THE ROY HARPER BAND: WORK OF HEART

15 years on from his debut, Harper introduced the ROY HARPER BAND with "Work of Heart". It's curious that the band consists of musicians whose competence I am not qualified to question, but who, unlike many of his earlier collaborators, can hardly be said to challenge the man's pre-eminence over his domain.

This is even more unctuous than "The Unknown Soldier", an osterized emulsion of ideas that are perhaps not even half baked, and that would only pique musicologists who specialize in the 1980s come the 2050s, and heaven help them if this was somehow chosen as representative of this fellow's output. It's not that there was no good music in the 1980s, but, when it adhered to these formulae, many others did it better - why impart questionably poetic lessons when the whole point isn't to listen, and how would you even hope to dance to this?

In the middle of "Woman", we get an approximation of the 4th or 5th best track on the BUGGLES "The Age of Plastic". I suppose that isn't nothing. "I Still Care" and the closing suite are the best on offer here, but I wouldn't shoehorn them onto a best of compilation as presented. Supposedly many of these numbers received a rawer and more fan friendly treatment on the subsequent"Born in Captivity". Since that one is for only fans, I think I'll vault ahead to discern if any further work of this artiste advances his legacy.