Talking With the Taxman About Poetry

I thought it would be worse, it's actually not bad.

This was woeful, as I expected it to be.

I just can't. He's probably a folk hero from a grim time in British society, but I don't have the stomach for this.

The vocals on this album immediately remind me of Morrissey—not simply because he’s British, but because they share that same dull, bland, and vocal delivery. From a pure songwriting standpoint, I really respect what Billy Bragg is doing here. His lyricism and themes are sharp, grounded, and refreshing, completely avoiding the cliché love song tropes you hear everywhere else in pop and rock. However, the execution falls short vocal-wise. The flat vocal delivery fails to bring those strong lyrics to their full potential, which makes the album feel a bit disappointing. Because the core writing and thematic depth are genuinely good despite the dry vocal performance, I feel it deserves the exact same score I gave Morrissey's Viva Hate. There are certainly good individual tracks scattered throughout, but the lack of dynamic vocal expression keeps it from being a record I'll feel the urge to throw on repeat. Will I listen to this album again? No. Nice job on the themes and the lyrics, but it lacks the replay pull. Will I recommend this album? Yes. There are good songs here and the songwriting is worth hearing; it's just not an album I'll listen to again personally. Will I recommend this album? Yes. I mean there are good songs here. It's just not the album I'll listen to again.

top man

Heel apart - het is de typische jarentachtigbandjesmuziek, maar dan van één gast solo. Met minimale bezetting, meestal alleen hijzelf, of met één instrument op de achtergrond. Je zou zeggen, strikt genomen is het een singer-songwriter, maar dan niet van het bedachtzame soort dat we gewend zijn. Het is bandjesmuziek, maar dan opgenomen op die ene dag dat de rest van de band in de kroeg zat. En daardoor klinkt het best uniek, en fris bovendien. Folky ook, bij vlagen. 'The difficult third album', vermeldt de hilarische. Moeilijk om naar te luisteren in ieder geval niet.

Folk punk noemt wiki dit. Dan denk ik aan bands als Flogging Molly. Maar, al hebben nummers als 'There is power in the union' daar heus wel wat van, dat is niet de kern van wat we voorgeschoteld krijgen. Want, al is het door het volle geluid soms nauwelijks voor te stellen, dit is slechts één man met zijn gitaar. Blijkbaar kunnen de producers toveren met geluid. Ondanks het volle geluid zijn dit vaak echte folk-liedjes, waarin de man met zijn gitaar zijn verhaal vertelt, zijn emotie overbrengt of een boodschap brengt. Als je dit album luistert, wordt het andere album met de band Wilco helemaal overbodig. Nee, ik ga dit niet nog eens aanzetten. Dit is mijn genre niet. Maar ik laat dit voorbeeld voor al die saaie folkartiesten ook niet zitten met een vergeetbare 3.

Dit doet me gelijk heel erg denken aan Frank Turner: eigenlijk een (skate/punk)rocker, die liedjes akoestisch gaat brengen. Maar wel lekker uptempo, waardoor het niet gezapig wordt. Want daar hadden ze in de jaren 80 en 90 ook wel een handje van, dat alles tergend traag gemaakt werd. Eva Cassidy noem ik maar weer eens. Niet alle liedjes zijn even interessant, soms is het geluid iets te kaal. Sowieso moet zijn stem veel van de muziek dragen, maar dat vind ik in dit geval niet zo'n probleem, want ik vind het wel tof. Ik mis toch een klein drumstel af en toe denk ik. Er hoeft geen 80s reverb op te zitten, maar gewoon ter ondersteuning en begeleiding had al genoeg geweest. Ik gaf Billy Bragg eerder al eens een 4, al kan ik me niks meer van die muziek herinneren, dus dat was wel een vrij positieve 4. Ik neig eigenlijk weer daarheen, al zal ik hier over een jaar waarschijnlijk ook weinig herinneringen aan hebben. En aangezien ik de vorige keer al een bonuspunt heb uitgedeeld, hou ik het deze keer op 3 sterretjes.

Great album

Love BB, and prefer his love songs, absolute poetry

I didn't buy this when it came out but I did hoover up all Billy's early stuff shortly after graduating. I loved it then and I love it still. The reviews here from certain, obvious Americans are only worthy of contempt.

I don't mind his voice. The lyrics are solid. But honestly it sounds like he's singing from a different room to the band. This should be lyrics/vocals forward, but instead the band are drowning him out with heavily chorused jangle. I expected to like this more but I'm dropping a star because the production is not just dated, it's damaging. I expect I'd like some of his "a voice and a guitar" stuff more than I did this, but I didn't like this.

A very good album with some great tunes and an even better name.

Nopedy nope nope. So bored of his voice. Nothing inspiring at all.

I knew nothing about Billy Bragg going in. It was a pleasant surprise. I even enjoyed disc two despite containing alternate or instrumental versions of the first album.

4.4 The more things change, Billy, the more things stay the same....

p550. 1986. 3 stars. Decent collection of songs, let down by his estuary accent and strong left wing opinions. Not sure it needs to be on the list.

Took me a while to get used to his voice (it's a bit more obvious in this record than Mermaid Avenue), but this is pretty good stuff. Favourite tracks: The Marriage, Levi Stubbs' Tears, The Passion.

No es de mi gusto, muy country yankee. Sonaba bien pero no creo que lo vuelva a escuchar.

Some good parts. Some entirely too long parts. Feel like I don’t know enough about 1980s British politics.

Liked this more than I expected! The lyrics are just incredible. I loved how the romantic songs were still political, and the political songs were still romantic. The two themes of the album forever intertwined.

...sure? I don't know what to think of this one.

Talking with the Wilco Man about Anger

This guy might as well have been a British version of Elvis Costello. Just sounded so forced and unenjoyable.

Kind of a fun album. Upper 3s but didn't get itself higher. I loved "Looking For Another Girl" and especially the Kirsty McCall cover of it, so I had high hopes and expectations. It was good but didn't rise to what I hoped it could be. I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed, Billy.

Still a Marxist.

BB is better with a small band IMO.

More like it

Alright, he sings wiv a British accent. What else can I say? Not really my cup of tea.

"Greetings to the New Brunette" is a soaring jangle pop opener (written by Johnny Marr [because of course!]) that should have been a bigger hit and probably would have been without Bragg's exaggerated accent. The rest of the album waxes a bit too political for me, what with the neoliberalness of songs like the Dylan cover "Ideology," but he has a powerful voice, and his stripped-back drumless approach makes for a "live" feeling to the album despite it being a studio release.

Boring music and super preachy? Sign me up I’ll say the music itself is far from offensive for the most part and doesn’t really bother me. I like how it doesn’t fully commit to folk sound but rather uses a combination of genres to make it work. Variety isn’t awful As always with that really annoying overly British singing style, it’d be better if sung by someone else. Frustrating because there are absolutely songs on here where he sings normally and it’s just straight up better. I get what the guys going for message wise but I think the way he conveys them is really unappealing and uncreative A lot of 90s rap has strong political messaging, but it does it through the lens of personal experience and just conveys those feelings they’re feeling a lot better. I just got none of that from Bragg and it results in an uninspired snoozer of an album

Appalling. This is the kind of 'political' protest that only exists to virtue-signal rather than change anything. It's the kind of music you can listen to to get mad at a hateful image of a group of people in your mind instead of doing anything meaningful. Fucking garbage. And the music is milquetoast ass, too.

Punk?

Not bad for a folksy album. 2.5⭐️

This is a real head scratcher. I don't dislike this album. Bragg's voice and accent don't do much for me at all and queuing up the first track I was instantly afraid I was going to have to endure 1 hour of it, and those fears were mostly warranted. I was surprised to find this is from 2006 as it feels like the sort of folksy message heavy music of the 60s and 70s. Feels a lot like someone trying to have something to say, but not being adroit enough to package it in verse that does anything other than cudgel the listener with his bullet pointed list. The amount of plays logged on this 20 year old album is somewhat indicative of its significance. How did this make the cut? Further indication of the list makers penchant for anything British to the exclusion of good taste, or validity. Two stars for putting it among a list of essentials. Three stars had I encountered it organically in the wild.

I liked this more than I expected to. It sounds like The Clash and The Smiths got together with some old-fashioned music hall veterans, with some very clever (and Right Bri'ish) lyrics on top.

Actually a bit enjoyable. But nothing special. 5/10

I appreciate his vocal approach. Very unique. Unfortunately, not much else grabbed me about this except for the political commentary. The songs themselves are rather messy, not structured super well, meandering. The record gets tiring fairly quickly, despite not even being that long. What is unique singing with a charming accent quickly turns into irritating whining.

Solidarity brother, truly an irritating voice though.

Targeting Omaha for no reason

I listened to Mermaid Avenue a couple of years ago and I instantly became a Wilco fan, but I wasn't particularly impressed with Billy Bragg's performance, so this is the first time I'm listening to one of his albums. I'm still not the biggest fan, but this is decent. A couple of really great songs bogged down by a bunch of mediocre ones. Not much more to say. Favourite track: Levi Stubbs' Tears

Työläis lauluja ja kansallis

I can get down with a bit of punk, I can get down with a bit of folk. The combination is not quite the marrige one might imagine, but I am still enjoying it well enough. It takes a bit of active listening,

BB. The British Boss. Or BB for short.

This dude is so aggressively British it makes it hard to pay attention to what he’s saying. Like surely he has to be putting this on thick right? Idk not a fan

Another album ruined by the vocals!

Welp I guessed this guy was Irish due to the semi-political nature of his songs but he’s British. While there is nothing wrong with his music, it is boring and repetitive and not for me.

I liked this. He has a good sense of melody and a cool folk/punk sound. Frank Turner surely took a lot of influence from this sound and I also like him.

I enjoyed a lot of the instrumentation on this album, but man, that guys singing voice really got to me after a while. This may have been better if he had asked someone else to sing.

1986 folk punk Greetings to the new brunette Ideology Honey i'm a big boy now Help save the youth of america

I think I had higher hopes for this

Not a bad singer/songwriter album by Billy Bragg. I didn't find his voice grating unlike many other reviewers on here, and I appreciated the working-class spirit, even if the political lyrics were a bit basic and unsubtle. Not sure it's an album you MUST HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE but I generally enjoyed it, and definitely found it more interesting than the album he did with Wilco.

One of Britain’s best songwriters who doesn’t get the kudos he deserves, probably because he’s overtly political. Levi Stubbs’ tears is one of my top songs of all time.

Not really a fan - a lot of the album feels like he forgot to write actual music for the album and his voice grates heavily. Quite a few nice folky moments

Divided. Didn’t love it but also didn’t hate it. Probably wouldn’t come back but a few solid songs.

Un disco muy original. Interesante y diferente

'Shirley / Your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle / Shirley / We are joined in the ideological cuddle.' Lovely - really, really lovely. '& marriage is when we admit / Our parents were right.' What separates Billy Bragg from other wits (Costello, McCartney) & leftists (Springsteen, Joe Strummer) of the music industry is that he has the humanity of an elder statesmen who has seen it all & would love nothing more than to have a conversation w/ his grandsons and daughters. In other words, there's a superb maturity here, & yet there's no jadedness & no fatigue, but a whole lotta fun & festivity. I of course love the politics behind the record, & Bragg's tributes to Motown legend Levi Stubbs, but it's more fundamental. I guess I love its loveliness.

Very good punky indie folk..great lyrics

3,5

Greetings to the New Brunette Levi Stubbs' Tears

Just didn't much care for this one. The last song reminded me of the sea shanties in Assassins Creed: Black Flag.

I don't know I think it's alright but also this guy seems like he likes the smell of his own farts a bit much. 6/10?

Wow. Enjoyed this much more than expected. The union song reminded me of my mom.

Ik was in een poëtische bui. 4 sterren

4/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/billy-bragg/talking-with-the-taxman-about-poetry/ Finding this one difficult to properly rate, especially on first listen, as I've been doing with nearly each album. I don't think this album can be properly judged without really following along with the lyrics (which I did not do). Musically, it's nice, but not mindblowing. But, I used to listen to The Rifles quite a lot some 15 years ago, and I now realize that they owe quite a lot to Billy Bragg, especially on their more acoustic songs. That was a fun realization, and makes me want to listen to this album more. I'm preemptively rating it 4/5, so I don't forget about it. Pretty sure that might be the (minimum) rating I'll land on when I also dive a bit more into the lyrics.

One of those albums I haven’t listened to for years yet still remember every lyric and can’t help but sing out loud 👊

Man, that was boring. I couldn't even bring myself to listen to the whole original album. So I didn't even start on the bonus album. In a pub, it's okay as background noise—you don't have to actually listen to it. But that's about it. 2/5

Pretty good album, I thought it was ok and there were some good songs on the album, I did find that it dragged on a bit.

Billy Bragg The songs were alright but I really don’t like his voice. Or his guitar tone. This was actually surprising hard to listen to.

Didnt like this at all. His voice was very hard to listen to

Eh. This could have been mixed better. Voice was way too much of a focal point and therefore abrasive

Liked it but got a little too political for me. The opening track was outstanding. Enjoyed the melodies and the overall vibe of the tracks. Will revisit.

I had no idea what to expect for this but i really really enjoyed it! i like the stripped back songs that feel in the tradition of folk music because of their storytelling, ethos and minimal instrumentation but also on the surface sound very different because of the sounds of the instruments themselves (”Levi Stubbs’ Tears”, “There Is Power in a Union”). He has a sort of Morrissey way about either his voice itself or the way he uses it, and the music feels like a cousin of the Smiths; it’s in the same family in that they throw in the most heartbreaking melancholic note or chord when you least expect it, but it’s definitely doing something very different still (”Greetings to the New Brunette”, “The Marriage”). a whole album of his voice did start to get to me a little bit by the end just because of the way he almost jumps out at you kind of bluntly sometimes (i wish i could explain that better…but if you listen maybe you’ll hear), but i like this one a lot! Fav tracks: Greetings to the New Brunette; Train Train; The Marriage; Levi Stubbs’ Tears

Minder mig lidt en en britisk udgave af glass Vegas med en anelse mere twang.

Folk-punk. Interessant genre. Jeg hyggede mig med albummet og ikke mindst dets meget britiske feel

Boring. Another overly sensitive, naive but entitled musician thinking he knows about the world. Hard pass.

A nice surprise.

Clever lyrics ("how can you lie there and think of England / when you don't even know who's in the team") but neither the music or singing spark any particular joy for me, and it's really over-extended as a double album. Didn't mind having it on, but it's nothing I would seek out.

Prideful British/Irish working songs.

I like his voice.

Hey, this was great! Totally unfamiliar to me, but great jangly 80s rock shit

4점 주고 싶어요

Not really into this

Je connaissais pas vraiment Billy Bragg, à part de son association avec Wilco pour Mermaid Avenue. Ma première réaction c'est wow c'est du new wave? On dirait que j'écoute du Smiths avec une touche folk. Help save the youth of America sonne comme la version I fought the law de Clash.

Je ne suis probablement pas le seul ici qui connaissait seulement Billy Bragg de son album collaboratif avec Wilco! Du bon protest folk. J'adore le titre. Malheureusement j'écoute peu les paroles, là où se trouve l'essence du style d'habitude.

Wasnt expecting much but actually liked the folkish vibes!

I've never heard of Billy Bragg before, which is why this record took me by surprise. In between the folksy simplicity and the leftist political takes, you can hear the British post punk wave bubbling. I've always loved music that is not punk, but has punk sensibility, and this record fits the description perfectly. Songs like 'Levi Stubbs' Tears' are the thumping heart of this album, tackling a serious issue with precision and care for the human heart that's unusual and admirable. Other songs are much less exciting, but add to the deceivingly simplistic nature of a record that's surprisingly precise in how it treats its themes.

Overly long, to be sure, but Bragg's throaty yelp and overtly political songwriting have an unusual charm to them that I can't deny.

I’m partial to a bit of Billy Bragg and this is him at his best.

I liked that! My favourite was Train Train.

Me going into this album: “ugh, I bet this album will be a chore to get through.” Me, halfway through the first disc “THERE IS POWER IN A UNION!”

I feel like the songwriting is good but it’s tough to get past his voice.

Hmmm, interesting. I like the energy and raw rustic quality.

Billy Bragg's voice reminds me a lot of Frank Turner's singing voice. It should probably be the other way around since Bragg came first. This is not a bad album at all and I did enjoy Bragg's work on the Mermaid Avenue album with Wilco. He does a great job combining actually good songs with politics. It's not always easy to do (looking at you The Disposable Heroes Of Hypocrisy) and Bragg does it well. I am not blown away by any means, but this was a good listen and solid album of songs. My favorite tracks: Greetings to the New Brunette Ideology Honey, I'm a Big Boy Now There is Power in a Union The Warmest Room

A classic.

Songs written to be put to work.

Giver ikke mening med dobbelt-album, når anden del bare er alternative og stort set enslydende versioner af de andre sange. Mest en mand og hans elguitar. Lidt folksy vibes ind imellem.

There is power in a union ✊🏻

I've tried this a couple of times over the years, and have never liked it. I still don't after today's attempt. Just not my thing at all. The vocals are an immediate turn off and the music doesn't offer much respite. I admire the satirical/ironic lyricism however, which prevents this from getting the one star treatment.

secondo me se non si sa cantare non si dovrebbe fare i cantanti