Don't Try This at Home

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
One wouldn't imagine that a died-in-red-wool socialist agitator and spiritual offspring of Woody Guthrie would be able to make serious inroads in modern-rock radio, but Billy Bragg did indeed slip onto some playlists with 1991's Don't Try This at Home. Working with a full band (the Smiths' Johnny Marr and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Michael Stipe are among the guests) with bits of brass and strings shading the arrangements, Bragg came up with a surplus of hooky songs highlighted by the minor hit "Sexuality." Conflict both personal ("You Woke Up My Neighborhood," "Accident Waiting to Happen") and political ("Everywhere," "God's Footballer") intertwine among these 16 songs in customary Bragg fashion. Ultimately, Home stands as one of the Brit firebrand's most accessible efforts. --Steven Stolder --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Don't Try This at Home
Average customer rating:

If you don't like this CD....

A tried and true songwriter

Loved It Even If I Didn't Want To

Good in spite of itself.

Try this at Home!

Don't Try This at Home
Billy Bragg
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Britpop | British Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Urban Folk | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
General | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

William Bloke

England, Half English

Workers Playtime

Talking With The Taxman About Poetry

Reaching to the Converted

ASIN: B000002H9H
Release Date: 1991-09-17

Tracks:

Accident Waiting To Happen
Moving The Goalposts
Everywhere
Cindy Of A Thousand Lives
You Woke Up My Neighbourhood
Trust
God's Footballer
The Few
Sexuality
Mother Of The Bride
Tank Park Salute
Dolphins
North Sea Bubble
Rumours Of War
Wish You Were Her
Body Of Water

Amazon.com essential recording

One wouldn't imagine that a died-in-red-wool socialist agitator and spiritual offspring of Woody Guthrie would be able to make serious inroads in modern-rock radio, but Billy Bragg did indeed slip onto some playlists with 1991's Don't Try This at Home. Working with a full band (the Smiths' Johnny Marr and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Michael Stipe are among the guests) with bits of brass and strings shading the arrangements, Bragg came up with a surplus of hooky songs highlighted by the minor hit "Sexuality." Conflict both personal ("You Woke Up My Neighborhood," "Accident Waiting to Happen") and political ("Everywhere," "God's Footballer") intertwine among these 16 songs in customary Bragg fashion. Ultimately, Home stands as one of the Brit firebrand's most accessible efforts. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

If you don't like this CD...........2007-04-12

you need to have your head examined - MAN is it greatness!

A tried and true songwriter.......2007-01-09

Billy Bragg has plenty to brag about. As a young British lad he has made writing songs an art and paralleled his abilities to artists like Leonard Cohen and James Taylor as a methodical master of modern folk and pop songwriting. This blisteringly brilliant solo album, which I was drawn to from the widespread success of the Wilco affiliated Mermaid Avenue albums, is off the kilter the best blend of soft, loud, acoustic, electric, stirring, catchy, cute, and snarling folk-pop that I have come across since the Mayans first predicted the Apocalypto.

Loved It Even If I Didn't Want To.......2006-09-27

First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a Libertarian and probably disagree with 90% OF Bragg's Socialist Big Government solutions to all of the ills in this world. That being said, this album is 100% spectacular. I may argue politics with Billy but would never argue music. This is one of the finest collection of songs in the Folk/Rock genre of the last 50 years. Each song is tunefull in its own way. Even though some of the lyrics are banal (Sexuality comes immediately to mind) the power of the melodies and arrangements lift each selection. Tank Park Salute and Moving The Goalposts are simply beautiful and speak to human relationships that are common to all regardless of politics. North Sea Bubble is a flat out rocker that gives a small salute to Libertarian Thought. At least I'd like to think so. 5 Stars!!! Buy it and enjoy. In a world of tripe like Madonna and Britney, this is an all too rare gem. I can't reccomend it highly enough.

Good in spite of itself........2004-04-29

I never realized it was possible to be less subtle than Natalie Merchant (or Midnight Oil!) with social commentary, but here it is; Bragg spoon-feeding listeners the morally correct position on issues one song at a time, with simplistic "tv movie of the week" messages: "Everywhere" - Booooo racism!, "North Sea Bubble" - Yaaaay, revolution!, and the albums real lemon, "Trust," which has Bragg singing an absurd little dirge from the now standard viewpoint of a gay man suffering from AIDS. AIDS is bad - Booooo AIDS! The first line of that one is "He's already been inside me..."
Mmmmmm, subtle!

Other songs (Accident Waiting to Happen) trot out Bragg's familiar, posturing anger, with tin-ear lyrics ("you're a dedicated swallower of facism") that should have been dumped a few seconds after they were written down.

And yet there they are... overcoming every sachharine, maudlin urge Bragg can't contain, a really nice set of songs: Cindy of a Thousand Lives, Moving the Goalposts, Tank Park Salute, Wish you Were Her. Even the rollicking, dumb attempt at cross-over (Sexuality) is a good listen.

The CD is really uneven, but I continually pull it out. Amidst the wincing, I usually have a great time.

Try this at Home!.......2002-12-08

It's hard enough to write well. It's even harder to write well when you have a political message. Billy Bragg was never shy about wearing his heart on his sleeve, here he combines his expression of beliefs with a musicality and poetry which anyone who has ever tried to write a 'message song' can only admire.

The songs have stayed fresh and, sadly, seem to become more relevant every day. The story of the two boys, one white and one Japanese American, in 'Everywhere'has echoes in the way that Arab Americans are now being regarded; but, the song's strength comes from the way Billy draws us in, we hurt for both boys - the one in the foxhole and the other in the internment camp.

Tracks:

Itsbynne Reel
Chime This
Scriabin
Suspone
Don't Try This At Home
Everything Happens When You're Gone
Talking To Myself
The Gentleman And Hizcaine

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorite albums.......2007-04-28

This is the album that made me want to play jazz. It's a fantastic album, but it's definitely a product of its time. All of the people complaining about the use of the EWI fail to take into account that this album was made in 1987, and the EWI was accepted as a good instrument for fusion playing. Yes, it sounds a bit dated now, but at the time, it was a revelation. And for all of you who think that the EWI sucks, go try and play one. It's very difficult, much more so than a standard tenor saxophone, so it makes the playing that much more remarkable.

Mr. Brecker's playing is absolutely mind-boggling on this CD. The opening track, "Itsbynne Reel" incorporates Irish folk music and an absolutely incredible solo. His use of the "super mixolydian" mode and phrasing put his playing a few levels above most of his contemporaries.

If you are one of those people that either subscribe to the Wynton Marsalis theory of jazz ("Swing+Blues=Jazz") or are only interested in the "head/solo/head/end" hard bop style of, say, Joe Lovano or Jerry Bergonzi, should probably look elsewhere. This is a Fusion album, and should be looked at as such.

good, but not great.... .......2005-09-22

This release is a little more uneven than releases like Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson, or Time is of the Essence.

Maybe there was too much ambition behind this one (they toss in everything but the kitchen sink), or to many different sidemen for things to really gell.

When Brecker is playing tenor, he really blows...(as in great!) I could have used less of the EWI this time around. I loved the EWI playing a lot on Magnetic by Steps Ahead, but in most of the arrangements here I think the tenor is a better fit. A few of the tunes take a while to get cooking, only to fade out at the end... highlights include Scriabin, Don't Try This at Home, Talking to Myself, and the Gentleman and Hizzcaine.

I saw Brecker's live group a few times in the late eighties, and with Nussbaum, Calderazzo, Stern, and Andrews they were positively smokin'. This album just doesn't capture how good they were as a unit. Nussbaum absolutely killed on drums!

Unique sounds from a true Genius.......2005-03-13

This is a great album.

All you jazz police who rate this album poorly can pull your finger out of your ass and go f*ck yourselves.

Just because it doesn't sound like yet another droning unoriginal hard bop album, you dismiss it as something a "JAZZ lover" should not like.

Brecker has come up with some distinctive new sounds on this album.

Best tracks for me are: Chime This, Scriabin, Everything Happens When You're Gone and Talking to Myself.

To the guy who thinks the bonus track "The Gentleman & Hizcaine" is the best track: Get a clue ! - that is clearly the WORST track on the album. It IS kind of interesting, but it sounds like an afterthought.

PS: Cook and Morton suck !! (just thought I'd throw that in)

Don't Try This Album at Home.......2001-12-31

Needless to say, His playing is nothing spectacular.His fusion experiment lyrically blew up in his face. This is an overratted album that I would not recommend to any JAZZ lover. On the left hand his "Tales from the Hudson" is a good modern era album. His flawless technique and great sidesmen keep the Album flowin'.

A compromise /a Brecker solo self-indulgence.......2001-05-28

The playing of Mr. Brecker is flawless, technically brilliant and energetic.

The problem is the music itself (the first seven cuts), along with the background players, are rather uninspiring/unenergetic and serve as a vehicle for Mr. Brecker to solo over

It is pity because of the last eighth cut which originally did not make the vinyl version.

The last cut stands out due to the originality of its quirky arrangement where all the musicians are playing great.

The passion and emotion exhibited in the playing of this cut is very noticable compared to the other cuts.

If all the cuts were similar in depth like the eighth cut, this recording would be considered a jazz fusion masterpiece.

While the first seven cuts are a cut above the easy listening lite jazz ala Kenny G, Larry Carleton, Earl Klugh etc; they appear to be a compromise between the uncommerciality and lack of self indulgence/ego satisfaction of Mr. Brecker in the eighth cut.

Such a compromise does not move me emotionally when listening to this cd, thus the low score, especially when it could have been much better if a such a compromise was not made.

Tracks:

Accident Waiting to Happen
Moving the Goalposts
Everywhere
Cindy of a Thousand Lives
You Woke Up My Neighbourhood
Trust
God's Footballer
Few
Sexuality
Mother of the Bride
Tank Park Salute
Dolphins
North Sea Bubble
Rumours of War
Wish You Were Her
Body of Water

Tracks:

Party of God [*]
North Sea Bubble [#][*][Demo Version]
Sexuality [#][*][Demo Version]
Just One Victory [Alternative Mix][*]
Everywhere [Alternative Version][#][*]
Trust [#][*][Demo Version]
Bread & Circuses [*]
Cindy of a Thousand Lives [#][*][Demo Version]
Few [#][*][Demo Version]
Revolution [*]
Tighten Up Your Wig [*] - The Athenians, Billy Bragg, DJ Woody Dee,
MBH [#][*]
This Gulf Between Us [#][*]
Piccadilly Rambler [#][*]

Customer Reviews:

Great CD.......2006-11-22

Bragg is very talented. Though he's politically left, his music doesn't bring that across very much (in this cd at least.) This was my first introduction to Billy Bragg. "you woke up my neighbourhood", "sexuality", and "tank park salute" are my favorites. Very raw, working class appeal subjects in the first two, but quite sentimental and reflective in the third. Most people can relate to most of the cd's content.

You're Sensational - Cole Porter in the '20s, '40s, and '50s, Vol. 1 - Wake Up & Dream (1916-1929)

Average customer rating:

You're Sensational - Cole Porter in the '20s, '40s, and '50s, Vol. 1 - Wake Up & Dream (1916-1929)
Cole Porter
Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Broadway & Vocalists | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Traditional & Vocal Pop | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

You're Sensational - Cole Porter in the '20s, '40s, and '50s, Vol. 2 - Kiss Me Kate (1940-1948)
You're Sensational - Cole Porter in the '20s, '40s, and '50s, Vol. 3 - High Society (1948-1956)
Cole Sings Porter
Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Cole Porter
Sinatra Sings Cole Porter

ASIN: B00006JTE4
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Average customer rating:

This is Progressive with a capital P
2.5 stars
A good disc, but it's a little limited.
Difficult-to-perform music live on stage
Hardly for Die-Hards

Don't Try This at Home: Live
Spock's Beard
Manufacturer: Metal Blade
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Progressive | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Beard Is Out There-Live
Day for Night
Live in 2005: Gluttons for Punishment
V
?

ASIN: B00004SG67
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Tracks:

Day For Night
Mouth Of Madness
Skin
Gibberish
June
The Healing Colors Of Sound

Album Description

This is the 2nd Metal Blade release for the progressive rock act, their 6th album overall, of their most accessible material to date. Tracks include 'Gibberish' and 'The Healing Colors Of Sound'. This CD contains over 50 minutes of music. Available again at the new lower price of $7.99!

Customer Reviews:

This is Progressive with a capital P.......2005-10-01

Great stuff. Gentle Giant meets Genesis meets ELP, all with the rythm section of Yes. That would be if you could even qualify comparisons. If you are a Prog Rock fan this is IT.

The recording quality is great but still retains the first come first serve atmosphere of a live performance. No dress-ups (re-recording or musical "cleanups") in the production halls. This is testified by Neal Morse's singing (not perfect) and some timing rough points that you will not hear on studio versions of these
tunes. However, I for one don't mind especially when hearing the complexity of harmonies and rythm section timing. I like the recording just the way it is - real and organic.

Buy this one, enjoy this one, hear true Progressive Rock; not Neo-Progressive or the like. Here are masters of the game.

2.5 stars.......2001-09-04

Little if any variation on the studio versions of this material. All the cuts are from the two discs-Kindness of Strangers and Day to Night. Sound quality of studio material is also, obviously, better than live versions-Neal Morse's voice in particular fares better in the studio. So why bother. Stick with the studio discs-this one's redundant...Simon

A good disc, but it's a little limited........2000-12-12

Spock's Beard's bonbastic and challenging form of progressive rock translates very well to the live medium, because the band plays with incredible energy onstage. Neal Morse, the head honcho behind the band, is a brilliant entertainer, and this album ineffably captures and preserves the band's topnotch live performance. Sound quality is impeccable...about as good as a live album can get.

If only the song selection weren't so limited. You get a pretty good variety, just not enough. Songs come only from the "Day for Night" and "Kindness of Strangers" albums. All the songs are good, sure, but when the album only clocks in at around 50 minutes, it leaves you wanting more. The live renditions of this disc's tracks are mostly predictable reiterations of the studio versions, but these guys put on a great show that keeps things interesting. (A lot of the vocal parts sound better with the live versions as well.) It's really something hearing "Gibberish" performed live, with those complex vocal sections.

It's kind of disappointing, but all in all it's a good disc.

Difficult-to-perform music live on stage.......2000-11-19

The highlights of this live CD are clearly "Gibberish" and the 20-minute epic "The Healing Colors Of Sound". The latter is one of my all-time favorites of Spock's Beard, so it is great to hear how the boys perform it live. "Gibberish" is one of their most difficult tracks, because it features highly polyphonic a-capella vocals in the tradition of Gentle Giant, e.g. "On Reflection". I was amazed to find out that Gentle Giant actually can perform this odd piece of music on stage, and now Spock's Beard dare to walk in their footsteps - and succeed!

Hardly for Die-Hards.......2000-08-17

I had to respond to the reviewer who said that this album was for "Die Hards" and no one else.

It is just the opposite of that.

Spock's Beard wanted a live album to sell along their tour with Dream Theater that reflected what they were playing with them for new listeners to buy at the shows. That is what this album is. Primarily targeted for new listeners.

The other reviewers must be tired of Spock's Beard because I own all the studio albums but also think these live versions rock. Live at the Whiskey and NearFest was just a little shoestring operation of an album, and could hardly be sold on the tour. Plus it was a double album, and those are harder to sell.