Folk-rock as a genre has never really worked well in my opinion. Both genres suffer as part of the collaboration. ‘Last Man Alive’ is one electric violin riff too far is the wrong direction. This is what U2 would sound like if they grew up in a hippie commune, eating pulses and bean sprouts. The chords and melody are too nice for distortion, and it detracts from the emotional value of the lyrics, which is the essence of Folk. It just gets messy and ends up sounding like a bad James cover band heard from your tent at a free music festival.
The B-side “When Love Runs Out Of Time” is far more the kind of thing The Levellers should stick at; an acoustic tune with political and emotional lyrics. It musters up more emotion than the single and makes more sense musically. It is touching and sweet, with no amplified string section in sight.
