THE GREEN MAN

After returning with the stunning Man And Myth album, it's time to look at some of Roy Harper's ignored later day material. 2001's The Green Man was everything that 1971's Stormcock was not. As with Stormcock, there are no bass or drums featured on The Green Man. But gone are the obtuse lyrics, death march tempos, lack of truly beautiful melodies, and the occasional flat vocals or Roy's vibrato heavy over singing that dragged Stormcock down almost to a standstill. (The codas on Same Old Rock and Me And My Woman not withstanding.) The Green Man is a celebration of the intrinsic beauty of the earth (The Green Man, Wishing Well) as well as a condemnation of those that abuse that beauty (New England, Rushing Camelot) without sounding preachy. The song Solar Wind Sculptures is about the how the world appears through the eyes of an child with Down's Syndrome described in words and music. Outstanding. Roy has me convinced. Sexy Woman and Midnight Sun are celebrations of both physical and romantic love.. The catchy and quirky New England is about turning all ideas into intellectual properties. The Monster is about the underlying insanity in all of us and its unending domino effect on society. Both the emotionally charged The Monster and the lamenting Rushing Camelot are the centerpieces of the album, but every song is important to the album's overarching musical themes and message.

Roy is joined on this album with Canada's Jeff Martin, of the group the Tea Party, who is outstanding on 12 string acoustic, six string acoustic slide, mandolin and an honest-to-God hurdy-gurdy. Accented by ulleann pipes and whistles on a few songs, the album has a wonderful baroque feeling while being completely fresh sounding and truly immersed in topics of the the 21st century. All 11 songs on the album are truly melodic wonders. Harper's vocals are majestic and impassioned. Indeed, his perfect pitch voice is almost an instrument in itself. The Green Man is truly the unsung masterpiece in Harper's catalog. 5 stars!