Soldier on the Wall

The Soldier on the Wall
Studio album by Alex Harvey
Released	1982
Recorded	September/October 1981
Studio	Kingsway Recorders, Holborn, London
Genre	Rock
Length	35:14
Label	Powerstation Records
Producer	Kevin D. Nixon
Alex Harvey chronology
The Mafia Stole My Guitar (1979) The Soldier on the Wall (1982)
CD Reissue cover

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Uncut	[3]

The Soldier on the Wall is the final album recorded by Alex Harvey. ^[4] The album was recorded in September/October 1981 and released shortly after Harvey's death. ^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Mitzi"	4:07
2.	"Billy Bolero"	4:46
3.	"Snowshoes Thompson"	3:16
4.	"Roman Wall Blues"	5:24
5.	"The Poet and I"	4:20
6.	"Nervous"	4:51
7.	"Carry the Water"	4:22
8.	"Flowers Mr. Florist"	4:04
9.	"The Poet and I (Reprise)"	1:28

Personnel

• Alex Harvey - lead vocals, producer
• Tony Lambert - keyboards
• George Hall - keyboards
• Ian "Toose" Taylor - guitar
• Jack Dawe - bass guitar
• Colin Griffin - drums
• Andy Nolan - percussion
• Gordon Sellers - bass on "The Poet and I"
• Tommy Eyre - keyboards on "The Poet and I"
• Ray Conn - harmony - writer - producer - on "The Poet and I"

Additional personnel

• Kevin D. Nixon - producer
• Paul "Chas" Watkins - engineer
• Roy Neave - mix engineer
• Viv Ratcliffe - front cover
• Charles Daykin - artwork

2003 reissue

In 2003, the album was given a compact disc release, with only the first four tracks being remastered from their original master tapes. The project was almost abandoned because the second master tape for the other five tracks (the B side of the vinyl album) couldn't be traced. Production staff managed to obtain a good quality copy of the original 1982 vinyl on loan. They digitised and "cleaned up" (as best they could with the technology available at the time) the remaining five tracks, and released them. Consequently, this led to slight surface noise appearing on those tracks; it is most noticeable with some light crackle on the quiet piano introduction to track 5, "The Poet and I".

The CD version has a different cover to the original and liner notes by Harvey's widow, Trudy.

References

1. "The Soldier on the Wall". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
2. Larkin, Colin (27 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN   9780857125958 – via Google Books.
3. "Alex Harvey - The Soldier On The Wall". 1 December 2003.
4. "Keeping The The Faith - Record Collector Magazine". recordcollectormag.com.
5. "The quieter side of rock's flamboyant singer, Alex Harvey". Glasgow Times. 12 March 2016.