When the rock band Filter visited Kuwait earlier this year, lead singer Richard Patrick was determined to put a human face to the word "troop."

"I think a lot of young people in this country hear the word 'troop' and they don't even understand what it means," Patrick tells Spinner. "It means 'human being.'"

One way in which to do that was to invite original bassist Frank Cavanaugh to the stage to perform. In April, shortly after the March 10 performance, Sgt. Cavanaugh shipped off to Iraq as part of the U.S. Army Reserves.

"Frank Cavanaugh, when he came out on stage, went from sergeant in the military to bass player again," Patrick says. "When he came out as Sgt. Cavanaugh to reclaim his spot in Filter, it helped illustrate the fact that the military are just really wonderful people who are over there and put in harm's way. This war in Iraq is not about freedom. It's about oil and that it is. It's sad because people don't necessarily know that."

Patrick has turned his thoughts on the war and the state of the world into Filter's comeback album, 'Anthems for the Damned.' "It's not necessarily a 'me' record, but a 'we' record -- an 'us' record," Patrick says. "We're burning fossil fuel at a rate that's contaminating our atmosphere. We're destroying so much of our wildlife. We're at war with each other. Islamic fascists want to kill us. America will pretty much do almost anything for oil at this point. We refuse to try and start new technology. By the end of the record, I'm saying, 'Only you can stop this.'"