career highs, Mermaid Avenue, the plugged-in folkie has dived into the hodgepodge he hoarded between 1985 and 1997 and compiled a surprisingly beguiling and cohesive c...
career highs,Mermaid Avenue, the plugged-in folkie has dived into the hodgepodge he hoarded between 1985 and 1997 and compiled a surprisingly beguiling and cohesive collection of B-sides and bonus tracks. With nine selections from the 1980s and eight from the '90s,Reachingoffers considerable expanse while making a strong case for Bragg as one of the most productive and consistent post-punk performers around. Highlights here include a previously unreleased version of "Shirley", with the Smiths' Johnny Marr providing the instrumental backing, and a slew of savvy covers that includes the McGarrigles' "Heart Like a Wheel", the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee", the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home", and Ry Cooder's "Tattler".Reaching to the Convertedholds considerable appeal for Bragg partisans, but it's appealing enough to win over nonconverts, too.--Steven Stolder
Album Notes: This is a B-sides compilation of singles from 1985 to 1997. Personnel: Billy Bragg (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Cara Tivey (vocals, recorder, piano, harmonium, keyboards); Robert Handley (vocals); Johnny Marr (various instruments, acoustic guitar); Wiggy, Kenny Jones (guitar); John Porter (mandolin); Amanda Vincent (piano); Nigel Frydman, Andy Hobson (bass); Rob Allum, J.F.T. Hood (drums); Jody Linscott (percussion); Lorraine Bowen, Kirsty MacColl (background vocals). Producers include: Johnny Marr, Grant Showbiz, Gary Smith, John Porter, Edward de Bono. Compilation producers: Gary Stewart, Grant Showbiz. Includes liner notes by Billy Bragg. Digitally remastered by Tim Young. Combine the confusion of modern man with the infectious enthusiasm of a small boy, and you've got Billy Bragg. REACHING TO THE CONVERTED, a mixture of one-offs and studio doodles that never quite made the final cut, has both qualities in abundance. "Shirley," the album's uptempo opener, demonstrates Bragg's mastery of the contemporary British urban couplet ("How can you lie back and think of England / When you don't even know who's in the team?"), while Johnny Marr's fine production proves the perfect foil for Bragg's direct vocal approach. Bragg still wears his left-wing heart on a red shirtsleeve ("Days Like These"), and he's never afraid to have his say on a serious matter; but he manages to do so without smugness. Unlike other troubadours, Bragg prefers writing about being in love to writing about being out of it, and a sense of real warmth and humanity always comes through ("We'll dance in the town till the sun goes down / And push our beds together"). Whether standing on his soapbox or musing on his calf-love ordeals, Bragg matches the voice of a football fan with the heart of a poet.
Album Reviews: Q (10/99, p.142) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...With tracks revived from as far back as 1985...there's plenty to please Bragg completists." Mojo (10/99, p.113) - "...Bragg's great strength, undeniably, is words. Even with the '80s shading into history, it is still sweet to revisit unmatched poitico rhymes....there's more durable appeal in his doomed romancing..." Alternative Press (11/99, p.89) - 4 out of 5 - "...Bragg sets reality to the sweetest of melodies, then lets his untutored tonsils do the rest....He still sounds like he means every word." Dirty Linen (4-5/00, p. 81) - "...an odd-and-ends collection of old B-sides and unreleased songs...full of English folk-rockster Bragg's unique mix of enthusiastic vitriol and tender mercies, all rendered with his trademark clanging guitar and marble-gargling vocals..."
Advantages: Fuller, band sound; great tunes Disadvantages: None
...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...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: great bittersweet lament on life Disadvantages: the latter part of the album is weak
...Now stop thinking jeeeez this woman has appalling taste! I know I have look I even own a Dire Straits Cd ( but shhhhhhhh we won't talk about that now will we?)
BillyBragg in his pre Woody Gutherie cover versions days was very much an acquired taste! His monotone neo chanting style of singing accompanied by him strumming along on his guitar wasn't every ones cup of tea - my mum particularly hated him with a vengence this might have due to the fact I like to sing along with our Billy! Now if you thought Billy was tone deaf you should have heard me singing along at the top of my voice! My Mum thought of him as a busker who got a record contract some how!
Talking to the Taxman about Poetry was Bragg's third album and released in 1986, he hasn't compromised his left wing politics in this album but some how it's just a wee bit more...
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Advantages: Find out loads of stuff you never knew before Disadvantages: Offputting format
...such as Chartism. Melvyn chairs a discussion with three academic experts in the subject, asking questions and directing the flow of the conversation.
So far it sounds dull, doesn't it? Worthy, but dull. No pictures, just talking heads. A kind of updated Workers Educational Institute. And yet we are fascinated by facts and bombarded with information; we have access through our keyboards to millions of sites, so why does this programme sound offputting? Because, I suggest, of our lowered attention span - we crave one piece of information, find it and move on and have neither the time nor the inclination to pursue it any further in its context. Here is your chance to pursue an idea, with no effort on your part, and I guarantee you'll be hooked.
The main key to its success is Melvyn Bragg. He is to the arts and humanities what...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
very helpful 18.05.2006
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