Album Review: LEVELLERS – Green Blade Rising / Truth And Lies

Eagle Records – Release Date: 7 October 2013

Following the full-blown remastered / repackaged / bonus material / multi-disc re-issues of the Levellers’ China Records back catalogue in 2012, here we have Eagle Records measly attempt to jump on the bandwagon.

Unfortunately, they have missed the back of the truck completely and have fallen flat on their faces – not with the albums themselves (both of which are toward the better end of the Levellers’ canon), but with the question having to be asked; ‘What’s the point?’.

All they have done is pressed the same CDs and put them together as a double-pack with a cardboard slipcase. Where are the bonus tracks? Where are the new sleevenotes? Where are the live video snippets? There’s not even any new artwork or photographs.

Admittedly, there would have been no point in re-mastering as the original albums date from 2002 and 2005 and were fully digital recordings anyway – but, come on, there must have been a few unreleased little nuggets hanging around that could have been included to tempt fans into re-purchasing.

As it stands, fans of the band will already have both albums and as they only reached numbers 77 and 102 respectively in the album charts when originally released, there just can’t be a massive demand for this re-issue.

As regards the albums themselves, both are very good and sit well within the Levellers’ exceptional body of work.

‘Green Blade Rising’ is probably the better of the two as it emphasises the band’s more pastoral, folky aspect – but still with the rousing choruses and with Jon Sevink’s violin well to the fore.

Contrast this with ‘Truth And Lies’, a very much grittier and overtly political set of tunes with a tough, contemporary edge. Probably has the best track of the two though with ‘The Damned’ – for me anyway, up there with the Lev’s ten best tunes ever.

Given that this pair are being issued as a cut-price set, if you haven’t got either in your collection it’s well worth a punt.

If you have, keep your money in your wallet – and as the cop with the megaphone says in ‘The Naked Gun’ at the fire in the fireworks factory; ‘go back to your homes, there’s nothing to see here’…

**** (for the music)

* (to the record company for their lack of effort)

Review by Alan Jones

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