Levellers
Album: Greatest Hits
Label: OTF
Tracks: 35CD 28DVD
Website: http://www.levellers.co.uk

When you're handed The Levellers 'Greatest Hits' Album containing 35 Audio tracks, and 28 videos, and asked to review it, it brings to the fore one major issue! to find a superlative or two that haven't been used to describe their work, their contribution, and their accomplishments over the last twenty five years!, oh and it also brings home he fact that time is passing you buy at an alarming rate....The Levellers, twenty five years, including twenty chart hits? And an abundance of fine compositions that certainly have not only stood the test of time, but are as relevant,as inspiring and let's be honest, as damn good as they were when first unleashed upon us, the unsuspecting public....this is the definitive collection, selected by the band themselves and is a absolute joy, a reason for celebration in itself....

So, a veritable institution in all honesty, The Levellers, with this collection have played an absolute master stroke! Not only have they presented many of their most loved tracks, but they have also re-worked four of the absolute classics, and done so in collaboration with some of the finest contemporary folk-roots artists, virtual members of the extended Levellers family anyhow!

So, Imelda May takes on 'Beautiful Day', and does more than a competent job tackling what surely must be The Levs most recognisable song, a song that in fairness is almost impossible to digest without Mark Chadwick at the helm.....this version would probably be more appealing to fans of Imelda than The Levellers, though it's pleasing enough to be fair.

Frank Turner covers 'Julie' and does so in his own inimitable fashion, and will surely, with this version, introduce The Levellers to a new generation of disenfranchised individuals looking for not only musical, but also social guidance?

'Just The One' is given the Bellowhead treatment, and it's probably this of the four reworked tracks that is the furthest from the original....a real journey through folk roots in itself and a pleasurable one at that, quirky yes for sure, but just so good!

Finally it's left to Billy Bragg, sounding slightly less Billy Bragg-ish than usual to stamp his authority on 'Hope Street' which he does so successfully to a large extent, delivering an interesting alternative to the original....slightly more of a lament than original release, yet still with that distinct Levellers feel.

Hearing so many quality offerings together serve to underpin The Levellers reputation for great songs, songs with a conscience that,though entertaining in their own right, continually question the establishment, continually offer resistance to those pulling the strings....these songs have aged well, there is no doubt that, the probing lyrics, unfortunately in many cases, are still as relevant, if not more so, as the day they were first released. It's an absolute must for the massed ranks of Levellers fans; it's an absolute must for those with any leaning towards roots rock, folk rock, folk punk, or whatever else you want to call it; and furthermore it's a must for those who just value great songwriting, great melodies and value songs of honesty and integrity....so, here's to the next twenty five years then eh!?

James Cosgrove