There have been a few Levellers compilations before, but this is the definitive article. Compiled by the band and stretching over their entire career, this two CD and one DVD collection is going to be an essential purchase for existing fans who will relish the opportunity to own a brand new, thorough retrospective, plus all of the promo videos, as well as for those curious souls who maybe like a song or two and are looking at buying an excellent introduction to the band. There are also four exclusive collaborations with Imelda May (Beautiful Day), Frank Turner (Julie), Bellowhead (Just The One) and Billy Bragg (Hope St.), both in audio and visual form, a booklet featuring lyrics and some excellent sleeve artwork by bassist Jeremy Cunningham. I don’t think you’re going to find any Levellers fan who will prefer the collaborations over the originals, but I really like all of them, especially Imelda’s kicking “Beautiful Day” and Billy Bragg’s more subtle, thoughtful rendition of “Hope Street”. You could argue that Billy manages to tug on the heart strings and convey the emotional content of the song more effectively than the original.
Brighton’s folk-rock heroes have released some absolutely superb songs over the last quarter of a century and, even if hardcore fans don’t entirely agree with the track listing and may think some of their personal favourites are missing, you can only fit so much much on two discs and it’s difficult to really argue with a compilation selected by the artists themselves. The Levellers have released ten studio albums to date and, although there is an eclecticism to the band’s sound that casual listeners wouldn’t particularly realise, I think it is fair to say that their brand of fiery, impassioned rock, blended with violins, mandolins and other folky instruments, combined with the intelligent, poetic, wonderfully descriptive and emotive lyrics are what usually draws people into becoming Levellers fans. The gritty despair of “Fifteen Years” and “Hope Street”, with their themes of alcohol, poverty and utter defeat are the perfect couple of songs to start this compilation. If you’re not hooked after the first two tracks alone, you’re probably never going to appreciate what the band are about. It’s not all lyrically downbeat; the joyful “What A Beautiful Day” is arguably their most commercial track and the infectious, sing-along quality is damned-near irresistible.
All the big songs are here. “Fantasy”, “One Way”, “Carry Me”, “This Garden”, “Belarus”, “Celebrate”, “Far From Home”… these may just be song titles and very little else to people unfamiliar with the Levellers catalogue, but to fans they are anthems and live favourites; buy this “Greatest Hits” and you’ll discover why. This double CD collection is, however, a prime opportunity to present a body of work rich and fully representative of exactly who the band are beyond the recognisable hits and also to include a lot of excellent material from the last decade or so which, it has to be said, has only ever been heard by those people who have loyally bought the band’s albums. As far as commercial recognition, the nineties was The Levellers’ era (even then, they never once enjoyed a UK top ten hit single, just a few close calls), but they have been making compelling, superb music all the way throughout their career and this “Greatest Hits”, presented in a non-chronological order on the CDs, showcases their excellent post-millennial work alongside the more well-known earlier songs.
Admittedly, this may be all the Levellers one person needs, especially given the superb DVD gathering together all of their videos, but if you listen to this compilation and love it as much as I do, it’s almost an inevitability that a through investigation of their back catalogue is going to happen. This two CD collection is a massively enjoyable, timely reminder of what great musicians and songwriters these guys are, as well as what an impressive repertoire of classic songs they have amassed and, given any justice in the world, this will win them a legion of new fans as well as many returning older ones for whom The Levellers perhaps provided a soundtrack to their youth. Hopefully this compilation will spur such lapsed fans into discovering top-notch albums such as Green Blade Rising (2002), “Letters From The Underground” (2008) and “Static On The Airwaves” (2012), as well as Mark Chadwick’s truly brilliant and compelling second solo album, “Moment” (2014). If you need to start anywhere, though, start here; this wonderful, life-affirming celebration of all things Levellers.
Levellers’ “Greatest Hits” is widely available now, released On The Fiddle Recordings. More information, as well as forthcoming live dates, can be found on The Levellers’ Website.
Andy Sweeney, 29th September, 2014.
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