Arthur Brown is so many things to so many different groups of people… he’s an innovator, a prog rock legend, a rock intellectual (he has a degree in Philosophy), the God of Hellfire and a visionary. To some he’s also the nearest rock has to a national treasure. He’s been doing what he does since his Crazy World gave us the immortal ‘Fire’ in 1968 and, while he still fronts that band, he’s also a solo performer, standing as one of the most iconic figures in contemporary rock music.
His latest album, Nature, is a very good album, and a brave one too. At his wizened age, Arthur Brown has more than earned the right to rest on his rep as a revered elder statesman but, instead, he’s chosen to record quite an intense record, one which asks uncomfortable questions about humanity and how it’s treating the planet it lives on, reflecting his lifelong interest in spirituality as well as his return to his spiritual home in North Yorkshire, close by the Moors. On the title track Nature, one of three tracks which lean heavily towards prog, he lays out his credo, singing of how we ‘chop down forests so we can go an extra mile’ and warning that ‘we’re killing the planet for you and me.’ He goes further on ‘Bursting The Bubble’, where he observes that ‘everyone knows life is simple, but most don’t want it this way.’
The music is drawn from across prog, folk and rock, with certain tracks performed in a traditional band style, whilst on others, such as ‘With A Tear’, he recites the verses in a spoken voice. One thing that’s noticeable is that, despite his age, he has the trained actor’s ability to project his voice when something needs to be stressed, as he does on his paean to the Moon, ‘Water On Stone’. For a man his age, his voice is in remarkably good nick and, on tracks like the very proggy ‘Open Hearts’, with its hint of Marillion, he can still reach high notes without sounding like every sinew is being strained.
Arthur Brown sings straight from the heart, with his message of universal love and the belief that we should care for each other and our planet, a message he’s been imparting for years. Maybe it’s time we listened to him.
