Revisiting Refused's 'The Shape of Punk to Come'

Refused’s 1998 Post-Hardcore classic ‘The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts’ seems to be portrayed as a distant legend by its followers. One that has lived on to become possibly the most respected and celebrated musical failures of the late 90’s.

The plan was to break into America and change the repetitive and capitalistic nature of society and the music industry, with both artistic originality and far left-winged text.

Unfortunately for them, its success was pretty much nil at the time of its release. In their home country of Sweden, people missed the message of the album. When its only single ‘New Noise’ said “And how can we expect anyone to listen if we are using the same old voice?” The fans longed for the old Hardcore sound that they were accustomed to and when Refused expected to be awarded with appraisal for their bravery in change, they received criticism from many of their old followers.

In their 2006 documentary of their failed attempts; ‘Refused Are Fucking Dead’, it truly shows how bad it can be for a band to work so hard to get nothing but hate. And when they went west in an attempt to conquer America, their plans revolved around breaking into its music scene with unquestionable success. Unfortunately, all that waited for them was disappointingly low turnouts and an in band combustion that led them to play the second half of the tour one guitarist short.

Now, when I first listened to this album as a youngster I was also part of the crowd that completely missed the point. Not in a way that I felt betrayed by their change. The first I heard of this band was the song New Noise as a thirteen-year-old kid, and this was years after the albums release. But to me, at the time where my immaturity in rock allowed semi-intense loudness and fake major-label anarchy as the only option, the techno and electronic elements that the band used to break from the norm seemed to only break my interest. I wasn’t listening because they weren’t using the old voice.

Years later, revisiting this album I feel ashamed for shunning it. Now, as an adult who doesn’t only find his music through what plays on Kerrang’s T.V. channel and who can differentiate originality from tact, I see this album as a masterpiece of its time. From the Hardcore fusions with Jazz in ‘The Deadly Rhythm’ to the intricate violin lines that build up with the band in ‘Tannhäuser/Derivè’. The album is formed with the intention of being a classic from start to finish. And if you know where to look, you’ll notice how that’s the case.

This final album and the group that’s hopes destroyed as its result are often talked of now as a legend that was born in to the wrong era of music. The die hard fans seem to believe that Refused would be more appreciated if they somehow travelled through time into the present and tried to conquer America today rather than 16 years ago. It is spoken of as if the majority of people who claim to be appreciators of music are now somehow different to how they were back in the day.

It would be easy to see this possibility with todays Internet generation. The access everyone has to find new and original material and share it around has allowed more original music to be filtered through in a way that it has never been before. Gone are the days where you were scared to buy something new just in case £10 was put to waste on something that just wasn’t good.

However, there are two linking sides to why I believe Refused and ‘The Shape of Punk to Come’ would not break into America and the new generation of listeners today if they tried:

1.     There are still many people today who cling to mainstream Rock/Metal music scenes so tightly that, while some of the album would fit into todays sound, it would only break the norm so much for people to say that it was trying too hard.

2.     It just isn’t as original by today’s standards. Many of today’s bands have fused in other genres much like Refused but have delved further into many other musical aspects of technical originality. Compared to these people, the album would just sound like a cheap attempt at breaking from the mainstream.

As much as the people who cling onto this record with regret would like to hope that they could see this idealistic parallel reality where Refused takes home the cup and gets the girl, unfortunately it’s just a sad impossible dream.

What this album has been able to become however, is much greater in the long run than was ever intended in the short. It’s a historical look back at how things were before the new connected generation could make a difference and it’s hope that maybe the world doesn’t have to be how it always was. With its impact, it will be recognised for failing in the right way, rather than succeeding in the wrong.