Product Description

Reviews:

"Sweet Warrior found him on blistering form" - Uncut – The 50 Best Albums of 2007

Track Listing

1. Needle And Thread
2. I'll Never Give It Up
3. Take Care The Road You Choose
4. Mr Stupid
5. Dad's Gonna Kill Me
6. Poppy Red
7. Bad Monkey
8. Francesca
9. Too Late To Come Fishing
10. Sneaky Boy
11. She Sang Angels To Rest
12. Johnny's Far Away
13. Guns Are The Tongues
14. Sunset Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8587 in Music
• Released on: 2007-05-28
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Back in the '80s and '90s, Richard Thompson could be depended upon to release a well-crafted collection of Celtic-influenced folk-rock every few years. But when he left Capitol after 1999's Mock Tudor, Thompson headed off on side projects, all of typically high quality, but not the solo albums his established cult expected. Those fans can now rejoice, because on Sweet Warrior Thompson roars back with his first electric set of originals since 2003, and it's a winner. As the disc's title implies, he revisits the familiar territory of love as a battlefield in these 14 originals. The concept is emphasized by a liner photo of the singer/songwriter in army gear and camouflage flanked by two beautiful women planting kisses on either cheek. Supported by longtime backing cohorts, the guitarist adds to his six-string talents with occasional mandolin, autoharp, accordion, and even organ, all used as icing on a cake of tunes that further refine his established style. Perhaps the most startling song is the viciously anti-war "Dad's Going to Kill Me," about a soldier stationed in Baghdad (the "Dad" of the title), wondering if he will survive another day. "Guns are the Tongues" finds Thompson telling the tragic tale of a young man enticed by a woman's charms ending up as a suicide-bombing terrorist. Thompson's dramatic guitar solos are kept on low boil, occasionally bubbling up but never hogging the spotlight. They are, along with his distinctive vocals, actors in a play of characteristically classy tunes that will thrill Thompson's fans, who have been waiting for just such a set of literate and challenging music from a musician who never delivers less. --Hal Horowitz

Customer Reviews

The Great Man Returns....
Uptempo for the most part, although not always cheerful (when is RT ever!) this is a welcome return, showing the form you'd expect of a thoroughbred who has consistently produced good music and good performances since his early days as a very young member of Fairport Convention (now in their 40th year) with whom he will be performing at this years Cropredy Convention in August 2007.

Some highlights:

Opening the album, "Needle And Thread" is just great, hitting you between the ears where it is most pleasurable.

As noted above, the music can be uptempo even when the subject matter is death, destruction and the horrors of war. "`Dad's going to kill me" (as in Baghdad) is memorable and an instant modern classic.

Straying almost into zydeco for "Bad Monkey", Thompson continues to show his ability to assimilate other styles and incorporate it into his virtuoso guitar playing.

"Francesca" is reggae - once more the musical roots of the sixties give rise to a great little song.

"She Sang Angels To Rest" is, in shorthand, this album's "Beeswing" commemorating a summer affair.

"Johnny's Far Away" is a folk-like tale of a sailors cuckoldry with a great violin part, played by Sarah Watkins of Nickel Creek fame. With Danny Thompson on double bass, this is a memorable track.

Other musicians featured on this album include Taras Prodaniuk (electric guitar), Michael Jerome (drums), Michael Hayes (guitar) and Judith Owen (backing vocals) (from "1,000 years of Popular Music").

To classify this album - or this musician - as merely "folk" or "folk-rock" belies the width of his appeal and the variety that his years of superb musicianship have brought to his style.

Buy it and you'll not be wasting a penny.

Sweet Warrior...... SWEET JESUS!
OK, I admit, I am not the most unbiased of RT critics, in fact, I believe he is the greatest musician on the planet. However, I can still see he has his weaker moments, like 2005's tranquil but dull 'Front Parlor Ballads' ,however, MY GOD, is this not one of them!! This is a return to the greatness of the electric earthy sound of 2003's Old Kit Bag, but yet better. It sounds like Richard's been trying to get back to a somewhat more folky sound for a while, and possibly that was his fall on FPB. However, here the sound could not be better, the electricity of his band on rocking form, plus a few more mandolins, violins, accordions and fiddles. On this album Richard is taking on the subject of war, with a touch of love gone wrong [Richard.... Never!!].

Particular highlights at first include the surprising pop perfection found in 'I'll never give it up' and 'Poppy Red', his sublime Iraq song 'Dad's Gonna Kill Me' (yeah, we may be bored of hearing them but to find one with a bit of humor attached is extremely refreshing!) and the swashbuckling 'Johnny's Far Away'.

To be honest, I'm not too keen on the rock&froll feel of 'Bad Monkey'... But every great rt album has one track which you often skip, mainly due to the outstanding greatness of the others!!

BUY!

Age has not withered him nor the years condemned
RT has been at the forefront of British for almost 40 years and I have been listening to his music for almost 35 years

Quite amazing facts in themselves itself but what amazes me is that he has not seemed to enter a state of comfort rather he experiments and writes songs with lyrics as powerful as anyone else in any genre of music without much sign of pretentiousness.

The stand out track on this is of course "Dad's going to kill me" about the feelings of an American soldier in Iraq not coalition as British troops to not drive Humvees or watch Fox Evening News. This stands out as a great anti war track of any time.

Having listened to the album 3 times continuously I find that some tracks may not be as strong as others however when compared to some of the dross which other artists foist off on us I find them not to be as poor as other reviewers think.

RT has decided to employ a full time rhythm guitarist (Michael Hays) on this album a la Simon Nicol and this is a great success as is the Acoustic bass of Danny Thompson (surely the world's greatest) the electric bass of Tras Prodaniuk the drumming of Michael Jerome and the vocals of Judith Owen plus other good session musicians.

This album in my view is an unqualified success and is one I shall listen to frequently.