PAUL MAGED “Culture War”

Self released, 2020

Music: Alternative Rock

Website: https://paulmaged.com/home
Duration: 37:00 minutes (10 tracks)
Country: U.S.A

Politics and Music go well together! Because, as far as I know, many bands having a lyrical drought often turn towards political commentary to have something worthwhile to share with their fans. This works both ways, right?! Bands have quality lyrics, while the fans have something to think about what is happening around the world. It is like using your music as a vehicle to send messages. Genius! However, their are only a fee bands that do this correctly. The rest tend to stray from the quality of music they put, but only focus on the hate commentary. To be honest, that keeps me away from exploring this particular league of musicians. But, the world is small, so is music! As an avid Punk Rock aficionado, I end up listening to such acts while randomly searching for new artists.

This time around, I was fortunate enough to come across Paul Maged. Only getting into his music this year, I was not sure about his discography, and whether he is write protest songs regularly. For the sake of brevity, I’ll stick with his latest record – his fifth, “Culture War”. The release date of the album coincidentally matches with the U.S Elections, November 3. Talking about his musical style, it varies from being hard rock to punk rock to even Pop. But, the most interesting part about him is his songwriting.

Paul might as well be one of the hardest working musicians that I have heard of. Although I haven’t met him(I’d love to, if I get a chance), from what I have read, he spends hours of time penning down his thoughts and converting them to quality lyrics. There is a song on this album, “We Are” – that was written right after he finished watching the Lady Gaga starter, “Star is Born”. Sonically, it is nothing more than your regular pop ballad, but the mood it sets, is very different. Hold on to your horses, this is NOT a pop album. To speed things up, listen to “Cult 45”. An anthemic punk song that will surely keeps your adrenaline pumping! If that’s not quite your tempo, the title track will surely capture your attention. “Culture War” is an unapologetic protest song that pretty much sums up what is happening around the world(or the United States of America).

“Culture War” is one of those albums that make you respect the musician for their hard work. Quality music is like a dessert that comes with the main course comprising of the efforts. Just want to put this story that I read online – Paul had already finished writing the “Lose Your Privilege” – a song about White Privelege. But, when he heard about the devastating George Floyd incident, he went back to change some lines to pledge his support and pass a message. A great album from an elite musician. Hoping to hear more from him, and a bit more from the instrumentation section(more solos, please!)

Tracklist:

1. Culture War
2. Simplicity
3. Lose Your Privilege
4. We Are
5. Shine On Your Light
6. Cult 45
7. Jeanie Is A Rockstar
8. Illusions
9. The Saturday Scene
10. When Dreams Don’t Come True

Line-up:

Paul Maged: Vocals and Producing

Rate: 8.0/10