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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. The Green Man |
| 2. Wishing Well |
| 3. Sexy Woman |
| 4. The Apology |
| 5. Midnight Sun |
| 6. Glasto |
| 7. The Monster |
| 8. New England |
| 9. Solar Wind Sculptures |
| 10. Rushing Camelot |
| 11. All In All |
Product Description
Album Description
Following the somewhat disappointing The Dream Society, the astounding British singer/songwriter delivers his best album since 1974's Stormcock and gets his muse back on track. Always an extraordinary guitarist, his songs are still developed out of the folk techniques of his early albums and his lyrics are still as sublimely poetic and soaring. His beautiful voice hasn't sounded so impassioned since his great trilogy of albums: Flat Baroque and Berserk, Come out Fighting Ghengis Smith, and the aforementioned masterpiece Stormcock. For this session, Harper went into the studio alone and wrote, engineered, and mixed the entire collection himself. It's evident that the isolation brought his more introspective, deeply personal elements out in the songs. Here we have the Roy Harper who explored intimate love songs and literate themes on "Another Day" from Flat Baroque and Berserk and delicate folk simplicity on the album Valentine. Gone is the railing angst of "I Hate the White Man" or the hard rock of an album like When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease. Green Man is entirely acoustic, with the exception of Johnny Fitz's Fender Rhodes cameo on "The Monster"; subsequently, Harper sounds more comfortable not fighting with a rhythm section, adding Jeff Martin's mandolin on "Sexy Woman." "Midnight Sun," "Solar Wind Sculptures," and "The Green Man" are outstanding pieces of work — highlights that make the album yet another utterly inexhaustible album in the legacy of one of the U.K.'s most admired songwriters.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
When was the last time an album sent shivers down your spine on first listen? Tubular Bells? Dark Side of the Moon? Aqualung? Whatever; it's been a long long time since I felt so emotionally moved by a collection of songs. With The Green Man, Roy Harper has excelled his own high standards by producing a strong contender for one of the greatest acoustic albums ever (or at least since Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left). Whereas Dream Society was hailed as one of Roy Harper's most accomplished efforts for many years and was undeniably an extremely good album, The Green Man is a truly *great* album, which transcends the boundaries of folk/rock and should appeal to a wide audience. There is no dead wood whatsoever; all 11 songs are very strong and yet very different. If pushed to select the highlights though, I would have to mention first the title track, which has a haunting ageless beauty about it and amply demonstrates the vibrant power of Roy's voice undiminished by his 60 years. Glasto is a joyously frivolous celebration of the famous festival and serves as a light-hearted counterbalance to other more spiritually profound songs around it. The Monster is a massive work containing the most beautiful poetical lyrics and is an inspired exploration of the strange values and priorities that society holds so dear. Solar Wind Sculptures has a bouncy/dreamy trance-like feel to it and is just made to listen to on a hot Summer's afternoon when chilling out in your garden with a glass or two of fine ale. Rushing Camelot has perhaps the catchiest tune of the collection which I guarantee will be stuck in your head for ages. Finally All in All completes the album with a deceptively simple song with a strong "hook" in the chorus. Roy's intricate guitar work throughout is flawless but never clinical and the accompaniment is pitched at a minimalist level, letting the sheer exuberance of the songs shine through. This stunning album deserves to gain a much wider audience for Roy and I urge you all to give it a listen.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Never the most prolific of artists, Roy has nevertheless produced a very strong body of work over the last four decades. This new album ranks with the finest work he has done, which is to say some of the best, most challenging music written in the last fifty years. The songs are often haunting, the poetry in turn beautiful, funny, crass and honest, the singing strong, the arrangements subtle.
Let's face it, if you're reading this, you know Roy is worth hearing. This album is the equal of "Stormcock" and "HQ". For many of us, that's all we need to know. Get this yesterday.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
No fan of Roy Harper could fail to be impressed with his latest offering, which up there with the best of his output from a long and varied career.
The CD is predominately solo and acoustic with support from Jeff Martin on a variety of instruments including some excellent slide guitar.
Stand out tracks for me are "The Green Man", "The Monster" and "Rushing Camelot"
Buy it now, and then go out and buy the rest of the back catalogue and see the man on tour!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Harping on
I`d first heard only the title track of The Green Man, and couldn`t believe my ears. Was the wild man of 60s/70s English folk-rock (for want of a better term) now writing songs of... Read more
Published 20 months ago by GlynLuke
I disagree with reviewer
Don't get me wrong I do like this album, I just don't think it is his best. I also disagree with the reviewer in that I thought "Dreamsociety" was an excellent album and in my view... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2007 by mike
Genius
For years this was the only RH album I did not own, because I heard the track "The Green Man" and thought it wasn't up to his normal stuff. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2007 by S. Bond
Not that good.
Sorry. This isn't that good. If you're embarking on a journey through Roy Harper and are excited by his trancendental eroticism - don't bother with this one. Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2002 by mark ruston
Absolutely Excellent! - Probably the best Harper cd yet!
As a strange person myself, I don't listen to much music, as in my view its "primitive".
However, I love Roy Harpers music, as its relaxing, intellectual, and the... Read more
However, I love Roy Harpers music, as its relaxing, intellectual, and the... Read more
Published on 17 Nov 2001
Roy returns to his earlier acoustic days.
Despite the fact that Roy will be 60 this year and has been recording for well over 30 years, the tracks on his new album "The Green Man" still have the sharp wit and... Read more
Published on 18 April 2001
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