X - Country At War (1993)

What this video is

Released in 1993 as the lead single from X's seventh studio album Hey Zeus! on Big Life/Mercury Records, 'Country at War' emerged during the band's reunion after an extended hiatus. Lyrically political, the song peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, representing one of the band's strongest chart performances in their later career. X — formed in Los Angeles in 1977 and foundational to…

Why it matters

Documents a pivotal transitional moment for LA first-wave punk as it negotiated identity within the alternative rock mainstream. 'Country at War' sonically fuses punk-rock origins with early-1990s alternative hard rock and political Americana lyricism — itself a microcosm of the genre…

The director

Born Adam Spiegel on October 22, 1969, in Rockville, Maryland. Began career as a BMX and skateboarding photographer for Freestylin' Magazine and Transworld Skateboarding. Transitioned into filmmaking via influential skate video Video Days (1991). Co-founded…