Seriously thinking of leaving Ciao now, just too many problems, too often......off by crimbo, you wi...
Seriously thinking of leaving Ciao now, just too many problems, too often......off by crimbo, you will find me on another well known site, same member name.
Member since:22.06.2004
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Levellers, The Levellers.
This was the Levellers third album. The Levellers, by the time this had been released, had been a band for nearly five years, though their original vocalist left after album number 1, they were certainly getting well known outside of the punky/celtic/festival scene that was their origins. I certainly remember seeing them in London in 1990 and they had built up quite a following of students, squatters and festival goers.
This album for me marked a bit of a change in direction and, in my opinion is not as good as the first album 'A Weapon called the Word', or the 2nd album, 'Levelling the Land'. It is almost like they have got better and more polished, yet lost something along the way. That being said, there are some cracking tracks as I will divulge shortly.
*******The band line up******* Mark Chadwick - Guitars, vocals Charlie Heather - Drums/percussion Jonathan Sevink - Fiddle Jeremy Cunningham - Bass guitar, artwork Simon Friend - Guitars, vocals, mandolin They also used 'The Kick Horns' for some extra Brass (and woodwind?)
*******The Tracks******* Track 1. Warning. The start of this track is an air raid siren (reminds me of Frankie goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes). Furious guitar strumming, even more furious fiddle playing and a serious vocal telling just how bad things have gotten in the UK follows, the police stopping festivals etc. Great, lively start 7/10.
Track 2. 100 Years of Solitude. For me this is a poor track, nice musically, but that is the point, the Levellers should not be 'nice' anything, raw, potent, with a message, that is what works for them. Naff. 2/10.
Track 3. The Likes of You and I. When they make a foray into melancholy they generally tell a great story and touch some of our deepest thoughts, this does that, especially combined with the haunting fiddle in the background. 7/10.
Track 4. Is This Art? Very 'folky' and Celtic. The music is very, very good, lyrically interesting, good offereing this track. 7/10.
Track 5. Dirty Davey. Many Levellers albums have a 'named character' which they tell a story of, this album is no exception. The story is great, I won't spoil it. More of note is the absolutely hectic guitar and fiddle…..real undertones of 'The Devil went to Georgia', a completely 'yeehah' song, brilliant live. 9/10.
Track 6. This Garden. Great didgeridoo, nice music all round, but the song is cringingly, embarrassingly clichéd, even the vocal performance is very false, almost like 'talking down' to a group of children telling them a tale of days gone past. 4/10.
Track 7. Broken Circles. When I was transferring this to iTunes, I had forgotten about this track, mainly as it is forgettable, 3/10.
Track 8. Julie. Including: The Flowers of the Forest/The Crags of Stirling instrumentals. Best track of the album. Stunning, brilliant, melancholic. Great vocals, with simple guitar backing. Probably one of their best 5 songs ever in my opinion. Julie lives in a tower block, no job, no hope, life planned out with nothing to look forward to: "She felt alone in a crowded room, cried when she heard a happy tune". The end couple of minutes of this track are a revelation, we get a Bagpipe and drum rendition for a couple of minutes that just should not work, but is an inspired addition. Stunning, 10/10.
Track 9. The Player. Why? Happy trippy, dippy, hippy backing over a melancholic story. Useless.1/10.
Track 10. Belaruse. Lot's of folk I know really rate this track and I'm not sure why. The music is good, builds well, good use of drums, good guitar, but to me an 'empty song'. 5/10.
Overall: Track 5 and 8 carry the album, buy them as singles off iTunes, leave the rest. Not their best album. Cover is ummemorable, well at least it can be bought for around £2 on Amazon marketplace!!
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Success hasn't spoiled the Levellers: This is the third album by the unkempt English ... more
quintet, and its political harangues are even more furious and focused than on earlier efforts. The album starts with a howling siren on "Warning," a critique on the w...
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Jun 21st, 2008
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