The Stormcock Community

As will be apparent from the name of this web site, Roy Harper's "Stormcock" album is very dear to me. He has a large body of work, spanning 40 years or so, and it has always been difficult to be pinned down to one 'favourite' when asked. Music is such a delightfully subjective passion, and the mood and circumstances of the listener can greatly affect what he or she wants to listen to from one day to the next. However it's fair to say that on 9 days out of 10, I would say that "Stormcock" is Roy's best work. The subject matter covers four pivotal themes, best summed up by Roy in the new liner notes:

I is the joker, Meyou, the judge sat on his great assize.
II is The Same Old Rock, one new sling, the same old neolithic bullshit.
III is my anti-war/violence anthem.
IV represents an expression of my deep desire for us to really know who we are, and where that might be taking us.

The power of the words in these four songs has not been diminished over the years, and indeed there is no question of anything sounding "dated", which shows that the concepts and execution are timeless.

Apart from the lyrical content, the musical composition is inspired, and at times gut-wrenchingly beautiful. Some parts of Me and My Woman bring me to tears and it is perhaps the most soulful and emotive song of Roy's (with others such as Another Day coming close). The buildup and climax of Same Old Rock is enormously satisfying with multiple acoustic guitars building up to an instrumental finale that left me open mouthed in amazement the first few times I heard it and still raises that "tingle" you get when music grabs you by the heart and will not let go.

The record was always a prime example of recording and engineering excellence as well. The guitars are so clear and vibrant; the voice is full of emotion and so articulate; the backing vocals on "Hors D'Oeuvres" augment and inspire.

I guess you can tell how much I like this record. It has been the subject of much debate and anticipation in recent months when it became known that Roy was planning a re-issue of the album with new packaging and, shock horror, a new audio master. Some fans have worried that this album, that jewel in the crown of their record collection and the holder of so many fond memories of days gone by, would somehow take on a new and unwelcome character or somehow be spoilt. Well, I have some sympathy with this viewpoint. Examples were mentioned such as the recent remaster of "On the Shore" by Trees, or (to be flippant for a moment) the travesty that George Lucas brought on the original Star Wars when he messed around with it upon transfer to DVD.

All worriers may now relax. All doubters may rest assured that all is well in the world. What we have in the new version is the same old Stormcock, just more of it. By that, I mean that there is more music somehow. I suppose that in technical terms the dynamic range of the music has been improved, the noise floor reduced, and hitherto-hidden details in the mix plucked out and brought forward to shine. There were moments in the old mix where multitracked vocals or guitars got muddy or simply too loud. Now, the separation in the stereo soundstage is very distinct and when listening through headphones everything is so well placed and defined. Roy's voice has never sounded better. Perhaps the only criticism that I can come up with is that Jimmy Page's solo in Same Old Rock seems a little soft and subdued, but that was probably the original intent and I may have been spoiled by some live renditions of the track with Nick Harper turning it up to 11...

The disc comes in a booklet-style package with something you can actually read while listening. I miss the old days of having a massive gatefold sleeve with vinyl and this goes a long way to giving the best equivalent in the smaller CD form factor. Roy has annotated the songs, provided more photographs, full lyrics for all 4 songs (Hors D'Oeuvres was always missing in earlier releases for some reason), and a new poem which seems to me to be a meta-comment on the work.

I recommend "Stormcock" to you unreservedly and I go so far as to say it is an essential in any music-lovers collection.

Roy has been writing some notes about the album on his myspace blog which are worth reading.