Track Listing

1. Highway Blues
2. All Ireland
3. Little Lady
4. Bank Of The Dead
5. South Africa
6. The Lords Prayer: (a) Poem (b) Modal Song Parts I To IV (c) Front Song (d) Middle Song (e) End Song (Front song reprise)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37783 in Music
• Released on: 2004-09-03
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Lifemask was an emotional if not musical rebirth for Roy Harper, who nearly lost his life in 1972 due to a rare congenital circulatory disorder. When the album was released in early 1973, it showed Harper refining the acoustic music he had perfected on 1971's Stormcock. Some of the songs on the album previously appeared in a motion picture entitled Made, but the sound is nonetheless consistent throughout. "Highway Blues" and "South Africa" are the best-known songs on this set, and have remained concert mainstays for many years. The former is a strong opener and added a touch of synthesizer to Harper's instrumental stable, while the latter was a political comment on apartheid in the guise of a touching love song. "Little Lady" and "Bank of the Dead" (featuring Jimmy Page) are fairly similar in sound and context, but remain pleasant, if not classic, cuts anyway. The album-closing "The Lord's Prayer" is quite possibly the most confounding piece in Harper's catalog.! It has all the benchmarks of one of his classics — epic, album-side length, poetically obscure lyrics, many musical movements, and, as usual, guitar help from Jimmy Page. Lifemask remains a strong album from Harper's progressive folk period.

Customer Reviews

Proof that our current songwriters are so far dumbed down it's laughable.
A classic record, surely due for re-appraisal on the back of its more famous predecessor `Stormcock'. The opening 5 songs (The old side A) are relatively brief but all singularly beautiful. `Highway Blues' chronicles the life of the hitch-hiker as a metaphor for society, `All Ireland' is self explanatory: "There's no need to die, for nationalist slogan, or religious lie". `Bank of the Dead' is the only song directly related to Harper's film role in `Made', telling the tale of the downtrodden Valerie (played by Carol `Cathy Come Home' White). It's perhaps the nearest Harper ever got to writing a song to order, and it shows. `Little Lady' is a truly heart-rending song when you know the reality behind it, and is one of the finest examples of Harper as the true poet he is. I still don't know of a better writer. To be able to reach to the depths of one's soul and still make it rhyme is a gift very few people in the rock idiom have ever had. Oh yes...did I mention that not only that but he has a singing voice to die for and a gift for timeless, stately melody like no other? South Africa was an anti-apartheid statement before it was fashionable, and is an outstanding example of the marriage of poetry, melody and the beautiful echoing expanses of his heavily effected guitar patterns.

Harper's mission in life was always to write the songs which needed to be written, and they don't come much bigger in scope and scale than `Lord's Prayer' which takes up the old side two. As a study of humanity itself it is truly breathtaking. There is a depth of perception at work here rarely glimpsed in what is laughingly described as rock music. It doesn't follow a conventional structure, and I couldn't do justice to it's lyrical density here, but once you get past the wildly untamed poem which kicks it all off, it embarks on a journey of true enlightenment and beauty which as another reviewer said, will be your friend for life. A masterpiece, and possibly a last will and testament for Harper who was told he could be dying at the time. It is however beautifully uplifting and optimistic as if he knew his spirit would carry him through. Yes Jimmy Page is on this, but that's not the reason to buy it. Page was in awe of Harper's craftsmanship which should tell you all you need to know about the size of talent we're dealing with here.

35 years later he's still with us, and is only now getting the critical rehabilitation he deserves. Dive right in, experience poetry that can move you to tears, and you'll never need to listen to simplistic nonsense like Coldplay ever again.

This is the standard to which the bar of `youth culture' was once raised, if you're too young to remember or weren't even born, divorce yourself from the latest haircuts for a while and see what you've missed.

No wasted notes here
This collection follows on from the classic 1971 set 'Stormcock'. In my view, the songs on this album are just as successful. I reckon Roy's secret is that these songs, although acoustically driven, are actually rooted in rock music. This accounts for the depth, swagger and emotional power of the songs - arguably rare qualities in a singer-songwriter. 'South Africa' and 'Highway Blues' are stand out tracks, although some listeners may prefer the live 'Highway Blues' on 'Flashes From The Archives of Oblivion' released a year later. 'The Lord's Prayer' originally took up one full side of the record and lasts over twenty minutes. Roy is often criticised for a tendency towards self-absorbtion but I can't hear a wasted note here.

A Friend For Life
This record followed the release of 'Stormcock' and is just as good. Both records are essentially acoustic, but are rooted in a rock tradition. This means that the production has depth and atmosphere and the songs have a swing and swagger that is uncommon in everyday singer-songwriters. Although 'The Lord's Prayer' is the focal point of the record, the standout track is 'South Africa'. 'Bank of the Dead' and 'Little Lady' are also shockingly original whislt still maintaining a commitment to melody. 'Highway Blues' is a great song. Compare it with the live version a year later on 'Flashes From The Archives of Oblivion' and see which one you prefer. 'The Lord's Prayer' is a huge risk which pays off handsomely.

Another beautiful record from Roy Harper. It will earn your love and respect and be a friend for life.