ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Billy Bragg
MR LOVE & JUSTICE COOKING VINYL 3.03.08 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk I have a confession to make, this CD has been sitting on my desk for too long due to my trepidation about the review. The reason being is that I know about Billy Bragg, his socialist tendencies, his politically motivated lyrics but I couldn’t name a single song he has written or performed. I seem to remember a song about a miner in the 80’s but back then I was too much into dodgy metal (still am) to really notice. The first track of the new album ‘I Keep Faith’ dispels all my misconceptions with a beautifully crafted song that wouldn’t be out of place on any new KT Tunstall or Newton Faulkner album. A guest appearance on the track by Robert Wyatt could have added something but again it’s a player that I seem to have overlooked. Billy’s unique vocal style is present in all tracks on the album and 'I Almost Killed You' could almost be the lost twin of the Waterboys ‘The Whole Of The Moon’. The album continues in the classic singer/songwriter/guitar style with the slower paced ‘M for Me’ but the pace is picked up again with ‘The Beach Is Free’ and we finally get a track that has a social context that should stimulated your consciousness as well as getting your toes tapping. ‘Sing Their Souls Back Home’ is classic Van Morrison but with Bragg’s ability to create a catchy tune that contains deeper meaning within the lyrics. This enriches the whole album and demands your full attention. ‘Something Happened’ even manages to add a crunching guitar rift to the mix. Tracks like ‘Mr Love & Justice’, ‘The Johnny Carcinogenic show’ and ‘Farm Boy’ find Billy Bragg asking all the questions we should be considering about society ills and what can be done. ‘O Freedom’ is a full-on political statement about the War on Terror, Guantanamo bay and everything thing that seems to be wrong with a certain Presidents perception of defending freedom. I cannot relate this album to any of my musical heritage as its came completely out of left field but it’s good, really good. It may have taken Mr Bragg 25 years of performing and half a century on the planet to convert me but I’m glad he persevered because it’s an album that made me change my preconceptions of the artist and take more of an interest in his current and back catalogue. So next time your up onstage Billy and you see a member of the audience in a faded Twisted Sister T-shirt, go easy on him, he’s only just getting used to social content in his music. www.billybragg.co.uk |