Lifemask

Personnel includes: Roy Harper; Jimmy Page (guitar); Brian Davidson, Steve Broughton, Brian Hodges, Tony Carr, Ray Warleigh.
The follow-up to Roy Harper's career-defining song cycle STORMCOCK, 1973's LIFEMASK does an excellent job on building on some of the most successful aspects of the previous album without sounding like a mere retread. Wisely, Harper doesn't attempt to repeat the unusual four-lengthy-songs structure of STORMCOCK, instead favoring shorter songs and mood pieces which cohere into a satisfying whole.
Jimmy Page, used sparingly and to great effect on STORMCOCK, plays on nearly every track here, his instantly recognizable lead guitar contrasting nicely with Harper's typically fluid acoustic work. The songs are a fiercely political lot, with an irony-dripping version of "The Lord's Prayer" worked into a sneering catalogue of injustices and incidents of destruction being the centerpiece. Next to it, the calmer but still mighty angry "South Africa" sounds almost gentle, and its melody is actually about the prettiest on the album.