Just noticed that I'm almost at the 100-review mark - whew!
You might have come across me (as ...
Just noticed that I'm almost at the 100-review mark - whew!
You might have come across me (as cswann) on dooyoo
Member since:12.10.2000
Reviews:100
Members who trust:12
His earlier albums were sparse affairs - one man and a guitar. This is altogether different. Songs like "Accident waiting to happen" and "Sexuality" have a real 'band' sound. They are also extremely catchy, both musically and lyrically, with many puns and clever lines. How about "you're a dedicated swallower of fashion"? Or "my sins are so unoriginal?" There are gentler songs too: "Moving the goalposts", "Rumours of war", and "Everywhere" (with REM's Peter Buck on mandolin). Michael Stipe also makes an appearance on "You woke up my neighbourhood", which is almost a country song, with its fiddle. My very favourite song (and I think my favourite Bragg song ever) is "Cindy of a thousand lives", it's just perfect - Johnny Marr's guitar and Kirsty McColl's wonderfully haunting backing vocals play their part, but Bragg's vocals are equally wonderful, very emotive. Bragg's voice is, I know, a difficulty for some - the undisguised Barking accent, and the shouting style - but I've always loved it. On "Wish you were her", though, he sings 'properly' - and it's not bad either, a tender Motown style love song, and manages all the notes. Bragg is often referred to as a political songwriter, but very few of the songs on his albums are in fact 'political', and this one is no exception. You've got the uptempo "North Sea Bubble" (closing line "War! What is it good for? It's good for business").
There are 16 songs here (an hour's worth), and although I'll admit that I find "God's footballer" a bit dull, the rest of them are corkers.
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Agree God's Footballer is the only week track on this. Not sure Mr Bragg would appreciate this kind of website in full anti-capitalist mode, but he did once change the words to 'waiting to the great leap forward' to "if you've got a website I want to be on it"
EnglishPatient 08.02.2001 15:05
Top-notch review. I love this album, and Cindy.. is indeed the finest song he's ever done. You've inspired me to seek out this CD from my filing cabinet, I haven't listened to it in years!
One wouldn't imagine that a died-in-red-wool socialist agitator and spiritual offspring of ... more
Woody Guthrie would be able to make serious inroads in modern-rock radio, but Billy Bragg did indeed slip onto some playlists with 1991'sDon't Try This at Home. ...
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