- Audio CD
- Number of Discs: 2
- Format: Import
- Label: Import
- ASIN: B000EXDXRA
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
`Life's a Riot with Spy vs. Spy' would take some beating without appearing to repeat his self but Billy Bragg managed to put out a further set of Urban Folk on `Brewing Up' which built on the foundations of `Spy vs. Spy' while improving as not only a writer but also as a performer.
`Brewing Up' opens perfectly with `It Says Here' setting out his politics and framing them with enough shared experience to ensure we empathise before moving onto the love songs which are rooted in reality with `Love Gets Dangerous', `The Myth of Trust', `From a Vauxhall Velox' and most successfully on `The Saturday Boy' which as a slice of teenage angst is one of the most fully realised songs of all time.
As well as the nice cup of tea Billy makes for us in his kitchen sink drama the other meaning of `Brewing Up' is how soldiers describe a tank being incendiary bombed and Billy builds on his Army experience to bring us the anti- Falklands war songs `Like Soldiers Do' and most forcefully `Island of No Return'. `This Guitar Says Sorry' and `Strange Things Happen' again tackles love before moving into the perfect coda to the album `A Lover Sings' which sums things up nicely.
At thirty five minutes the album has been broken up nicely with both the albums masterpieces, `The Saturday Boy' and `A Lover Sings' having a trumpet and organ accompaniment to Billy's sparse guitar playing.
The Bonus CD is also packed with fantastic tracks not least the whole of the `Between the Wars EP' and priceless Stones and Smiths covers in `The Last Time' and `Back to the Old House'. A must have LP, also available as a Tea Mug.
`Brewing Up' opens perfectly with `It Says Here' setting out his politics and framing them with enough shared experience to ensure we empathise before moving onto the love songs which are rooted in reality with `Love Gets Dangerous', `The Myth of Trust', `From a Vauxhall Velox' and most successfully on `The Saturday Boy' which as a slice of teenage angst is one of the most fully realised songs of all time.
As well as the nice cup of tea Billy makes for us in his kitchen sink drama the other meaning of `Brewing Up' is how soldiers describe a tank being incendiary bombed and Billy builds on his Army experience to bring us the anti- Falklands war songs `Like Soldiers Do' and most forcefully `Island of No Return'. `This Guitar Says Sorry' and `Strange Things Happen' again tackles love before moving into the perfect coda to the album `A Lover Sings' which sums things up nicely.
At thirty five minutes the album has been broken up nicely with both the albums masterpieces, `The Saturday Boy' and `A Lover Sings' having a trumpet and organ accompaniment to Billy's sparse guitar playing.
The Bonus CD is also packed with fantastic tracks not least the whole of the `Between the Wars EP' and priceless Stones and Smiths covers in `The Last Time' and `Back to the Old House'. A must have LP, also available as a Tea Mug.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Good to see all the Bragg albums in this format. BUT BEWARE, I have tried to buy many of the albums at the quoted price only to find the order deleted and an email explaining that sometimes Amazon price things by mistake. They still have not altered the price on the website, so BEWARE.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have ben listening to Billy Bragg since I was about fifteen. I am now 39 and recently bought this again for a trip down memory lane. I wasn't disappointed. His lyrics are romantic, modern, political, comic and angry, depending on the song. My particular favourite is St Swithin's Day, a gorgeous love song, made all the more poignant for his gravelly tones:
"The polaroids that held us together,
Will surely fade away
Like the love that we spoke of forever on St Swithin's Day".
I also love " Saturday Boy". When I first heard this it was so relevant, its almost as if Billy and I were going through adolescence at the same time. Its still beautiful now, and speaks on the universal experience of unrequited love:
"In the end it took me a dictionary to find out the meaning of unrequited.
She lied to me with her body you see.
I lied to myself about the chances I'd wasted."
The thing I really love though, about this CD and about Billy Bragg in general is that if you are a terrible singer you can sing along to his gritty cockney tones and still sound good.
"The polaroids that held us together,
Will surely fade away
Like the love that we spoke of forever on St Swithin's Day".
I also love " Saturday Boy". When I first heard this it was so relevant, its almost as if Billy and I were going through adolescence at the same time. Its still beautiful now, and speaks on the universal experience of unrequited love:
"In the end it took me a dictionary to find out the meaning of unrequited.
She lied to me with her body you see.
I lied to myself about the chances I'd wasted."
The thing I really love though, about this CD and about Billy Bragg in general is that if you are a terrible singer you can sing along to his gritty cockney tones and still sound good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ah, this takes me back!
This CD really takes me back to the mid 80's, when I first discovered Billy Bragg.
I love his "political" songs especially: "Which side are you on? Read more
I love his "political" songs especially: "Which side are you on? Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lois Yorke
Billy Bragg
Excellent album -takes me back to being 19 and in awe of the boy next door!
Published on 12 April 2010 by Ms. L. Braiden
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More socialism and broken hearts for the masses. While most people measure his later work by the standard of his first few releases (which are often considered his best), it's my... Read more
Published on 5 July 2009 by Guy Peters
Stripped back Success.
This is Billy Bragg's second album, and these welcome reissues give the opportunity to explore for the uninitiated. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2006 by T. Flint
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