Review:

on 2011-02-22 CharlesMartel Said:

A classic EP and one which really struck a chord when it emerged into the dull days of post-Falklands Thatcherite Britain. One man. One guitar. Nothing else. A soldier who fought in the Falklands and then came home thinking he'd be treated like a hero and was thrown on the scrapheap like everyone else who didn't fit Margaret Thatcher's dream. Bragg turned to songwriting. When success at the time was measured in money and possessions, the fact that Bragg could stand up with just his guitar and berate the abject failure of politicians to address the human equation was all the more apposite.

It has recently been reissued and contains outtakes and alternative versions of familiar tracks - for the first time it is right that this is now called an album, which is how I will refer to it from now on. The album contains, as you would expect, some scathing political commentary - just listen to the lyrics on "To Have and to Have Not" -

"The factory's closing and the army's full,
I don't know what I'm going to do."

Into this was added some harsh insights about what it all meant in reality, characterised by bleak songs about life and love in the neglected social underclassses of Thatcher's Britain, and the disjointed, soulless reality it entailed for the people who lived under the blight of Thatcher's new vision. From "A New England" came -

"I loved you then as I love you still
Though I put you on a pedestal they put you on the pill
I don't feel bad about letting you go
I just feel bad about letting you know."

There is not a bad track on here. Each song captures precisely the mood Bragg was intending to convey and carried it through perfectly. Rarely, in a work of this originality, can there have been such depth, such emotion, such insight into what was wrong with our society.

Billy Bragg's stark, searing guitar captured the mood and the moment perfectly and framed the lyrics better than any combination of musical arrangement ever could. Just as people were beginning to realise they may have been conned, this album came out to remind everybody, yes you have been. Bragg never pulled back from slamming the right-wing establishment for the cold, soulless machine it was. As Britain lurched from a society to a collection of selfish and greedy individuals, Bragg was able to remind us with this album what we were all about to lose as a consequence.

This album captured the despair of those who saw our country being ruined by heartless cruelty in our politicians. Anyone who suffered through the Thatcher years should definitely get this album. Anyone who is not British and wants to understand why UK artists can come up with some of the most intensely soul-searching political commentary in its music should also hear this. A masterpiece. One Billy Bragg would never be able to equal.
Rating: 10/10