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.

A very welcome follow up to Folkjokeopus. Flat Baroque and Beserk is IMO a solid album all round abley backed by The Nice. Tighter arrangements marked the beginning of the 70's decade for Roy Harper that he was being taken more and more seriously. Standout songs are ' Don't You Grieve', the politically sensitive ' I hate the White man' and ' Hell's Angels'. Protest songs were never in short supply from Roy Harper, he sang the the poignant ' South Africa' back in 1973 and was clearly one of the early musical prog pioneers against racism. Three and a half stars.

I left my first experiences with "FolkJokeOpus" feeling rather buoyed with the independent path being forged by ROY HARPER, political but nuanced, intense but relatable, personal but lucid, in the tradition yet singular, OK enough already. I admit I peeked ahead to read impressions of the next couple of albums and even the negative reviews had me buoyed. That all came crashing down with "Flat Baroque and Berserk". I'm not crazy about the title but it might just be the high point.

Harper's got no urgency here, and in his more emphatic moments simply redoes DYLAN from 5 years earlier, right down to the harmonica, never a good idea for an artist establishing his own reputation. A few shorter length mellow tunes could be considered a cross of NICK DRAKE and CAT STEVENS, smooth and sweet without ever moving me, but when he goes long he strands himself in Dylanonymous1960s folk. He even seems to think that "I Hate the White Man" is a new blues for 1970, but it's more of a 6 minute admonishment from a gruff guilt-ridden preacher. I'm not saying it isn't also true, and maybe some people needed to hear it this way, but I'd rather be entertained by the likes of "Then Came the White Man" (1971) by the Canadian group THE STAMPEDERS (of "Sweet City Woman" fame), who get the message across without the self importance and minutiae.

The only normal length piece that represents him positively here is the gentle "Tom Tiddler's Ground", where he teams up with TONY VISCONTI on recorder to couch his love lost message in terms of an oid children's game. The closer is a hard rocker that is like a generous serving of forbidden fruit after all that came before, with Harper ripping it on electric and the raw brilliance of the NICE to back him up. I'd loathe an album of all tunes like this but it's a master stroke here, particularly if you were asleep when it starts, which I wouldn't bet against. I should know.

I am oh so praying that "Flat Berserk and Bankrupt" (sic) is an anomaly, as I had big plans for the next few albums, but there's still enough here to escape the dust bin, while still clearly flung in that direction.