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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 They used to call it democracy, now they call it approaching fascism Sep 03, 2005
If you are looking for music with real progressive political content, with historical foundation, with passion, anger and humanity, do not miss Bruce Cockburn and do not, I repeat, do not miss this album.
3 of 6 found the following review helpful:
His 18th Album Dec 20, 2004
(42.5 minutes)
Now if you ask me, and quite a few perceptive individuals do on a frighteningly regular basis, then this here Bruce Cockburn album represents his output at the tail end of a strong songwriting period and was about to usher in a period that appears to have been rather dry for our Canadian friend. Big Circumstance followed this one two years later and feels a bit like Mr. Cockburn was flatfooted at the time, but World of Wonders captured a group of tunes that are obviously born of creative juices that were in a rolling boil.
"Call it Democracy" is one of them tunes where he manages to slip yet another naughty word in and, truth be node, it kind of fits. In fact, it drives home the point he's attempting to make (and it maintains the rhyming lyrics to boot). Mama gets kind of flustered when he keeps putting out records what have them naughty words on them, but they are selectively sprinkled and add a certain degree of spice. Kind of like when you have eggs in the morning and you put just a couple drops of Tabasco® Sauce. There ain't many folk on the street who know who Bruce Cockburn is, but when you find one who does they inevitably know "Wondering Where the Lions Are," and probably "If I had a Rocket Launcher," and if by chance they know of a third song, then this is the one. He's released eleventy hundred good songs, but this is the extent of what the bulk of the herd knows.
If you are a devoted fan, then it is your moral obligation to purchase this (and other) Bruce Cockburn album in large quantities and distribute them to the people you know and love. It will be doing them a favor and, even if you purchase this album outside of Canada, some of the proceeds will find their way back to Bruce and it will assist in shoring up that weak Canadian loonie they got up there. In fact, if you have a chunk of change to spare, I'd suggest you simply buy this album in industrial quantities and go to the nearest urban street corner and pass it out to all you encounter, be they friend or foe. That is a testimony as to what I think of this here album.
Trouble With Normal, Stealing Fire, and World Of Wonders were Bruce Cockburn's early 80s trilogy of political albums. They captured a period in which he was writing songs that addressed the disparity betwixt the haves and the have nots. He went on to other things after that and has been exploring several other themes in subsequent albums, but them three really struck at the root of the inequity situation the world sees itself in. If you don't like the stark reality of the pain of inequity, then maybe you'd better give this one a miss, however if you are comfortable with the Bruce Cockburn style of calling a spade a spade and not mamby pambying around with difficult ort uncomfortable subject matter, then this one is yet another gem of an album.
As I said earlier, Mama don't like this one too much because he uses another (single) naughty word, but Junior and the twins love this album because each time that song comes on they hush up and get ready for him to say it and then when he does, they fall in the floor with peels of laughter and side-splittin' laugh-educed convulsions of sheer joy. See, we Huckabees don't allow that kind of talk inside the double wide trailer, but make an exception to Bruce Cockburn because we like his music pretty good no matter what album it's from or what profanity he deems fit to record.
I say this is one of his best, even though it took a few years for me to get to this point. Looking back no I might even say it's up near my favorite.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Good Jun 14, 2004
"People See Through You" and "Call it Democracy" are the best.
Alittle bit overproduced, but still a gem in its own way.
1 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 A Synthesized Rocker May 30, 2003
Over the years Bruce Cockburn has shown many sides of his musical personality including spiritual balladeer, folkie and rocker. `Word Of Wonders' capitalizes well of on his `rocker' phase with the addition of electronic musical instruments. Sometimes the combination is grand, while at other times the songs get lost in a sea of synthesizers.Several of Cockburn's most visceral and punchy rockers are included here. `Call It Democracy' is a scathing commentary of wealthy countries for abusing lesser countries with monetary loans. The funky bass guitar lines work well on `World Of Wonders.' The kick-butt `People See Through You' reaches a feverish dance tempo. These compositions make heavy use of the synthesized drum kit, and the song structures are solid enough to support the additional weight. For my money, `Lily Of The Midnight Sky' is Cockburn's most vigorous love ballad. Again, the omnipotent synthesized snare drum and guitar power chords reinforce the composition's sense of desperation. Unfortunately, `World Of Wonders' begins to meander during the latter half. The Caribbean dance tempo of `See How I Miss You' and plodding `Dancing In Paradise' mar an otherwise solid album. The plight of Latin America (Santiago At Dawn) has been addressed before, where `Down Here Tonight' bounces along gingerly, but the chorus is over complicated and frankly, silly. Technical Note: Bob Ludwig does another outstanding job mastering. The quiet musical attributes of songs such as `Berlin Tonight' are immaculate.
1 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 The Worst of the Best Apr 18, 2003
I love Bruce Cockburn's music and I have 10 or 15 of his CDs and I love them all...except this one. Not a good track on the album, which was all the more disappointing because I had such high expectations based upon the rest of the albums. But nobody's perfect, eh?
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