Vital (Anberlin album)

Vital is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Anberlin which was released on October 16, 2012. In interviews, vocalist Stephen Christian has stated the album has a youthful, energetic energy and features new influences for the band. Upon release, the album was met with favorable reviews from critics and fans alike. The album was re-released in 2013 as Devotion, adding the deluxe tracks from various retailers, new remixes, and a full live album.

Critical reception

Vital garnered generally positive reception from music critics. The review aggregator website Metacritic gives a weighted average rating to an album based upon the selected independent mainstream reviews it utilizes, and the album has a Metascore of a 77 out of 100 based on five reviews.

At Alternative Press, Evan Lucy stating that "Vital [is] the most well-rounded Anberlin album to date." Matt Collar of AllMusic saying that "Ultimately, while Vital is Anberlin's most challenging album to date, as the title implies, it is perhaps the band's most rewarding album." At AbsolutePunk, Jack Appleby writing that "Calling Vital a career-defining record isn't a stretch in the least", which it "is the best record in Anberlin’s 10 year career, bar none." SowingSeason of Sputnikmusic remarking that "Even if it isn’t the best album they’ve ever made, Vital is perhaps the smartest", that contains some "otherworldly vocals." At Melodic, Johan Wippsson commenting that "the band has kept the energy that characterizes their sound and overall it’s an album that shows that the band is in the right direction."

Vital (Van der Graaf Generator album)

Vital is the first live album by English progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. It was recorded 16 January 1978 at the Marquee Club in London and was released in July, one month after the band's 1978 break-up. The album (on vinyl and, later, on CD) was credited under the abbreviated name Van der Graaf, like the previous year's The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, and featured the same line-up plus newcomer cellist Charles Dickie, who had officially joined the band in August 1977, and original saxophonist and flautist David Jackson, who re-joined the band for this recording.

The album is noted for its sometimes radical reworking of the older material. Although Van der Graaf Generator were seldom less than intense on stage, the 1977 and 1978 tours were remarkable for their ferocity. The absence of Hugh Banton, whose organ work was a hallmark of the group's sound before his departure in 1976, as well as frontman Peter Hammill's increased duties as a rhythm guitarist, account for much of this.

Prohibition

Prohibition is the act of prohibiting the manufacturing, storage in barrels or bottles, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol including alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to periods in the histories of countries during which the prohibition of alcohol was enforced.

History

The earliest records of prohibition of alcohol date to the Xia Dynasty (ca. 2070 BC–ca. 1600 BC) in China. Yu the Great, the first ruler of the Xia Dynasty, prohibited alcohol throughout the kingdom. It was legalized again after his death, during the reign of his son Qi. Another record was in the Code of Hammurabi (ca.1772 BCE) specifically banning the selling of beer for money. It could only be bartered for barley: "If a beer seller do not receive barley as the price for beer, but if she receive money or make the beer a measure smaller than the barley measure received, they shall throw her into the water." (from Pearson textbook "Arts and Culture, An Introduction to the Humanities", Volume One, Fourth Edition, Benton & DiYanni, pg. 16).

Writ of prohibition

A writ of prohibition is a writ directing a subordinate to stop doing something the law prohibits. In practice, the Court directs the Clerk to issue the Writ, and directs the Sheriff to serve it on the subordinate, and the Clerk prepares the Writ and gives it to the Sheriff, who serves it. This writ is normally issued by a superior court to the lower court asking it not to proceed with a case which does not fall under its jurisdiction.

These Writs are issued as "alternative" or "peremptory". An alternative Writ directs the recipient to immediately act, or desist, and "Show Cause" why the directive should not be made permanent. A peremptory Writ directs the recipient to immediately act, or desist, and "return" the Writ, with certification of its compliance, within a certain time.

When an agency of an official body is the target of the Writ of Prohibition, the Writ is directed to the official body over which the court has direct jurisdiction, ordering the official body to cause the agency to desist.

Prohibition (miniseries)

Prohibition is a 2011 documentary film for television directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick with narration by Peter Coyote. The series originally aired between October 2, 2011 and October 4, 2011. It draws heavily from the 2010 book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent.

Synopsis

Prohibition describes how the consumption and effect of alcoholic beverages in the United States were connected to many different cultural forces including immigration, women's suffrage, and the income tax. Eventually the Temperance movement led to the passing of Prohibition, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Widespread defiance of the law, uneven and unpopular enforcement, and violent crime associated with the illegal trade in alcohol caused increasing dissatisfaction with the amendment, eventually leading to its repeal thirteen years later.

Episodes