Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
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Free Music Notes for Sweet Warrior
Free Music Review: Quite Literally Stunning
Hit: 5 Stars
I can't believe that it's been about twenty-five years since Richard Thompson set off on his solo career. I know, some may gripe with that date, (rightly) pointing out his 1972 album "Henry the Human Fly," but he subsequently teamed with then-wife Linda for a series of stunning albums that will remain masterpieces of their genre. I am referring to the part of his career that followed all that hubbub. Either way, I have bought every official album and every `semi-official' website release with his name on it. If you count everything since "Henry," that's about forty albums of material I own, so I feel very qualified when I say that "Sweet Warrior" is Richard Thompson's best collection of songs in quite some time.
The most rewarding aspect of being a fan is when an artist is talented enough to be consistently challenging, yet kind enough to maintain a predictable level of consistency. I have never bought a Richard Thompson record that left me unmoved, but the above characteristics occasionally thwarted one another. Recent works, like "Front Parlor Ballads" and the "Grizzly Man" soundtrack, were interesting, challenging works, but the very nature of these projects rendered them less consistent than I would have hoped. "Sweet Warrior" marks a return to fully realized compositions, with full band accompaniment and what is by now a predictably stunning degree of songwriting prowess. Every song here rewards multiple listens, but a few grow to gargantuan proportions. "I'll Never Give It Up" rocks with a wrath that matches the lyrical intensity, while "Take Care the Road You Choose" may be the most gentle and poignant tale of regret I have ever heard. "Mr. Stupid" is a rocker that captures the sting of divorce by wrapping it in bitter irony, while the upbeat rhythm of "Bad Monkey" (which resembles "Tear Stained Letter") somehow manages to takes a playful look at emotional abuse. The centerpiece, though, is "Dad's Gonna Kill Me," (It took me a while to figure it out - I'm a bit dense - but `Dad' is shorthand for Baghdad), told from the perspective of a soldier who has grown fully aware of his awful predicament. A revealing comment arrives in the song's bridge, when the soldier observes, "At least we're winning on the Fox Evening News."
By now, it's a cliché to discuss the brilliance of Thompson's guitar playing, but he's firing on all cylinders throughout "Sweet Warrior." The band is also top-notch, especially the entrancing accompaniment of Thompson's longtime acoustic bassist Danny Thompson (no relation). It would be rude to call "Sweet Warrior" a return to form, but this collection boasts a thoroughly satisfying combination of intriguing lyrics, fully realized songs, astounding instrumentation, and heartfelt vocalizing. Once it grabs hold, it never lets go. Whether you judge from the earliest phase of his career or from his twenty-five year run of solo releases, "Sweet Warrior" rates with the very best work of Thompson's long and varied career. A Tom Ryan
Free Music Review: Richard ROCKS!
Hit: 5 Stars
For all you RT fans out there, this is IT! Yes, it's the one you've been waiting for, because FINALLY we hardcore RT fans have a CD that we can recommend to or even buy as gifts for the non-converted, and they'll actually GET what the fuss has been about. This is hands down the most accessible RT disc in existence, chockful of songs that would make anyone want to either dance or cry. As critics have been saying, Sweet Warrior represents a return to the more hardrocking form of the 80's and early 90's, but with better [leaner and cleaner] production than those albums had and with bigger, brighter guitar. Also, maybe it's just my ears, but on this CD I finally feel that RT's voice itself has grown to fit the music so well that it's lost its tag of 'an acquired taste.' On both rocking numbers and ballads, his voice sounds as passionate and as adaptable as his ever-astonishing guitar.
While there are two tracks midway through that strike me as slighter and somewhat less accessible [It's Too Late to Come Fishin' and Sneaky Boy], those are easily forgiven, given that every other one of the remaining 12 songs is a standout in its own right. A trait of this album that hasn't been commented on is that, for Richard, it's surprisingly American in tone. In part that has to do with its status as a protest CD, in explicit anti-Iraq War songs such as Dad's Gonna Kill Me as well as in more subtle but equally hardhitting and conscientiously objecting songs such as I'll Never Give It Up and Francesca that sound as if they're aimed at American policies -- but maybe my interpreting them so is just a mark of their universality? Regardless, the only song that sounds distinctly British in content is the brilliantly updated, rock&rolling sea shanty Johnny's Far Away [on the Rolling Sea], about a philandering ceilidh musician on a cruise ship.
Now it's true that for me, as a hardcore RT fan, I miss that distinctive celtic-ness enough that I personally love a few CD's more than this one -- Mock Tudor, Old Kit Bag, Henry the Human Fly, Front Parlour Ballads, and Pour Down Like Silver all feel more Richard to me. However, if I had to recommend one CD to an uninitiated friend, or even had to choose just one CD to take to the gym with me, Sweet Warrior would be the one.
Free Music Review: The only thing better would be if it was live
Hit: 5 Stars
Richard Thompson's been in the music business for over 30 years, he's more of a cult than a public figure, because in no small part to his strong, intelligent lyrics and his willingness to tackle topics that most songwriters wouldn't--or would only gloss over. I've seen him live twice in Austin and he's a force to be reckoned with all by himself with an acoustic guitar. His musicianship is outstanding and his humor with the audience had us all laughing and applauding throughout the show.
As you'd guess from the title, "Sweet Warrior" is about war. Not just the expected militarization in Iraq, but localized domestic strife as well.
"Dad's Going to Kill Me" is the cut that's going to receive all the attention from this CD. Thompson rises above the glut of protest Iraqi war protest music bringing a soldier's everyday experience in Baghdad to life.
"Guns are the Tongues" goes one step further. The character in the song, "Little Joe" became a car bomber to get revenge for his lover's father and brother--because "guns are the tongues, Little Joe/The only words we know..."
Then we move on to the more personal side of warfare. We know there was bitterness when Linda and Richard split up. I once heard an interview expressing Linda's grief and fury at him. "Mr. Stupid" would probably sound just that if anyone else sang it, but that one line: "You're stuck with a Neanderthal for an ex/Don't fret about it, darling/I still sign my name on the checks," comes out harsh as a pint of the best bitters.
While the final notes do not fall on "Poppy Red," a widower's lament. You have to read between the lines to find out how the man's wife died....
"Bad Monkey" details the day-to-day struggle of living with a bipolar partner:
"Shame, shame on you, you Bad Monkey/
One day you're up, next day you're down/
Why do you monkey my heart around"
The beauty of Richard Thompson's work is that his wit always comes through in the music and his musicianship leaves you stunned. "Sweet Warrior" is one of the harshest, but also one of the best Richard Thompson CDs ever.
Free Music Review: At The Top Of His Game
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the strongest Thompson album in years and time might prove it to be one of the best albums in his already extensive and high quality catalog.
Richard Thompson and his studio collaborators (inclduing the underheralded Michael Jerome on drums, Nickel Back's Sara Watkins and the marvellous Danny Thompson on double-bass) deliver a set of marvellous performances here. These tracks have a real spark to them - they sound like a bunch of great players playing live rather than a bunch of recordings laid down in a studio. All the fireworks here come from the players and their instruments - this album is not big on studio trickery being used to beef up the sound.
And in this considerable company Thompson still shines with his guitar playing. In terms of his own playing and of delivering convincing performances Thompson is at the top of his game here. He remains a technically elite player, but as always the technique is not there for it's own sake but is used to get the message across. His solos here are sometimes biting and half-a-step away from being totally crazed ("Bad Monkey" , "I'll Never Give It Up") and at other times unbelievably tender without being cloying (EG "Take Care The Road You Choose").
The album deals broadly with war in various realms of life. Two of the standout tracks address modern warfare from different points of view.
"Dad's Gonna Kill Me" is in the first person with the narrator describing, in GI slang-laced language, the confusion and terror he experiences in Iraq. "Guns Are The Tongues" is set in Ireland but the tale is more universal: A femme fatale seduces an inexperienced and awkward young man into doing her lethal dirty work. The latter track is a show-stopper as Thompson and Co slowly up the tension and then explode (pardon the pun) into the song's mighty chorus. This is a considerable performance and one of the finest things Thompson has laid down in the studio.
Oh... and at the age of 58 and after 40 years as a professional musician Thompson still rocks mightily and with utter conviction.
Free Music Review: "When shall I have peace with you?"
Hit: 5 Stars
Thompson takes the album title from Edmund Spenser's Sonnet LVII: "Sweet warrior when shall I have peace with you?" The lyrical thread connecting the 14 brilliant pop gems here is war, both real war as in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ireland, and the emotional combat of lovers.
This album is astonishingly good. Thompson's craft just grows stronger with the years, in contrast to so many musicians who are not able to sustain their early inspiration.
For me, what really sets it apart are the political songs: "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" about the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, "I'll Never Give It Up," which is Bush and bin Laden trading insults, and "Guns Are the Tongues" about the Irish Republican Army's guerilla war in Northern Ireland. It was "I'll Never Give It Up" which led me to pick up SWEET WARRIOR. I'm not sure why I missed it on its release in 2007, but that song was a highlight of the live show I saw recently. I remember seeing Thompson and his band perform "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" on TV back in '07 and being quite impressed with the song from the point of view of a U.S. soldier. I guess I was distracted.
"Take Care the Road You Choose", "She Sang Angels to Rest" and "Sunset Song" are beautiful sad songs, the last with one of Thompson's trademark bad protagonists. "Poppy-Red" features a very strong melody, the sort that sticks in your head for days, and a very unreliable narrator. "Mr. Stupid," "Bad Monkey," "Sneaky Boy" and "Johnny's Far Away" are all up-tempo character sketches, either about humans behaving badly, warning against same, or playing to stereotypes.
Richard Thompson is a one of the finest songwriters working today, and one of the best guitarists. SWEET WARRIOR is one of the best in a long line of his excellent albums.