.

also this song isn’t aimed towards just americans imo. i think its also aimed towards all countries. in every war soldiers are forced to make decisions they don’t want to make (the shooting of that girl in the video). i think this song relates to all wars throughout history, in which the soldiers in those wars were opposed to what was going on behind the scenes but did them anyways because they thought it was the right thing to do. so plz no “oh you guys are anti-american” no its anti WAR this song relates to everyone because i think all soldiers, no matter what country they’re from, have felt those types of feelings.

keep doing what you’re doing, RA. You guys are doing the right thing. I like your style alot, and you guys are slowly moving up to my top 10 favorite bands. Keep up the good work.

i use to jam out the bands music,(use to) u fucking sell out wanna be green day bitches, i already broke your old albums but plan to rip off all ur new shit and pettle it to other self serving fucks like urselfs so u get no money, haha. good job on lookin like asses and loosing ur fan base, yes we will make a big deal out of this fuck u and ur supporter (yes thats all u little bitches trying to defend this shit, and the band) eat shit, shit it out and eat it again.. ps fuck UUUUUUzzzzz.

I am…
a soldier…
thankful that this song was written…
relieved that my feelings can be heard…
proud that I have served in and out of the box…
ashamed that we have not learned from our mistakes…

Late to it, but still stunned the moment I listened to this poetic song. Further shocked by how many perceptions are expressed by folks in response to a clearly delivered message. No wonder there are so many conflicts in the world when a music video telling a story can result in such a range of feelings and even anger? Seriously people. Appreciate the message and challenge yourself for some objectivity. It is a masterfully delivered opinion, stimulating emotion and you have a hard earned liberty to critique it, but to attack it or become disturbed… You disrespect your own intent? One of the best musical preseation ever. I am thoroughly impressed.

When I started hearing the song I though wow how powerful I started to write the name down so I get buy it… but then it continued, and the lyrics began to distrub me. As a soldier I know certain things happen. I also know that if those things are made known that it is delt with harshly. It is not even close to the “norm”, so I really wish this song wouldn’t have gone in that direction because I would have enjoyed it. And the civilian that was shot (in the song)..terrorist do not care who gets hurt, they often use objects they know can get close to soldiers. in vietnam it was not uncommon for a dog to come up with a explosive strap to it, or a child to come hand a soldier a hand grenade with the pin pulled. If a soldier (or even a police officer locally) tells you to stop and you dont stop, be prepared for the worst because we will do what he must to protect ourselves. regardless if she was innocent, she should have stopped, if I cant tell that you dont have a weapon and you keep approaching after I tell you to stop…sorry to say…its your own fault. Like I said I wish this song had gone in a different direction. Sometimes if you would put yourselves in our shoes you might understand.

In the Army, you don’t go along with something that you see is wrong, like torture or abuse of any kind. Those people are found quickly and punished severely.
Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
INTEGRITY
Person al Courage

People in the military, especially the ones kicking in doors don’t wear that uniform for the hell of it.

Those that have broke the laws of war have been punished severely. Remember the Gitmo picture of the female soldier with the tied up suspect…look her up. See what she’s doing now and how her life is.

Rise Against is just a far left pacifist band that wants it’s money.

I’m active and i serve you’ the general population that have an opinion.I on the other hand tend to lack an opinion and I’m fine with that but I can tell you I’m not blind and what I see is a bunch of ungrateful citizens unaware of the sacrifice and intentions of young men who have nothing but desire to serve and protect the familys of this country while contributing there lives with out hesitation mean while people like you belittle there very existence shame on yall– support “Avenge seven fold”god bless our freedom and feel free to have an opinion but I hope it changes as you become more aware of life and its unfair ways…grow up””

I really am amused by how many people here are so angry by this song, and saying how all of it was made up. If you look into the writing of the song you’ll see that it was written all from soldiers stories that were told. They are also not portraying the soldiers as horrible people they are simply showing what real war is like and what those people are going through. Also for the people that are all pissed that Rise is not as punk as they used to be and are saying how they will break their albums…all that is saying is that you are not a real fan and simply take music for its face value. I personally love this song and believe it was written perfectly. Have a nice day.

I am in the US Navy… love this song and what it portrays. THE TRUTH. You guys don’t know what it’s like in war so don’t be putting this band down unless you’ve been there. They are anti-war just like everyone else in the world. People like you negative poo-poo heads are the reason we are in war to begin with THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! Maybe if you would I wouldn’t be in the navy sending off birds to bomb idiotss in the middle east.

*proud to be an American.

* They are anti-war like everyone else in the world SHOULD BE… excuse me for leaving out the SHOULD BE.

On Rememberance day (Canada’s Veterana Day), my 15 year old daughter posted the lyrics on Facebook under the heading “lest we forget” As a retired member of Canadian Army I was insulted. Do not for one moment think that these lyrics cannot influence our young to be anti-soldier. I am old enough to remember how the anti-war movement during Vietnam turned on America’s Soldiers. We even felts the negative effects in Canada. As soldiers we try to learn from mistakes of the past, I think its about time that Pop Artists learn from the mistakes in their past.

This guy is not a hero, he is a war criminal. I guess why I am reacting negatively to this song is, this band is using a soldiers criminal actions and no-win situation to attack the establishment. This band is able to do so due to the freedom paid for in soldiers blood. Want to effect change in the establishment? Fine, but leave the people that have sacrificed so much out of it.

The troops returning are Heroes and should not have their sacrifice questioned by those who do not have the fortitude to serve.

if you listen to all the words..it goes on both the bad and good of war. sometimes the military will make mistakes…but regardless EVERY Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman is proud of america and proud to keep YOUR freedom..and this song say perfectly…just remember its not about anti war or military its to let everyone know whats really going on and how we can help the military when they get back from war.

usmcdevildog; if you look at the Raise Against Web-Site, they claim they are anti-war. This song says nothing good about War. Having been a career soldier I agree that there is nothing good about War. After all its is our Brothers and Sisters in arms that are dying. If this song was written by a soldier it would be different, but this song was written by someone who wanted to attack the establishment and they used fake stories about soldiers to do so. Do not think the story is fake….who in the military but the MP’s carry batons? Ask a Vietnam Vet about his reaction to these lyrics. I know my comrades in Arms, who in the 80’s were ordered not to wear our uniforms off base, are deeply offended by this song. It brings back too many memories when the anti-war movement levelled its attacks at us.

Face it, most of the people posting have no clue of what the military’s purposes and values are. I don’t either, but people who falsely believe that American soldiers are the noble peacekeepers they are portrayed as on right wing media such as FOX are not seeing the entire truth.