Never has there been a soundtrack or compilation that reiterates the current War On Terror like Body Of War: Songs That Inspired An Iraq War Veteran. This two-disc set offers up tracks from some of rock's giants and the underground elite. Brendan James' "Hero's Song" opens up disc one as it's a mellow refrain with bluesy keyboards and softened accompaniments that honors our brave men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces. Next was Lupe Fiasco's "American Terrorist" as it's a grooving bop of hip-hop with intellectual stimuli as it's honest and strikingly brutal. We continue with Rage Against The Machine's anti-establishment rampage; "Guerilla Radio" as it's what it would be if rap were covered by a rock outfit and done well. Then we go to the forefathers of political rap music as Public Enemy brings us "Son Of A Bush" as Terminator X slams metallic beats from his sound system while Chuck D. and Flavor Flav despisingly rants about President Bush and his administration.

We go from the rap world to hard alternative as Serj Tankian, the prolific front man of System Of A Down screeches away on "Empty Walls" as he laments with a rich operatic tenor backed by a heavy assault of melodic riffs and orchestral sequences describing true brutality. Shuffling onward, we get a trifecta of punk rock as first off is the legendary Bad Religion on "Let Them Eat War" as it's a working man's anthem that will put your fists high up in the air as it's fast-paced and perfectly angst-ridden. Second on the list is Against Me! with "White People For Peace" as it's not as angry, but still speaks on protesting with more sentimental quality added into the aggressive three-chord structures and tight harmonies. Last, but certainly not least is The Bouncing Souls' "Letter From Iraq" as it's straight up beautiful with its rolling licks and rough vocals painting a really nice picture of life.

Dr. Cornell West and Talib Kweli offers up "Bushinomics" as it's an old school rap cut with jazzy samples of piano and clarinet behind a hateful message of how corrupt our government is in their eyes. Following up this is Dialated Peoles' "War" as it's a short; yet sweet array of hip-hop flavor set to capitulated snares, machine gun samples and tough lyrics about this egregious action. Mr. Tankian returns with the group that brought him fame; System Of A Down with one of their hit singles, "B.Y.O.B" as it's both symphonic in its structure and dirty all at the same time as it thrashes during the chorus, but calms down on the refrain and bridge making it sultry and controversial. Finishing up the first disc on this album is Eddie Vedder's live version of "No More" as he embodies late '60s conventional ideals through a stripped-down performance conveying his views on Iraq .

Disc two however, starts with Bruce Springsteen's "Devils And Dirt" as he rolls out with his well-known gravel-filled lyric alongside acoustic guitar telling us about pain and suffering. Up next was Mr. Vedder's legendary grunge band, Pearl Jam with a live track called "Masters Of War" as the crowd that was recorded during this performance ate it up good as they definitely were brutally witty with a simplified approach to their style. Bright Eyes then delivered "When The President Talks To God" as it sounds like a punk trying to be coffee shop cool with the singer/songwriter thing going on here. We go back to the past as "Gimme Some Truth" by John Lennon echoes into our brains with him screaming along wavy guitars and hard-charging rhythms.

More from the classic rock format shines through as Neil Young gives us "The Reluctant Consumer" showcasing his clear falsetto with rocking good riffs and pounding bass lines ranting and raving about the Vietnam War at the time. Blow Up Hollywood gave us something from the pop rock world on "WMD" as it was intricate and quite deep with the swirling moods and electric musical content as the visuals choked you. Kimya Dawson also sparked our interest with "Anthrax" as it was a lulled track filled with her velvety alto and tons of distortion speaking volumes about our materialistic society. Laura Cantrell also brought us from her bag of tracks "Love Vigilantes" as it was a laid-back lazy adult contemporary kind of thing that was refreshing and easy to the senses.

Tori Amos added her contribution to this soundtrack with "Yo, George" as her lilt pixie-like vocal prowess and twinklings of piano struck us and shocked our system as it told us about the deceptions of a federal bureaucracy gone wrong. Roger Waters was up and he came with "To Kill The Child" as it was quite soulful and fun with R&B songbirds and psychedelic lyrical abilities that he's been known for since his days in Pink Floyd. Tom Waits rounds out this release with "Day After Tomorrow" as he introduces his raspy growl in one sense, his heart in one hand and a guitar in the other. If you're a conservative, you might not enjoy the messages being offered on this disc, but if you're a fan of some of these artists, you'll like this one and if you're a liberal, you'll definitely enjoy this 100 percent throughout. Body Of War: Songs That Inspired An Iraq War Veteran brought out its strong propaganda and slogans with all genres in the realm and gave us something to think about.