levellers - green blade rising
i have a confession
to make. from the mid 80's to the early 90's i read the nme every
week religiously. subsequently my listening tastes were dictated
to a lot by the papers hype. due to this i had a very negative
viewpoint of the levellers. so when this turned up i was
sceptical to say the least.
little did i know that the band and nme were arch enemies all due
to an awe inspiring act of postal revenge after the band
had received a negative review - see website for more details !
i was wrong. years of opinion washed away in 35 mins (there are
extra trax to be added to the final version)
this is damn fine folk-punk (a phrase i nicked from the bands
official website), there is a passion within these songs which
jumps out of the speakers, there is original instrumentation,
there is little in the way of studio trickery, there are slow
melodic songs, there are rabble rousing anthems, there are songs
which makes you want to camp in a large field get steaming drunk
and have these songs sung to you loud and proud. basically there
are songs. good songs.
the band have honed their skills over the years and no longer take any notice of current sounds and styles. and sound all the better for that.
all in all this is great stuff. and thats not an easy thing for me to admit.
i wonder .. does this mean i will have to revisit the phil collins back catalogue ?