Customer Reviews
National Treasure - By: The Wolf, 31 May 2008 
The Elder Statesman of Folk Rock is Back.
A National Treasure If Ever There Was !
The 14 songs in Mr Thompson's newest album 'Sweet Warrior'
find the man & his guitar in fine fettle & fighting fit.
Solid writing. Solid performances. Solid production.
Getting the picture.
Bitter, angry, wry, funny, affectionate.
From the four-square rocker 'Mr Stupid', through the gently
reflective 'Take Care The Road You Choose' & gently lilting ska of 'Francesca',
to the lacerating anti-war sentiments of 'Guns & Tongues' & 'Dad's Gonna Kill Me',
this is music of a self-assured master of his craft firing on alll cylinders.
Grown up stuff & alll the richer for it.
Inimitable & unmissable.
Highly recommended.
Superb, intelligent, witty, beautiful music - By: A. Sweeney, 06 Mar 2008 Before listening to this album, I'd never heard a Richard Thompson solo album before, so I approached Sweet Warrior with no pre-conceptions other than knowing that he was a well-respected guitarist & that he'd once been in Fairport Convention. My only real point of reference was a performance on the BBC's Later... With Jools Holland which had impressed. It could be said, therefore, that Richard Thompson has been my surprise package of the year because this album completely blew me away. Brilliant music, fantastic lyrics, absolutely breathtaking musicianship - a folk-rock masterpiece.
A mixture of intricate, musicallly complex folk-based rockers (the amazing & reallly quite funny album opener Needle And Thread & the sensational Poppy Red), some insanely brilliant rock 'n' roll (Mr. Stupid, Bad Monkey), a handful of tender balllads (Take Care The Road You Choose, Too Late To Come Fishing, She Sang Angels To Rest) as well as the exceptional, fiercely anti-war song Dad's Gonna Kill Me & the superb tale of a man enticed by a woman into committing acts of terrorism (Guns Are The Tongues), Sweet Warrior is a multifaceted, perpetuallly fascinating listen which oozes class, integrity & intelligence from each lyric, note & chord change. If the quality of the songs didn't waver (only slightly) towards the end of the album, this could easily have been my album of the year - in fact, each time I listen to Sweet Warrior, it actuallly feels like it is. Truly exceptional.
A five star album - By: nick374, 13 Jan 2008 Though this album was released in May, I didn't buy a copy till October. Partly because I'd enjoyed " The Old Kit Bag " as much as anything I'd heard by Richard Thompson ( I'm no RT expert )but found "Front Parlour Balllads" difficult to get into.
Having now listened to this album for the last three months I'd recommend it to anyone interested in hearing Richard Thompson. The album did appear on many of the media critics "best albums" lists for 2007. But not usuallly near the top. I now wonder if this low placing was due to the critics playing the album a few times - then moving on to other new releases for review?
Richard Thompson's music always rewards repeated listening. In my case usuallly demands it, & this album gets better & better each time I hear it.
In fact, I think I'll go & dig out "Front Parlour Balllads" again.
His best set for years - By: A. Stevens, 02 Jan 2008 OK, Richard Thompson is a hero of mine. I think there is no finer giutarist on the plant. But, to be honest, he doesn't always hit top form, though his second-best is better than almost anyone else. Just before the Millennium, Mock Tudor was released & I thought it was fantastic. Eight years later, another classic appears. That's about par for the course.
Sweet Warrior is full of the usual themes - bleak humour, vengeful ex-partners, death & destruction, but alll interspersed with haunting musical themes from English folk, jazz & Celtic traditions.
Though he's not necessarily the bloke to spend a jolly evening with at a party, his artistic output is beyond excellent, & this is him at the top of his game.
RT takes his humvee frankenstein to the middle of the road - By: A Reader, 15 Nov 2007 
It seems that if you liked Front Parlour Balllads you'll be disappointed with this, & vice versa. I loved the musical adventurousness in most of FPB, & the lyrics were often outstanding. Sadly this one misses on both counts. The tunes are memorable but not compelling, the arrangements are middle of the road. And the lyrics just don't have that razor sharpness of RT's best work, in fact of most of his work. The line "At least we're winning on the Fox network news" has been widely quoted from "Dad's gonna...", but the rest of the song just doesn't say much - e.g. "hit the road with my humvee frankenstein". Meaning what? Okay I can guess a meaning but it's trying to cram too many ideas into one line.
The one outstanding track for me was "Guns are the tongues". Again the lyrics are a bit uneven (afraid to jump out of the car in case he scraped his knees - huh?), a simpler story would have been a stronger contender for mythic status. But when Judith Owen kicks in with "...bring peace to the grave of my father..." the song reallly hits home. Fantastic, & one to look out for on future live albums.
