Benn gets down in the groove

By Chris Heard
BBC News Online entertainment staff

An album of Tony Benn's speeches set to dance music - it doesn't sound destined to fly off the shelves at HMV, does it?

Benn is at his most impassioned when rallying against war

The fact the project has been completed at all must be taken as something of a tribute to Benn's singular credibility in public life.

There are few politicians who hold the respect of the young generation, we are told - yet at 78 the former MP for Chesterfield seems to enjoy almost unique status among a section of politically-literate music fans.

Charles Bailey, who produced this album, has compared him to Nelson Mandela or Bob Marley in his ability to connect with young people.

In particular his recent anti-war stance on Iraq seems to have struck a chord with many disaffected by the political process.

It is this subject matter that proves most effective on this brave but flawed attempt to combine Benn's powerful oratory with downbeat electronica.

The choking emotion of his words makes for a startling contrast with the ethereal melody and languid beats.

Benn sounds at his most impassioned when holding forth on Iraq, and Bailey's mix serves to emphasise the natural rhythm of his delivery.

In the album's most poignant moment, Benn draws on his experience of the Blitz and compares it to events in the Middle East:

"It was terrifying. Aren't Arabs terrified? Aren't Iraqis terrified? Don't Arab and Iraqi women weep when their children die?

"What fools we are to live in a generation for which war is a computer game for our children and just an interesting little Channel 4 news item."

The choking emotion of his words makes for a startling contrast with the ethereal melody and languid beats.

In moments such as this, the blend of Benn's articulate anger with Bailey's dubby studio skills works well - though it is not sustained over an entire album.

Pop and Politics? You asked Tony Benn and Charles Bailey

On drier subject matter, the premise is less convincing - for example on a (seemingly interminable) eight-minute argument on the Euro.

Overall, your listening pleasure will be determined in part by your politics - and indeed whether you can bear an hour of Tony Benn's voice.

Tony Benn's Greatest Hits is available on CBM International.