MAN & MYTH

The "obscure" troubadour is back. His 22nd registered album. After a long pause in the studios, Roy Harper returns with this "Man & Myth" project. If something is quiet notable in this record, is his regained song-structuring skills. No, he is not re-inventing anything in his very personal and original musical language. It still has those choatic bridges, that eventually return to the main theme. And in this "bridges" precisely is where this record feels extremely polished, like "contained fury". So he plays wild as ever, but maturity has lowered down its unavoidable nature, to the perfect balanced point, where the whole of the songs, its "war & peace", Roy Harper's eternal quests, are as equally performed and resolved, without one over-shadowing its counterparts. That for me is a very welcomed relief, in his song-writing skills and in my audiophile experience with his albums, the ones I own or know. So, to round things up, Roy Harper's "Man & Mith" is frankly Prog-Folk, in his own unmistakable kind of style. Polished without losing essence or rawness. His clever and substantial lyrics, as always are the "main character", but musically speaking this has to be one of his best accomplished productions. ....Now, the PA rating is kind of hard. This as a Roy Harper album in his own discography is an easy five PA stars. Been that these reviews are for a general public of Prog all kinds of genre's listeners, 3.5 PA stars (it deserves to be listened to!). But if you, like I , enjoy RH's kind of chaotic song-writing, and also favour his proto/prog/rock//folk music, this one is a keeper, ****4 PA stars.