As a kid, my first memory of MTV was Genesis' "Land of Confusion". The video was (and still is) one of my favorites.

Recently, Disturbed has covered the song, and subsequently released a supporting video.



Initially, I was skeptical, since "Invisible Touch" is actually my favorite Genesis album (No, I am not kidding. Not only do I like Genesis, I have a favorite album).

I have got to say, I've been pleasantly surprised.

In the original video for "Land of Confusion", The world is depicted as going to hell in a handbasket, with a doddering Ronald Reagan leading the charge of ineptitude.

For those of you too young to remember (hell, I am almost too young to remember), during the 80's we were still in the middle of this little thing called a "Cold War". I won't get too in detail, but it's important enough to know that 'Land of Confusion" is written largely about the "Cold War" and our adversary, The Soviet Union. No, I'm serious, at one point they were our biggest global threat.

Genesis - "Land of Confusion"

And no, that isn't Osama Bin Laden, that's Ayatollah Khomeini

You will notice that these puppets have a very distinct style. In fact, during the "head sequences", a sharp eye will note many famous figures in 80's politics and music. It's a little hard of course with this being a You Tube video, so trust me on it.

The distinct puppets used in the video are from the creators of English show Spitting Image. If you remember the 80's and the associated politics, it's hysterical.

The Disturbed cover is really quite faithful. It doesn't strive to take an old song and "own" it (like Richard Cheese's "Down With The Sickness"), rather it takes a great song and performs it with their own flair and edge.

Personally speaking, my own feelings surrounding Disturbed are that they are a mediocre band with tepid, near cookie cutter, music. However, this particular track is tempting to me go out and buy their new album, even if I know that it's going to disappoint me.



The video is a mixture of CGI and traditional cel style animation, and it works well. The moment you see the first non-rendered character, it's immediately obvious that this is a Todd McFarlane creation.



The video manages to do a wonderful job of capturing the original song/video message and updating it into a more modern tale.

No longer do we face inept leadership in the wake of a "Cold War", instead we are treated to images of in-fighting global leaders. Our fearless leaders are busy in-fighting with each other while they allow Big Corporation to oppress the populace and ruin the world.



My critical pessimistic view of course interprets the videos message as "The government won't save you from big corporations, you have to take them down yourselves. Of course, you can't actually defeat Big Corporation, only Disturbed can do that".


It's worth noting that Disturbed has been unabashed in criticizing RIAA lawsuits. Of course, they remain on Warner Bros main label, which of course is one of the larger members of the RIAA.

Disturbed - "Land Of Confusion"





For those of you not hip, the videos protagonist is a take on the Disturbed logo.

All in all, A great cover of a great song, with a video that doesn't fall short of the original.