Details
Track Listing
DISC 1:
1. New England, A
2. Man in the Iron Mask, The
3. Milkman of Human Kindness
4. To Have and to Have Not
5. Lover Sings, A
6. St. Swithin's Day
7. Saturday Boy, The
8. Between the Wars
9. World Turned Upside Down, The
10. Levi Stubbs' Tears
11. Walk Away Renee
12. Greetings to the New Brunette
13. There Is Power in a Union
14. Help Save the Youth of America
15. Warmest Room, The
16. Must I Paint You a Picture
17. She's Got a New Spell
18. Price I Pay, The
19. Valentine's Day Is Over
20. Waiting For the Great Leap Forwards
DISC 2:
1. Sexuality
2. Cindy of a Thousand Lives
3. Moving the Goalposts
4. Tank Park Salute
5. You Woke up My Neighborhood
6. Accident Waiting to Happen
7. Sulk
8. Upfield
9. Fourteenth of February, The
10. Brickbat
11. Space Race Is Over, The
12. Boy Done Good, The
13. Ingrid Bergman
14. Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
15. My Flying Saucer
16. All You Fascists - (Blokes version)
17. Npwa
18. St. Monday
19. Sometimes I See the Point
20. Take Down the Union Jack - (band version)
| Details | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Initial pressing includes bonus CD.
Personnel inlcudes: Billy Bragg, Wiggy, Cara Tivey, Dave Woodhead, Johnny Marr, Kirsty MacColl, John Porter, Kenny Craddock, Danny Thompson, Simon Moreton, Tony Maronie, Bruce Thomas, Mickey Waller, Martin Belmont, Jayne Creamer, Kaya Jenner, Michelle Shocked, The Blokes, Wilco.
Producers includes: Grant Showbiz, Oliver Hitch, Edward de Bono, John Porter, Kenny Jones.
Compilation producer: Grant Showbiz.
Recorded between 1983 & 2001. Includes liner notes by Andrew Collins.
MUST I PAINT YOU A PICTURE, a double-disc, 40-song retrospective, covers the first 20 years of this extraordinary troubadour's career. A smart, sensitive anti-hero armed with a guitar, Bragg sings alternately about political issues and lost love with a startlingly literate wit. He recalls the early-'60s folk of Bob Dylan in his stark, solo sound and biting lyrics about social injustice, and also the legacy of punk in his passionate delivery, uncompromising stance, and aggressive phrasing (complemented by a pronounced accent that lets him chew words distinctively).
But the clincher is Bragg's songwriting. Lyrically and melodically, Bragg is a superior craftsman, as Disc One makes plain. Accompanied only by electric guitar, Bragg addresses economic inequalities ("To Have and To Have Not"), organized labor ("There Is Power in a Union"), and the trials of heartbreak (the achingly poignant "Valentine's Day is Over"). Disc Two, which features tracks from Bragg's '90s releases, finds the artist working a more pop-oriented sound with a full band. (Also included here are tracks from MERMAID AVENUE, Bragg's collaboration with Wilco on Woody Guthrie songs). A 10-song bonus disc adds to the value of this stellar compilation, a perfect introduction to the work of this brilliant performer.
Industry Reviews
[Bragg] wielded an electric guitar like a post-apocalyptic Phil Ochs....He cuts loose on some great covers.
Dirty Linen (04/01/2004)
4 stars out of 5 - ...Simply, as with some of his best lines, stark to the point of being heartbreaking...
Mojo (11/01/2003)
4 stars out of 5 - ...He was a singer of - as well as from - the heart, and so achingly romantic it's a wonder Willie Nelson never covered him...
Q (12/01/2003)
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