Billy Bragg - Mr. Love & Justice

One of his very best

It's been 6 years since Billy Bragg has released an album, and that one, "England, Half English," was a disappointment to me. However, "Mr. Love & Justice" is his best album, in my humble, since "Worker's Playtime."

Not only is the album well-balanced between romantic and protest songs - making for an apt title - but the distinction between the two genres are even blurred within the songs. For instance the song "Something Happened" contains a polemic bit of wisdom concerning the definition of love and lust, while "Sing Their Souls Back Home" and "Farm Boy" focus on humantic, personal concerns as a reason for ending a war. Significantly, Mr. Bragg doesn't specify which war, which insures their continuing relevance. (Hopefully there will never be a need for such relevance ever again.)

The deluxe version is worth the extra money, especially if you're a fan of his earlier work. "I Almost Killed You" sounds like it could be an outtake from the "Back To Basics" collection. There is a real distinction between the two different versions of the songs, and I play both equally as often.

This is a warm, wonderful collection of modern folk songs, and would be a welcome addition to the collection of any and all thoughtful and socially-conscious people. July 20, 2008

An impressive and mature album.

Billy Bragg is 50 years old and after the very political and musically diverse England, Half English six years ago, he has returned sounding more like his age.
That's not to say that he sounds tired or past it, nor has he lost the socialist fire that has always burned inside him and decided that the establishment were right all along.
It's just that Bragg and his backing band The Blokes have made a more relaxed and mature-sounding album here, influenced by country music, folk music and soul music equally.
The tone is country soul, set by the lovely opening (and new single) "I Keep Faith", with backing vocals by Robert Wyatt and Hammond organ from Ian McLagan, which rolls along at a very pleasant pace before the memorable and touching chorus.
The same warmth fills the harmony-rich "Sing Their Souls Back Home", which is is the album's focal point.
Almost a gospel folk protest song that occasionally needs something to cut through the treacle, it is a very warm and enjoyable song that perfectly sums up what an impressive and mature album Billy Bragg is releasing here, certainly his best for a good while.
Lyrically, there are also plenty of personal songs in amongst the political rhetoric of tracks like "O Freedom" - a musing on extraordinary rendition, the most direct example - and the crashing country romp of "The Beach is Free", though the latter still has a positive message behind some of the complaining about land ownership and suchlike.
Sometimes his lyrics do overwhelm the music, with "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show", which has some nice melodies but a clunky pun in the chorus that undermines the song.
There are catchy moments - "Almost Killed You" is a flurry of handclaps, harmonica and accordion bass which will get inside you, and the melancholic "If You Ever Leave" has a fine chorus - and fun.
Mostly you feel that Bragg and band are really working together, from the strident, Morrissey-esque "Something Happened" to the light touch of "M for Me", a little laboured textbook piece of songwriting.
All in all, "Mr Love And Justice" is not bad at all, but compared to Bragg's own "Talking With The Taxman About Poetry" or "Worker's Playtime" it doesn't fare at all well.
That heartfelt bellow of a voice is still as distinctive as ever, and he's still capable of delightful couplets like M For Me's "I've got friends who are telling me they're living in clover, but lose the 'c' for commitment and the 'l' for love and it's over baby" : it shows that Bragg does have a great understated knack for writing "love" songs, even if he is better known when raging against the machine.
Highlights : "Almost Killed You" and "M for Me".

Greatest Hits (Deluxe Version)
Talking with the Taxman About Poetry
Workers Playtime April 22, 2008

Mr Bragg, at 50, turns in a thing of beauty

I can pinpoint the time I first heard Billy Bragg's dulcet tones over the radio (thank you, BFM) and I swear I've stood on the same platform at times, known the same thrill of uncollected fares, felt the bathwater go cold around me (if you're reading this maybe you already know the songs).

And here at 50 Bill's turned in a collection of songs that take him further along the path of maturity (yeccchh, sorry Bill) that to my ears at least began with some of the songs on "William Bloke" about turning from red to blue (he hasn't, I haven't) and standing in the garden watching for satellites.

It's a thing of beauty, and bless'im, the bite's still there too. Keep on keeping the faith, Bill. March 8, 2008

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