Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge

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Decades after its release, Babylon's Burning has lost none of its energy, menace or relevance. The angry lyric, explosive guitars and Malcolm Owen vocals combine to make the perfect punk song. Why is Babylon being destroyed? Because she has become a dwelling place for demons; because she has caused the nations of the earth to commit adultery with her; because the merchants of the earth have grown rich with her excessive luxuries; and because the blood of the prophets and of God's holy people was shed within her – the slaughtered of the earth. In other words Babylon was a place of violence, injustice, inequality and oppression. Rome's brothels were filled with sex slaves; infanticide and abortion were common and thousands were killed for entertainment in the blood-filled amphitheatres. Two retrospective live albums appeared in 2006. Get Out of It!! featured eighteen songs including a sexually-themed early number by the band, "Gotta Little Number" (also titled "Stepping Bondage") from a London Marquee show on 19 July 1979 (these recordings have also surfaced as Marquee 1979 and Ruts 1979 – Marquee Club). Live at Deeply Vale, featured thirteen songs from a July 1978 performance recorded at the free Deeply Vale festival that was held annually near Bury, Greater Manchester.

On 21 June, the group made their appearance on the BBC's Top of the Pops when the single slipped into the Top 40. A nervous-looking Dave Lee Travis introduced the song with the old-school producers allegedly in a panic behind the scenes fearing it might actually inspire riots. A stylised flame, using primitive computer graphics, appeared at the bottom of the screen. The clean-cut Owen, dressed in a yellow shirt and faded blue jeans, gave a great performance, helping the single move onto the cusp of the Top 20. Another appearance saw the single crash into the Top 10. As the song began its ascent of the charts, Malcolm Owen gave an interview to NME in which he described his experiences of heroin. A year later, while trying to clean up, he tragically died from an accidental overdose and punk forever lost its lead vocalist. Who mourns the fall of Babylon? It is the kings of the earth and the merchants who lament. John is using Ezekiel's prophecy against Tyre by stressing the merchants and the traders (Ezekiel 26 and 27). Paul Fox obituary". The Times. 27 October 2007. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008 . Retrieved 20 August 2022. brought Something That I Said – The Best of the Ruts album (re-released in March 2003 and on EMI Gold in 2005). [1]In 1987, BBC label Strange Fruit collected together the group's three Radio One sessions for The Peel Session Album: The Ruts. Live albums soon followed, including BBC Radio One in Concert (Windsong) recorded at London's Paris Theatre on 7 July 1979, The Ruts Live (Dojo) and Live and Loud! (Link). [1] 1990s and later [ edit ] Rebellion Festivals Ltd - Independent Punk and Alternative Music Festival". Rebellionfestivals.com . Retrieved 21 April 2019. Babylon's Burning Reconstructed (2005) was an album-long tribute to the band's most famous song, remixed sixteen different times by Die Toten Hosen, Don Letts, Dreadzone and the Groove Corporation. The wide range of remixes included beatbox, drum and bass and ambient reworkings.

a b c d e Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. Albeit in non-specific terms, vocalist Malcolm Owen’s zeitgeist-capturing lyrics (“The spark of fear is smoldering with ignorance and hate”) also chimed with the simmering inner-city tension that gripped Britain in 1979: a year when issues such as escalating unemployment and the rise of the far-right-inclined National Front were hitting the headlines. It is not just that Rome is corrupt – it is that she has taught others to do the same. The foundation of modern morality seems to be that we are free to do whatever we want as long as it does not harm others. The trouble is that when we do evil, it does inevitably involve and harm others, not least by teaching them to do the same thing. In all of this the message for Christians is the message of James – 'You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near' (James 5:8). We live in a broken world, which we cannot fix and which will not be fixed by any simplistic political, economic or religious solutions. But we do not despair because there is the promise of justice, regeneration and renewal. His kingdom will come, his will shall be done. Ancient storage jars, believed to be from ancient Babylonia, are displayed during an exhibition at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, February 3, 2015. ReutersThe results of the fall of Babylon are devastating. In a society built on consumption and consumed with entertainment, suddenly there is no more music – no harpists, musicians, pipers and trumpeters. There are no builders and architects. It is the destruction of creativity. And of marriage. There are no weddings. Again the irony is that when we focus on the fruits rather than the roots, we lose both. EXCLUSIVE – Unseen Pics Of The Ruts in North Wales". Link2wales.co.uk. 28 August 2018 . Retrieved 21 April 2019. On 25 January 2008, Henry Rollins presented The Gig, a short film about the 2007 benefit gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. The event, in support of Macmillan Cancer Support, was accompanied by live performances from Alabama 3, T. V. Smith, members of the Members, the Damned's Captain Sensible and Beki Bondage. The riff is obviously a classic from the moment you hear it. The chorus is brilliant, the vocals are amazing and the end section where it feels as though the notes are going to go up and up, forever and ever, is one of the most exciting pieces of music I will ever play.