OLD ROTTENHAT

Robert Wyatt

Canterbury Scene

3.54 | 97 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Mirakaze
Special Collaborator
Eclectic Prog & JR/F/Canterbury Teams

Robert Wyatt's equivalent of The Final Cut: an album that wasn't born from any distinct musical idea but rather from the desire to get an urgent political message out.

I have two problems with Old Rottenhat, and the first is that I just don't think the lyrics on it are very good. This has nothing to do with the political beliefs expressed in them, most of which I actually find agreeable, but rather with the fact that they read like dry manifestos rather than song lyrics. There's not much poetic flair to them and sometimes a mere glance at the song title suffices to get the gist of it. I mean, I get it: when you want your message to reach as many people as possible, you don't want to muddy the meaning of your words with metaphors, symbolisms and other things that'll only confuse it, but nothing on the album feels particularly rousing either, especially when combined with the music, which consistently sounds like a moody dirge, but in a child-like and overall very shy manner; not something that conveys urgency.

Worse, the songs are forgettable (with the possible exception of Gharbzadegi, which at least has a riff) and the album as a whole is dreadfully monotonous: Wyatt uses the same organ tone on every song (again except for Gharbzadegi, which is piano-based), along with either a drum machine or some light percussion, usually in a slow waltz-like tempo. It all just gets very predictable after a while.

I suppose that this might be of value if you're as convinced a leftist as Mr. Wyatt, but even then I can't imagine someone like that gaining any real insight through this; at best it might bolster beliefs they already have. I don't want to give it too low a rating because I personally have found some slight use in it as pleasant background music: Wyatt's voice soothes my head and I can't deny that there's a cuteness in the particular organ tone he overuses here, but as anything more than that, I can't but see this album as a failure. I mean really, isn't "pleasant background music" the worst possible label you could attach to a revolutionary political statement?

Mirakaze | 2/5 | 2021-6-21

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Share this ROBERT WYATT review

Social review comments () BETA

Review related links

Send comments to Mirakaze
Report this review (#2573194)
Buy ROBERT WYATT music online with PA partners
Show all ROBERT WYATT MP3/Stream
Go to ROBERT WYATT page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
Go to Old Rottenhat page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
Search the Forum for ROBERT WYATT related discussions