Levellers

Levellers have long been and still are, one of the best live bands around. Often overlooked is their outstanding back catalogue of recorded music. Levellers sold more platinum, gold, and silver albums in the 1990s than any other act.

5 of their 6 Top 40 albums (which spawned 14 Top 40 singles), including the number 1 Zeitgeist, are re-released this June on Warner Brothers’ Rhino label. Levelling the Land is re-issued as a double disc with the BBC’s recording of the era-defining
headline slot at Glastonbury ’92 as the second disc.

Re-mastered, expanded with B-sides from the singles, new packaging, liner notes and artwork, the five re-issues reflect the huge recent resurgence in the band’s popularity. All albums will be available physically and digitally and there will be a “best of” compilation, chosen by the band themselves available exclusively from iTunes.
Levellers’ anthem What A Beautiful Day is re-released on 28 June (download only). The single will be available from all good online music stores, and there will be an exclusive bundle featuring the video and live tracks available through iTunes.
In 2008 Levellers celebrate their 20th anniversary. They have ridden waves of huge popularity and chasms of widespread mistrust. They have ignored fads, fashions and trends, and in doing so have existed alongside them.

They still play with a passion and pride that, having seen off many of their early contemporaries, is setting a standard that many young pretenders find hard to match; they play 29 festivals in this summer including Fflam, Bestival, Rock Ness and their own Beautiful Days.

The band live on through hard work and a passion for what they do. They manage themselves, run their own label, book their own tours and run their own festival. It is this ethos which means, against all the odds, they have kept themselves relevant for
20 years, and will keep doing so for another 20 years.

After 2 decades, it is time for the UK to be truly proud of one of its most enduring musical talents. Levelling The Land is one of those albums that every song is an inspired gem. Strains of Far From Home, Liberty Song, Another Man’s Cause, Battle Of The Beanfield are still heard from campfires to nightclubs across Europe and even further afield. With enduring anthems like One Way, Levellers have always known the power of a fantastic tune. Levellers is the band at their rawest and grittiest with songs from the haunting Julie to MTV favourite This Garden. Unveiled not long before their generation-defining headline slot at Glastonbury ’94, its commercial progress was somewhat hampered by their well documented spats with the UK music press.

Zeitgeist marked a new, more mature era in the band’s development. Hope Street, with its powerfully ironic lyrics (with video to match), was a massive hit. Like 2 of the band’s 3 previous singles it hit number 12, stalling just short of the top 10. Just The
One also hit number 12, and saw the band invited to perform twice on Top of the Pops which they did with aplomb.

Splitting fans, critics and new recruits to the Levellers army right down the middle when it was first released, Mouth To Mouth has endured as one of the Levellers true gems. What a Beautiful Day as the standout track is probably the band’s biggest in terms of mainstream popularity, yet tracks such as Far Away, Elation and the hauntingly introspective Too Real rival any of the bands ‘credible’ recordings.

The last of the 5 albums to be reissued is the hugely underrated Hello Pig. Introducing a more psychedelic edge to the Levellers sound it again split opinions within the fanbase, although ironically, it received substantial critical acclaim. NME hailed
it as the band’s best work for many years and Playlouder exhorted its readers to buy Hello Pig over Radiohead’s Kid A.

www.levellers.co.uk
www.myspace.com/levellers

Formed in: Brighton, England, UK
Year formed: 1988
Personnel;
Mark Chadwick - Vocal, Guitar, Harmonica, Occasional Drums
Jeremy Cunningham - Bass
Charlie Heather - Drums
Jon Sevink - Violin
David (Bucky) Buckmeister - Guitar
Alan Miles - Guitar, Harmonica, Mandolin
Simon Friend - Guitar, Banjo, Harmonica, Mandolin
Matt Savage - Keyboards, Backing Vocals