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This is one of the most brilliantly gloomy albums in his long career.
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Entertainment WeeklyThe guy's a six-string hero whose artistic sweep runs from plangent ballads to fiery barnstormers to, well, a heap of engaging styles in between. [1 Jun 2007, p.69]
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The tightness of Thompson's compositions grounds the explosive, whimsical meandering of his improvs; Sweet Warrior, and "Guns Are The Tongues" in particular, captures that glory as well as anything else from this century.
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Characteristically classy tunes that will thrill Thompson's fans, who have been waiting for just such a set of literate and challenging music from a musician who never delivers less.
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With nothing particularly unusual to recommend, non-fans will miss out on yet another in a long string of superb collections.
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A freewheeling stylistic brew.
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SpinOf course, the main attraction remains his bristling, zigzag guitar licks, which still astound nearly 40 years on. [Jun 2007, p.96]
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UncutHe sounds more like a loner--intense, precise, impervious to fashion--than ever. [Jul 2007, p.102]
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If you’re a lapsed Dickhead, Sweet Warrior would make for a great reintroduction to Richard Thompson. Likewise, should you require only one RT album per decade, this disc may well stand as his best of the 2000s.
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Running nearly 70 minutes, Sweet Warrior is perhaps too indulgent in the album's flabbier second half. But fans surely are happy to let Richard be Richard.
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Sweet Warrior finds him spinning epic yarns instead of heroic solos.
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BillboardThe 14 tracks find Thompson in typical tasteful form, playing with understated flash that straddles the trans-Atlantic divide to embrace Celtic soul and rootsy Americana, with bits of jazz and Jamaica ("Bad Monkey," "Francesca") thrown into the mix. [2 Jun 2007]
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The [anti-war] track hits so hard, in fact, that it renders much of the other material inconsequential.
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Even when Mr. Thompson uses his caustic wit for laughs, the songs on “Sweet Warrior” hold a tension and vehemence that make their bitterness linger.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 19 out of 21
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Mixed: 1 out of 21
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Negative: 1 out of 21
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PhilWOct 25, 2007One of the best albums of our generation.
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MarkL.Sep 26, 2007
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ChristopherW.Sep 25, 2007