Sweet Warrior

Sweet Warrior
Studio album by
Richard Thompson
Released28 May 2007 (UK)
RecordedOctober and December 2006
StudioHouse of Blues Studio, Encino, Los Angeles, California
GenreFolk rock, contemporary folk
Length68:03
LabelProper (UK, Europe)
The Planet Company (Australia)
Shout! Factory (North America)
P-Vine (Japan)
ProducerRichard Thompson, Simon Tassano
Richard Thompson chronology
RT- The Life and Music of Richard Thompson'
(2006) 		Sweet Warrior
(2007) 		Live Warrior

(2009)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
BBC Collective(favourable)[2]
The Guardian[3]
Independent[4]
Music Box[5]
Uncut[6]
AMG[7]
PopMatters[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
The A.V. Club(B)[10]

Sweet Warrior is the thirteenth studio album by Richard Thompson, released in 2007. Thompson financed the recording of this album himself and then licensed the finished album to various labels for distribution. On its release, Sweet Warrior entered Amazon.com's top 20 for music sales.

Overview

The album's sleeve notes are prefaced by Sonnet LVII by Edmund Spenser, "Sweet warrior! when shall I have peace with you", one of his 1595 Amoretti sonnet cycle.[11]

The track "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" was given an advance release via Thompson's own web site and iTunes. The song was singled out for praise by critics [12] and featured prominently in Thompson's live performances in early 2007. This song's lyrics make extensive use of US military slang (the "Dad" of the title is GI slang for "Baghdad"), and convey the thoughts and feelings of an uneasy U.S. soldier fighting in Iraq.[13] It was subsequently used on the closing montage of the first episode of the third season of the American action crime drama television series Sons of Anarchy.

The cover photograph is taken from the Collection d'Adhémar de Panat.[11]

Reception

The albums' advance release enjoyed airplay on several radio stations and attracted generally favourable comments from the press and advance publicity for the album.

The album received very favourable reviews. Writing in The Guardian, Robin Denselow said: "He hasn't brought out his electric guitar to work with a band on an album of new songs in four years now, but it has been well worth the wait. He has always specialised in writing about loss, bitterness and horror, and this is one of the most brilliantly gloomy albums in his long career."[14] Gemma Padley, writing for the BBC, said: "Sweet Warrior is a collection of songs that refuses to be taken too seriously. While the slower tracks radiate genuine feeling, the rambunctious up-tempo numbers evaluate with an ever-present cheeky glint in the eye – an eye that the irrepressible Thompson has firmly on the ball."[15]

Track listing

All songs written by Richard Thompson:

  1. "Needle and Thread" – 4:43
  2. "I'll Never Give It Up " – 3:22
  3. "Take Care the Road You Choose" – 6:44
  4. "Mr. Stupid" – 3:53
  5. "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" – 5:16
  6. "Poppy-Red" – 4:37
  7. "Bad Monkey" – 5:13
  8. "Francesca" – 5:17
  9. "Too Late to Come Fishing" – 4:36
  10. "Sneaky Boy" – 2:59
  11. "She Sang Angels to Rest" – 3:25
  12. "Johnny's Far Away" – 4:53
  13. "Guns Are the Tongues" – 7:27
  14. "Sunset Song" – 5:38

Bonus tracks on the P-Vine Records release for the Japanese market:

  • "Any Old Body"
  • "Dust and Wine"

Personnel

Musical

Technical

References

  1. ^ "Sweet Warrior by Richard Thompson". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  2. ^ Padley, Gemma. "BBC – Music – Review of Richard Thompson – Sweet Warrior". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  3. ^ Denselow, Robin (25 May 2007). "Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Independent review". Archived from the original on 15 June 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  5. ^ Heselgrave, Douglas. "Richard Thompson – Sweet Warrior (Album Review)". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  6. ^ Uncut review
  7. ^ AMG review
  8. ^ "Music Reviews, Features, Essays, News, Columns, Blogs, MP3s and Videos – PopMatters". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  10. ^ The A.V. Club review
  11. ^ a b c d Sweet Warrior, Richard Thompson (2007), Proper Records: PRPCD032, sleeve notes
  12. ^ "Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior". PopMatters. 28 May 2007.
  13. ^ Press release, March 14, 2007.
  14. ^ Denselow, Robin (25 May 2007). "Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  15. ^ "Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior". BBC Folk & Country Reviews. 28 May 2007.

Other sources