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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. I Keep Faith | |||
| 2. I Almost Killed You | |||
| 3. M for Me | |||
| 4. The Beach Is Free | |||
| 5. Sing Their Souls Back Home | |||
| 6. You Make Me Brave | |||
| 7. Something Happened | |||
| 8. Mr. Love and Justice | |||
| 9. If You Ever Leave | |||
| 10. O Freedom | |||
See all 12 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. I Keep Faith (Solo Version) | |||
| 2. I Almost Killed You (Solo Version) | |||
| 3. M For Me (Solo Version) | |||
| 4. The Beach Is Free (Solo Version) | |||
| 5. Sing Their Souls Back Home (Solo Version) | |||
| 6. You Make Me Brave (Solo Version) | |||
| 7. Something Happened (Solo Version) | |||
| 8. Mr. Love And Justice (Solo Version) | |||
| 9. If You Ever Leave (Solo Version) | |||
| 10. O Freedom (Solo Version) | |||
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See all 12 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
You'll be hard pressed to find good reason to call Billy Bragg a singer. He was never one back in the day and you can't go teaching old socialists new tricks. His spirited holler was carried through in his heyday by sheer bravado and the fact that his poetic punk monologues had to find their way to your ears somehow. But why, over recent years--and especially on Mr Love and Justice--has he increasingly indulged himself with shameless attempts on melody, you might ask. There's no easy answer, other than the inevitable mellowing of age and indeed battered vocal chords. But as he also drifts away from the fiery Clash and Costello inspirations of his younger self and expands more singularly on his love for the likes of Woody Guthrie and Wilco (with whom he collaborated on interpretations of Guthrie's unfinished songs), his work has developed a real warmth and comfort that it's hard not to be strangely touched by. His backing band, The Blokes, gel spiritedly through a host of country stompers (see "The Beach Is Free") and folk meanderings (see: "If You Ever Leave"). And don't mistake comfort for complacency either. He may be more Mr Love than Mr Justice these days, but he still knows how to rally and on "O Freedom", "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show" and the Hammond-delicious title track he makes his point as poetically as ever. He still really can't sing, mind. --James Berry
Review
Forget Lennon. Forget Morrissey. Forget Roger Waters, Jarvis Cocker and all the other gifted wordsmiths to have graced British popular music over the past five decades. In the humble opinion of this particular writer, the finest lyricist this country has yet produced is the Bard of Barking himself - Stephen William Bragg. Right, that's the hyperbole over and done with. The question is, at the age of 50 and with his first new offering in six years, does Billy still have what it takes to live up to such lofty praise? Or has a steady onset of middle-aged contentment, political mellowing and history documentaries robbed him of his mojo?
Well, by the standards of most artists, Mr Love And Justice is not at all bad, 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''.
Unfortunately, after a few listens, however much you want to like this album, the realisation dawns that the songs just aren't very memorable. With no Conservative government left to fight, Bragg gamely turns his attention to new targets such as the tobacco industry (Johnny Carcinogenic), the arrest and detention of terror suspects (O Freedom), and, bizarrely, the under-use of Britain's beaches (The Beach Is Free).
Every subject is as thoughtfully and wittily examined as you'd expect, but the problem is, the tunes just aren't up to scratch. Most of them sound, well, like other Billy Bragg songs, only not as good. One chord progression on the title track is completely indistinguishable from Don't Try This At Home's Wish You Were Her, which was comfortably the worst song on that album anyway, and elsewhere the musical accompaniment on Mr Love And Justice is polite, mannered and frankly, rather dull.
Is it a coincidence that Bragg's last great record (the aforementioned Don't Try This At Home) was released in the same year (1991) that its creator's nemesis, Margaret Thatcher, was ousted from power, signalling the beginning of the end for her party's rule? Since then, Billy has slowly but surely become part of the establishment, debating the reform of the House of Lords on parliamentary committees, writing books on English identity and joining super groups like the Imagined Village. He may have retained his fierce integrity and insightful intelligence, but perhaps inevitably the anger has gone, to the detriment of his music.
The egregious critic Garry Bushell may have been unduly harsh in describing the singer as ''pontificating on a South London council estate when we all know he lives in a lovely big house in West Dorset'', but perhaps he had a point. --Chris White
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Merry Terry
Format:Audio CD
Mr Bragg has previously been accused of trying to set Clause Four to music. And maybe he has at times with varying success. There should, however, be little contention about his towering songwriting abilities. Beauties such as "St Swithin's Day", the eternal "New England", the magnificent "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards" and even some of the album tracks off the last 2 albums ("Sugar Daddy", "He'll Go Down") have showed some bite where mellowness may have set in.
"Mr Love & Justice" starts off rather well. "I Keep Faith" is not particularly arresting for anything on initial appearance but it does eventually charm you with a soulful lightness of touch and the sweet sound of Robert Wyatt's backing vocals. This stands up there with some of his finest.
Elsewhere highlights are "Sing Their Souls Back Home" which by rights could make you cringe but it somehow doesn't. "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show" works rather well tackling the calorific golden arches. "O Freedom" is Bragg at his most incisive.
However elsewhere things are either a little bland or have a wall of ugly guitar over them. The Blokes as a backing band seem to have lost their deftness and seem to clunk about like a drunk Crazy Horse.
"I Almost Killed You" passes by forgettably. The title track sounds like we've been here before. "Farm Boy" doesn't do much one way or the other.
The solo take on the songs does bring out more interest and some of the bear up well under this treatment.
Perhaps it's all a bit unfair. Life does change and you couldn't maybe expect a "Levi Stubbs Tears".
But there is a bit of blandness knocking around in the over. So whither Billy Bragg? This is not an overly arresting album but it is not without its charm.... Read more ›
"Mr Love & Justice" starts off rather well. "I Keep Faith" is not particularly arresting for anything on initial appearance but it does eventually charm you with a soulful lightness of touch and the sweet sound of Robert Wyatt's backing vocals. This stands up there with some of his finest.
Elsewhere highlights are "Sing Their Souls Back Home" which by rights could make you cringe but it somehow doesn't. "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show" works rather well tackling the calorific golden arches. "O Freedom" is Bragg at his most incisive.
However elsewhere things are either a little bland or have a wall of ugly guitar over them. The Blokes as a backing band seem to have lost their deftness and seem to clunk about like a drunk Crazy Horse.
"I Almost Killed You" passes by forgettably. The title track sounds like we've been here before. "Farm Boy" doesn't do much one way or the other.
The solo take on the songs does bring out more interest and some of the bear up well under this treatment.
Perhaps it's all a bit unfair. Life does change and you couldn't maybe expect a "Levi Stubbs Tears".
But there is a bit of blandness knocking around in the over. So whither Billy Bragg? This is not an overly arresting album but it is not without its charm.... Read more ›
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By M. Isham
Format:Audio CD
This is a bit like meeting an old friend and catching up with their life and times. Interesting, funny, moving and going on a bit by turns, Bragg is a real person. There is more than enough here to engage with and enjoy. The Blokes are restrained and on form and the solo versions offer different perspectives on some great new songs. A couple of duds can't spoil the pleasure of spending some time with Bill again.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Although it's been six years since his last album England Half English, Billy Bragg is one artist who you can`t accuse of being lazy. Since releasing that LP, Billy has written a book The Progressive Patriot, made or appeared on countless TV and radio programmes and played numerous regular and low-key gigs and benefits around the World. And now he has brought out not just one new album buy two...
Yes the Deluxe Edition version of Mr. Love & Justice comes with two discs - the band version recorded with Billy's group The Blokes and a solo rendition of the same songs with Billy on vocals and crunchy electric guitar. Recorded after the band versions, the solo recordings will delight those from Billy's fanbase who still hanker for his one-man-and-a-guitar assault on the World in the 80s. They also of course beg the question as to which version of Bragg is best. My reply is that both the band and solo versions of the songs are worthy on this excellent album.
Not that the solo recordings are necessarily quieter than the full versions with this artist of course. Take the second song I Almost Killed You - the band version has a campfire feel whereas the solo take has loud, punky guitar like it's 1984 all over again. Both versions are excellent. Among the other highlights for me are the literal wordplay of M For Me, highly political O Freedom and Something Happened which dissects the difference between love and lust in two sentences over some of the grungiest guitar ever laid down on a Billy Bragg record.
Musically the key influences on Mr. Love & Justice are classic soul, folk and country rather than the mix of World music to celebrate multicultural Britain and rather less inspiring pub-rock on England Half English.... Read more ›
Yes the Deluxe Edition version of Mr. Love & Justice comes with two discs - the band version recorded with Billy's group The Blokes and a solo rendition of the same songs with Billy on vocals and crunchy electric guitar. Recorded after the band versions, the solo recordings will delight those from Billy's fanbase who still hanker for his one-man-and-a-guitar assault on the World in the 80s. They also of course beg the question as to which version of Bragg is best. My reply is that both the band and solo versions of the songs are worthy on this excellent album.
Not that the solo recordings are necessarily quieter than the full versions with this artist of course. Take the second song I Almost Killed You - the band version has a campfire feel whereas the solo take has loud, punky guitar like it's 1984 all over again. Both versions are excellent. Among the other highlights for me are the literal wordplay of M For Me, highly political O Freedom and Something Happened which dissects the difference between love and lust in two sentences over some of the grungiest guitar ever laid down on a Billy Bragg record.
Musically the key influences on Mr. Love & Justice are classic soul, folk and country rather than the mix of World music to celebrate multicultural Britain and rather less inspiring pub-rock on England Half English.... Read more ›
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By T. Sandle
Format:Audio CD
Mixing pop and politics...this is a great album; plus some cracking songs exploring the human heart. For example, on the song `M for Me' the topic remains the importance of relationships and compassion, as he sings the delightful couplet: ''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''.
The stand-out track on the album is `I Keep Faith', superbly backed by Robert Wyatt. The band gel far better here than on English, Half English.
This is Bragg's best since 1991's Don't Try This At Home.
The stand-out track on the album is `I Keep Faith', superbly backed by Robert Wyatt. The band gel far better here than on English, Half English.
This is Bragg's best since 1991's Don't Try This At Home.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
`Mr Love and Justice' feels like the culmination of Billy Bragg's twenty five years as a solo performer with his song writing at it's most subtle since his 1996 album `William Bloke' and the musical accompaniment tutored from his collaborations with American band Wilco and his own backing band of multi-instrumentalists, the Blokes.
The album opens with taster single `I Keep Faith' which is the most polished song on the album and kicks things off nicely. `I Almost Killed You' suffers from the World Music arrangement and percussion but the lyric is it's saving grace. Next up `M for Me' is again lyrically inspired and has a beautiful brass driven arrangement which compliments it.
`The Beach is Free' is wonderfully rockabilly sprint which leads perfectly on to ex-trooper Bragg's take on the second gulf war, `Sing Their Souls Back Home'. `You Make Me Brave' feels like Bragg circa `Don't Try This at Home'. `Something Happened' struggles to make an impact on this record being shoehorned between two songs which are superior in tone and arrangement.
The title song, which doesn't allude to the Colin MacInnes novel of the same title, sits uncomfortably with Bragg's admiration for Woody Guthrie with its `desertion should mean disgrace' message to absentee fathers. `If You Ever Leave' is Bragg possibly as far away from the songs of teenage angst of his early career but it still resonates more than anything Brian Adams and co have ever had at number one.
`O Freedom' is reminiscent of Bragg's `The Internationale' album and gives the listener a sense of familiarity which it then snatches away with `The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' with its brilliant anti-smoking industry message.... Read more ›
The album opens with taster single `I Keep Faith' which is the most polished song on the album and kicks things off nicely. `I Almost Killed You' suffers from the World Music arrangement and percussion but the lyric is it's saving grace. Next up `M for Me' is again lyrically inspired and has a beautiful brass driven arrangement which compliments it.
`The Beach is Free' is wonderfully rockabilly sprint which leads perfectly on to ex-trooper Bragg's take on the second gulf war, `Sing Their Souls Back Home'. `You Make Me Brave' feels like Bragg circa `Don't Try This at Home'. `Something Happened' struggles to make an impact on this record being shoehorned between two songs which are superior in tone and arrangement.
The title song, which doesn't allude to the Colin MacInnes novel of the same title, sits uncomfortably with Bragg's admiration for Woody Guthrie with its `desertion should mean disgrace' message to absentee fathers. `If You Ever Leave' is Bragg possibly as far away from the songs of teenage angst of his early career but it still resonates more than anything Brian Adams and co have ever had at number one.
`O Freedom' is reminiscent of Bragg's `The Internationale' album and gives the listener a sense of familiarity which it then snatches away with `The Johnny Carcinogenic Show' with its brilliant anti-smoking industry message.... Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best in quite a while
This is one of those albums that I wasnt sure about when I first listened to it but the quality grows on you and now I think the whole album is excellent. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2010 by Kev and Jen
3.0 out of 5 stars
And the fact that you don't understand...
Bought after attending a live concert in Wales. Good without being exceptional. Title track not my choice, but Billy Bragg always has great lyrics and good to great music. Read more
Published on 17 July 2009 by A. J. Whittick
4.0 out of 5 stars
Something to Bragg about...
At last, Bragg is back! with his first album in 6 years "Mr Love & Justice". Far from going stale with age, this English songwriter just keeps getting better! Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2009 by N. Surry
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mr Love and Justice by Billy Bragg
A good recent addition to a Billy Bragg collection. Not all the melodies are as strong as some of his best stuff but still a number of pleasing tracks from the Braggmeister.
Published on 4 Feb 2009 by Mr. M. G. Watson
5.0 out of 5 stars
classic
what a great CD. Some great tracks with the identifying guitar sounds and then some. I loved the keep faith track. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 2008 by zoe
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best Bragg for ages
I haven't got a lot to say other than this CD with the solo version is worth a lot more than the asking price. Grows on you as well.
Published on 16 May 2008 by Marling
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timeless
Wonderful
Billy's age old themes with all the craft, complexity and wisdom of his years
The inclusion of an 'unplugged' solo version and a bad version makes this an... Read more
Billy's age old themes with all the craft, complexity and wisdom of his years
The inclusion of an 'unplugged' solo version and a bad version makes this an... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2008 by R. S. Garbett
4.0 out of 5 stars
Do you know what, I like it.
i like it, but I prefer the band side on the whole. Fav song is Sing their souls back home, magic Sprigsteenish English gospel-soul-folk. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2008 by T. Stimson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sorry to be 'downbeat', but this is distinctly average.
Extremely disappointing and clichéd set of songs, and not at all politically insightful (the 'best' we get is "Sing Their Souls Back Home", which is a dirge about getting... Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2008 by JOHN GREEN
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