Search - Roy Harper :: In Between Every Line

One Of Those (Brilliant) Days In England

Carlo Matthews | Been Moving Around | 09/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Vitriolic and opinionated, Harper spends much of this album focusing on longer songs and performances. "One Of Those Days In England," with its mocking musical prelude seamlessly flowing into a gentle beginning and later taking on metaphysical proportions before slowing down for a touching finale, is by far the standout track in terms of compositional prowess and inspired delivery. Written around 1977, it has to be one of the last and finest long-scale compositions of the 1970's. Every little passage, section, bridge is charming, moving, and touched by genius. More striking still, Harper delivers the entire piece armed with acoustic guitars only, one played by him and the other by one Jimmy Page, no less. This song alone is worth the price of the entire album.If the remainder of the songs pale in comparison to "One Of Those Days," that is hardly a reflection on their quality. "Highway Blues," in all its intoxicating glory, establishes a dramatic, bewildering, shambolic, and even mystical setting so unique to Harper, one that characterizes much of the rest of the album. The last piece, "Hangman," while driven by similar forces, is infused with a passion and universal anger seldom matched by any other artist, and remains hypnotic to the bitter end.Harper is a one-of-a-kind, a lonely remnant from a time when wit and audacity were prized and helped shape the culturally rich body of rock, when imagination was king and led the way to a better music altogether."