FLAT BAROQUE AND BERSERK

Third stunning album in a row for Roy Harper, this one goingas the title says bonkers. With Harper dressed as if he was in his coffin, this also Roy's first for the EMI-subsidiary label Harvest and it was producer by Floyd alumni Peter Jenner. Backed up by the three musicians from The Nice, you'd have a hard time to think of this album as folk album, but

Actually the album's general tone is fairly singular folk rock and not necessarily easy to cope with, as Harper is particularly nasal, on top of his usual antics, but most progheads should love the lengthy I Hate The White Man, a poignant thought-provoking song in these Western European empires disappearing days. That track and its similarly-built little brother How Does It Feel are the A-side highlights, the rest being as described at the top of the paragraph.

The flipside start with a slew of shorter tracks resembling the same description in the previous paragraph, before hitting the druggy psych-folk-rock of Tiddler's Ground and later, the fun Hell's Angels, a ditty about the pack's delicious lifestyle, including intimate details.

Certainly not as immediate as Stormcock or Lifemask, FB&B is surely not an easy album and it won't give itself on the first few listens, but it shouldn't put up desperate resistance either. Try the following two or the preceding FJO.