Prince of the Poverty Line

Skyclad (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 12, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Noise
• ASIN: B00009KU66
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,692 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, indeed!, December 31, 2004

By 

Ilya Malafeyev (Russia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prince of the Poverty Line (Audio CD)

Skyclad, Britain's unique folk-thrash band, had been slowly progressing from harsh thrash-metal of the debut to a more complex melodic sound of their later albums. This one, the fourth album by this excellent band, is arguably the best to represent Skyclad's musical essence. If you're a first time listener, your eyes will surely widen in surprise, when you hear this band seamlessly mixing heavy guitar riffing, tasty background keyboards, folksy violin and raspy vocals of the band leader, Martin Walkyier. While heavy, this music is rich with melodies and rhythmic diversity. One could see what Skyclad were aiming for even since their debut came out in 1991. But it's exactly with this album that the band got everything done right. There's not a note out of place, and nothing to be lacking.

Songwise "Prince of the Poverty Line" is an example of consistently strong songwriting. But there are standouts even among these very impressive tracks. "Civil War Dance" continues in the vein of earlier classics like "The Spinning Jenny" and "Earth Mother, the Sun and the Furious Host", a heavy song based on fast folk melodies. "Sins of Emission" gives violin the lead, and sounds very fresh. "Land of the Rising Slum", "One Piece Puzzle" and "The Truth Famine" are all based on striking melodic lines, while "Gammadion Seed" is the heaviest and the most close to thrash-metal rules song.

As is always with Skyclad, along with violin, their another trademark, clever and insightful lyrics, is present in abundance on this record. I second the opinion that Martin is arguably metal's best poet of all time, and recommend to pay attention to the message of his verses.

Skyclad's unique music style and passionate presentation make this band a must to hear. If you only want to try 1 CD and you are into metal, you can't go wrong with "Prince of the Poverty Line". If you prefer lighter music, you might want to choose from one of their later works though.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, April 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Prince of the Poverty Line (Audio CD)

This one you should listen with the lirics in your hands, to see out this man (Martin) has to say. We'll be amazed about this. The best lyricist around. And the music also. It worths every penny.
If they were about to wright another album it should for sure be like this one.
I'll say no more.