Billy Bragg - Back to Basics

This collection of feisty early recordings (the Between the Wars EP and the Brewing Up LP) features England's loudest socialist folkie, usually armed only with an electric guitar and a millennium's worth of outrage, attacking those in power (lazy journalists in "It Says Here," the eternal mining aristocracy in "The World Turned Upside Down") with precision and enough energy to make even the most dogmatic lyrics sound colloquial and persuasive. Bragg is a one-man Clash here, seeking to demolish all he can and then build a better world with his electric guitar and his righteousness as the only tools he'll need. --Jimmy Guterman Amazon.com essential recording

Classic Bragg

A must-have for any Billy Bragg fan. Despite the fact that politically charged music these days tends to risk sounding a bit contrived (or at least dimly uninsightful), Bragg's lyrical brilliance and the crunch of his lone electric guitar create a powerful, almost minimalistic, atmosphere where raw emotion and politics are united into a single elegant modern narrative. April 1, 2008

Socialism Sells (Out)

What I like best about Billy Bragg is his wonderful, quirky sense of irony. While he croons on about his working class `identity,' social justice, and the wonders of multiculturalism, he is careful to live in a posh mansion in 100% rural White Dorset - as far as one can get socially and geographically from the multicultural chaos, confusion, and high crime of his native Barking.

Well done, Billy, keep selling 'Socialism' and 'Multiculturalism' to Guardian readers and keep living the good life in nice, White, safe, upper class Dorset. No doubt Tony Blair will make you a Lord soon. Meanwhile all your fellow working class Whites who couldn't escape from the socialist multicultural chaos of Barking seem to have started voting for the 'far right' British Nationalist Party.
February 5, 2006

Basically Brilliant

While anyone who has only heard more recent Billy Bragg music may find this hard to believe, this album is a stunner. It has both politically charged gets-you-thinking music like "To have and to have not" and it offers some beautifully romantic, love songs, like "The Saturday Boy".
This album should be regarded as a social document of what it was like to live in thatcherite britain. Superb.
December 14, 2005

Understated Musical Genius...

This album is possibly one of my favourite albums ever. Most of the plus points about this album have already been covered, in the previous reviews; so read through them (the positive ones) and take their points onboard.

I think, if you like folky guitar music and are prepared to put a bit of effort into this album (i.e. Give it a few careful listens) then I am sure you will benefit greatly from it.

If you want a couple of standout tracks to listen to before you make the purchase, try 'St. Swithin's Day' - a song of greaty beauty and poetic ideals; and 'Between The Wars' - a song of pure emotion and a fantastic guitar arrangement.

This album is a definite grower, and I'm sure after a few listens you will think the same thing. March 18, 2005

great cd

this is a really good cd i like the fact there is only a guitar yet the whole album is never boring. the standouts are new england, to have to have not and others but the whole cd is great this is a must buy for a fan of music December 18, 2003

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