This album is important - it's a concept album with a political message. The basic idea is get a load of cool dance music and put a story over the top of it. In this case, the modern history of Iraq.
I first heard the track 'Get Thee Behind me' by Soma on John Peels Radio 1 show. I loved the way the dance tracks, sound clips and narration sit so well with each other. The best thing is, unlike Paul Oakenfolds 'Urban Soundtracks' the narration is the modern history of Iraq, so is a great way of getting facts in your head about the situation and the events surrounding the first gulf war. The fevour of the dance music sits well with both the gradually building and often erratic political shifts in the Gulf. Each track acts as if a 'chapter' in the story.
The album is definitely biased against the Americans - no bad thing I've heard some people say. Some of the facts mentioned may be questionable, and because of the release date the narration obviously doesn't cover recent events. Whether there will be a 'The Fire Next Time' album remains to be seen. I hope so.
And if you're not into all that, CD2 doesn't have the narration on it... The musical side of the album is also pretty good. I'm a fan of 'The Box' track and Aphex Twin is always good value, but without the narration, there are better albums out there. It's the fact that the album is really making a point, and putting a view across which otherwise probably wouldn't get heard - that is the important thing the makers are trying to do.