Levellers capture the Zeitgeist of the times again! (Zeitgeist & Expanded - Levellers)

Member Name: margerydawes

Product:	Zeitgeist & Expanded - Levellers
Date:	09/09/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rocky sound, yet combined with a beautiful folk vibe.

Disadvantages: That I actually wanted to give it 4 and a half. (also, my terrible joke in the headline)

As a young Levellers fan, I remember in 1995 the excitement of waiting for this album to be released and then buying it from Woolworths, before opening it just outside the store and poring over the highly-coloured sleeve artwork by Jeremy Leveller. I ran all the way home and put it on my new CD player -now I think about it, it might well have been one of my first Levellers albums not purchased on vinyl or tape!

While it's not quite up there with the best Levellers albums, this deservedly reached number one in the album charts, for once rewarding this talented band with some of the commercial success they've long merited. Stand out tracks for me are Exodus, Forgotten Ground, Just the One and Men-an Tol. It comes at the height of the furore over the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act which the band led the way in campaigning against thanks to its draconian nature, particularly against anyone who dared to live an alternative lifestyle.

1. Hope Street - at the time, the Levellers were quite well-known for this song which was released as a single, narrowly missing the top ten. I can't say this does too much for me, nor is representative of the Levellers' style, despite being relatively decent and catchy.
2. The Fear - I like this quirky song with its strong chorus.
3. Exodus - another stonker about the Criminal Justice Act. The song, but not the act, has grown on me over the years and the chorus is a powerful shout out against the harm done by this new invasive law.
4. Maid of the River - penned by Rev Hammer, this is a gentle, yet powerful ballad. Sounds like a traditional old folk song.
5. Saturday to Sunday - Another catchy song - have only heard this one live the once!
6. 4am - the album starts becoming quite rocky at this point. This is a stonking punky song with a fantastic rampage of a chorus.
7. Forgotten Ground - Oh, this is a great song! Starts off sounding like a traditional folk song and builds up to a rousing chorus with amazing fiddle.
8. Fantasy - a biggish hit, but like Hope Street, not terribly Levellers sounding as it's fairly bland, instead more like an indie song of the time.
9. PC Keen - a very important song lyrically as it's about a copper who was in charge of identifying "trouble makers (read 'travellers'). However, it's set to a weird monotonous crashing of noise and usually gets 'skipped' by me.
10. Just the One - this is a shortened version of this fantastic song. I love this, it's quirky, we've all been there with the lyrics, and once in your head, the tune will never leave! An out and out classic!
11. Haven't Made it - a pleasing song
12. Leave this Town - a rollicking frenzy of punk; I love that this sounds much harder-edged yet is accompanied so beautifully by the fiddle.
13. Men-an Tol - another classic. This is Simon Friend's classic song about a trip to Cornwall and the landmarks on Zennor Tor where he appears to undergo some sort of epiphany about the tranquillity of life here and how things haven't changed on this spot for hundreds of years versus the manic daily lives that most of us lead. AS well as touching lyrics, the tune dips between quiet introspection and a rocking chorus.

Summary: A powerful voice against the Criminal Justice Act.