Reviews for The World Turned Upside Down

A selection of recent reviews for The World Turned Upside Down, Leon’s 4-CD boxed set. 

***** review in Songlines January 2012
“It’s the life work of of one of Britain’s finest contemporary writers – not just songwriters but writers in any form…. The World Turned Upside Down concludes with ‘The Power of Song’, to which this magnificent retrospective is a living testament.”

fRoots May 2012

“Sitting here with a four-CD boxed set, including an extensive booklet offering valuable insights into the whys and wherefores of it all…. you not only get the full benefit of his stinging satire , you get a sharp sense of the times for which they were written. This is a remarkable achievement for any songwriter, whether it’s the 17th century stories recounted in The World Turned Upside Down and Abiezer Coppe – sung so powerfully by Roy Bailey – to the modern follies depicted by the likes of They’re Going to Build a Motorway, Ballad of a Spycatcher and The Wall that Stands Between.

…a well-rounded picture of a remarkable artist who’s never taken his eyes off the ball even – or especially – when that ball is bouncing in a determinedly anti-popular direction.” 

Taplas January 2012
” …to my mind, one of the best songs ever written is Song of the Olive Tree, about the fate of a tree and the people of Palestine. It’s a song that is at once beautiful, depressing, anger-inducing and, finally, hopeful and inspiring.” 

Tykes News Winter 2011/2012 
“I’ve sung his children’s songs to my children (and other people’s children) and his grown-up’s songs to my grown-ups (and, more than likely, to other people’s grown-ups) and in the process of singing, have never ceased to marvel at the skill and care of Leon’s writing. We’ll not see his like again, even if we wait for fifty years…”