Audio CD review:
Roy Harper - The Dream Society

Roy Harper - The Dream Society

Band: Roy Harper Title: The Dream Society Rating: Release Date: 1998-06-23 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Songs of Love 2: Songs of Love, Pt. 2 3: Dancing All the Night 4: Psychopath 5: I Want to Be in Love 6: Drugs for Everybody 7: Come the Revolution 8: Angel of the Night 9: The Dream Society 10: Broken Wing 11: These Fifty Years

There's life in the old troubadour yet Indeed, in many respects, this has more vibrancy and impact. I cannot disagree with the comment that this is Roy's best album since HQ. Now writing from a lifetime of experiences (including plenty of Mary-Jane and Sir John Barleycorn) Roy injects great wisdom and humanity into what could easily become maudlin and routine songs in the hands of a lesser genius. The highlights for me are the opening Songs of Love where Roy sings a very effective duet and shows that the years haven't affected the astonishing range of his voice. The achingly beautiful Broken Wing is a classic example of Roy at his most sensitive. Angel of The Night is a heartfelt description of mental turmoil but still, somehow, remains uplifting. The piece de résistance though is undoubtedly These 50 Years. This massive track takes the form of a dialogue between Roy and God and touches on creation, evolution, naughty girls, drugs and rock n' roll. For my money, one of Roy's strongest songs ever. There are a couple of weaker tracks; a skiffly number and the whimsical Drugs for Everybody, but all in all, an essential purchase!. Refreshingly classic Roy Harper It was worth the wait. Roy made his return after a long absence with Dream Society. Though it lacks the pain and caustic energy of Death or Glory, his most recent effort, Dream Society demonstrates that Roy has only improved with age. Roy's best album since HQ. The album is more optimistic, whimsical, and musically enjoyable than anything Roy has released since the definitive 1975 album, "HQ". After the painfully introspective "Death or Glory", Roy's first studio work in six years washes over you like a bright summer day after a long rainy spring. Although die-hard Harper fans have hotly debated the place this record deserves when compared with the rest of his catalogue after a few listens the songs stick in your mind. "Drugs for Everybody" (an anti-drug song, actually) should get some airplay, especially with it's pointed Bill Clinton reference: "With Hillary, and sillery, to make sure Bill remembers to inhale". But the album has more than whimsy going for it. The haunting "Dancing All the Night" - a requiem for Roy's mother (who died when he was quite young), the tender "Broken Wing" - perhaps the final word on the break up of his long relationship with Jacqui that tended to make his last album, "Death or Glory" so oppressive, and the straight-up rocker "Angel of The Night", are the best new music from an old rocker to come out since Bob Dylan's "Time Out of Mind". You can see a complete list of all Roy Harper discography, or go back to the Roy Harper tabs