It's a great idea, an album to benefit the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project, and who better to execute it (pun intended) than the linchpin of the Chicago movement, and member ? He's reassembled the occasional to back a bunch of artists on tales of death, murder, and execution. There's everything from the traditional and gruesome ( from and a very powerful, gritty by , as graphic as any ) to straight-up ( 's which these days stands almost as a parody of a song, albeit a chilling one), all the way to feminist icon on a lovely acoustic rendition of ), (the ' interpreted by ), and originals ( among others). It's an odd assemblage, but it hangs together very well, not just because of the thematic content, but also the intensity of the performances, like 's luminous or 's raw take on Apart from contributing guitar and some vocals throughout, does get a couple of moments in the spotlight, duetting on the cut, then on a tale of love gone awfully wrong that he sings with fellow . There's no bad cut here, although proselytizes a little too much, and of is just plain weird. But this album makes its points in very plain, blunt terms, and offers some excellent music along the way. If you still don't think music and politics can mix, start here. ~ Chris Nickson