Reviews roundup – Richard Thompson vs. High Road Easy

Reviews roundup – Richard Thompson vs. High Road Easy

RICHARD THOMPSON
Still
Proper

He’s held in high esteem is Richard Thompson.  He’s had a BBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Mojo’s Les Paul Award, he’s been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and the Americana Music Association recently honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting.  And now he’s linked up with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, to blast out an LP in nine days.  And, know what? It sounds a lot like every other Richard Thompson album.

Which his fans will adore, of course.  To be fair, I’ve always admired his way with a lyric, and there are a few doozies in there.  He’s also a great guitar player, and if you don’t believe me, take a listen to ‘Guitar Heroes’ on this new LP, where he pays tribute to his heroes, namely Hank Marvin, Chuck Berry and Django Reinhardt.  It’s a marvellous listen, and the album highlight by far.

Elsewhere, though, there is a lot of standard Richard Thompson.  It’s at its best when he shakes things up a bit, as when he puts his folk hat back on for ‘Broken Doll’, rocks out on ‘All Buttoned Up’, and gets his acoustic thing going on ‘Beatnik Walking’.

He still can’t sing, mind, but the folk who’ve stuck with him all these years with lap this up, especially as the deluxe CD edition includes a 5 track bonus disc, the “Variations EP”.

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HIGH ROAD EASY
III
independent

Sadly, not a Sass Jordan tribute album, but an excellent slice of melodic rock from Germany.  In fact, it’s so good, I would have sworn it was Swedish until I read the press bumph.

A two-man band from Karlsruhe, singer Jan Knopf and Sven Horlemann, guitarist, bassist and keyboardist have put on a mighty fine show, as they look back to the hard rock of the seventies and eighties, but with a 21st century production sheen.  They’re at their best when they rock out a bit, which is why the opening ‘Faster Than The Speed Of Light’ is the album highlight.

But they know how to write a radio tune as well.  At least they would, were this 1986 when ‘Wings’ would have soared onto playlists around the world.  It’s melodic rock, it’s AOR, it’s even a bit West Coast. But it’s all great. One for the Foreigner fans tired of buying live albums and best ofs.

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