Details
Track Listing
1. I Keep Faith
2. I Almost Killed You
3. M For Me
4. Beach Is Free, The
5. Sing Their Souls Back
6. Something Happened
7. You Make Me Brave
8. Mr. Love & Justice
9. If You Ever Leave
10. O Freedom
11. Johnny Carcinogenic Show, The
12. Farm Boy
| Details | | Producer: | Grant Showbiz | | Distributor: | Alternative Dis. Alliance | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Personnel: Billy Bragg (vocals, guitars); Lu Edmonds (guitars, saz, percussion); Ben Mandelson (electric guitar, lap steel guitar, National guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica); Nic Waterhouse (trombone); Ian McLagan (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond b-3 organ); Simon Edwards (marimbula, double bass, electric bass, hand claps); Martin Barker (drums, bass drum, bongos, cajon drums, cymbals, reco-reco, shaker, tambourine, hand claps, percussion); May Fitzpatrick (background vocals); Robert Wyatt.
By the time MR. LOVE & JUSTICE was released Billy Bragg had already been carrying the troubadour torch for 25 years. The qualities he's built his career on--folky roots, a sense of social justice, his knack with a durable tune and poignant lyrics-appear on this 2008 release in refined and mature form. Bragg has also incorporated a loose rock feel into his aesthetic, mixing pop, country, and Americana along with his singer-songwriter skills.
MR. LOVE & JUSTICE finds Bragg with a full band, playing ambling, relaxed rock (the single "I Keep Faith"), shuffling Bo-Diddley jams ("The Beach is Free"), or loping alt-country ("Farm Boy"). Long time fans who miss Bragg's man-and-his-guitar days should pick up the DELUXE edition, which includes a second disc of Bragg performing the entire album live in the studio, accompanied only by his guitar.
Industry Reviews
Billy Bragg returns with one of the finest albums of his career; intimate, tender, genial....Bragg's voice sounds softer, deeper, warmer than ever before...
[A] particular pleasure....It's a leap forward in maturity, depth and nuance....[With] a wiser, more playful approach than ever.
4 stars out of 5 -- It's Bragg's most musically accomplished collection, the caustic guitars of yore rarely surfacing, tempered by a plethora of styles, visiting Fairport Convention, Al Green, Rod Stewart and beyond.
CMJ [T]here are more memorable songs here. The Celtic-y handclap-fed 'I Almost Killed For You' is a perfect example of his baldly confessional and simultaneously fun songs.
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
All rights reserved.
