Audio CD review:
Roy Harper - Unhinged

Roy Harper - Unhinged

Band: Roy Harper Title: Unhinged Rating: Release Date: 1994-02-14 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Descendants of Smith 2: Legend - Roy Harper, Harper, Raymond 3: North Country 4: When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease 5: Three Hundred Words/Hope 6: Naked Flame 7: Commune 8: South Africa 9: Back to the Stones 10: Frozen Moment 11: Highway Blues 12: The Same Old Rock

Too bloody short, but enjoy what's here! I agree with another reviewer that his ramblings get a bit wearisome after a few listens. A good, brief sampling of Roy's modern, somewhat minimalistic live show material (most of it is just Roy and his guitar, although his son Nick and others join him on a few tracks). It would have made sense to separate the long monologues into distinct tracks, so that one could skip them with ease - but then I suppose we should be thankful this disc was released at all. This disc is especially essential to the non-UK crowd, since Roy tours outside the UK so rarely. His studio albums are superb, but to get the full Harper experience, you must hear his live renditions - ramblings and all. This disc will give you a good taste, at least. A good retrospective, but ...... Any one who has herd him live in the 90s will be familliar with the format and the gutar playing by his son, nick, is exemplery (especially on Same Old Rock, where he has to compete with the awsome solo that Jimmy Page produced 25years prior). If you are a fan of Roy then you'll like this. However, the record does not come up to par when compared with his two earlier releases, and for a really good listen to Live Roy I'd reccomend the sadly out of print "in between every line" which was recorded before Roy's voice went from tenor to baritone. It has also got to be said that Roy's extended ramblings, while amusing to here in a concert, don't go down to well after the upteenth listening of the record. All in all, there are better live recordinds of Roy but I still enjoyed this one. And lets face it, the man deserves more attention, even if its only for writing the line "I need that velvety silken down that runs between your thighs, in my lips and round my mouth to hold you in my inner eye. ". You can see a complete list of all Roy Harper discography, or go back to the Roy Harper tabs