DEATH OR GLORY ?

ROY HARPER wisely dabbled only briefly in post 1980 funk of the sort that will probably never come back in style. Not everyone could pull off this transition a la JOHN MARTYN. He returned to a more acoustic and cavernous production and arrangements well suited to the prog folk idiom with "Jugula (1984)", and, here without JIMMY PAGE's assistance, has gone more or less wholly unplugged, which suits him well.

The too frequent spoken tracks are dour and he cusses altogether too much, which no amount of anger (and he has more than his share) can justify. Luckily, the title cut serves notice that everything will be at least all right, and he also hits that sweet spot occupied by a few of DAN AR BRAZ' contemporaneous works on "Miles Remains" and "Evening Star", which effectively erase the memory of the kooky ISB style of "The War came home tonight". I get the sense that the dissolution of his relationship inspired the most exemplary tunes here, even if it also whelped aforementioned profanities.

When you enter into any form of relationship with Harper, you get the whole man including the parts you could do without. Still, this is a laudable effort that proves the existence of a third option in the title.

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