PLEASE MIND YOUR HEAD

I'd like to start this review by saying that prog fans trying to find "that prog classic" from String Driven Thing will be up for a disappointment, because they are very far from that, except for a couple of more "adventurous" songs in each album. That doesn't mean that the band is not enjoyable. It is just that the "prog" elements were much more the exception than the norm in their music.

I can see why some people don't like "Please Mind Your Head", and it is not because they have dropped the prog somewhere, it is because they dropped the folk/blues rock in favor of hard and soul/funk. While "The Machine That Cried" could technically be considered their most "prog" because the "proggy" songs are longer than the "proggy" songs in other albums, it is mostly just a bunch of folk rock and blues rock songs with the distinctive violin and viola by Graheme Smith making the difference.

The highlight of the album is obviously Timpany for the Devil, a song where Graheme Smith has free reign to take his experimental violin and viola playing to the heights. It is probably the most experimental song from String Driven Thing. Besides that, there are some pretty good songs, like Without You, which is harder and has some great violin use and a nice guitar solo (it reminds of early Kansas, even), the funky Josephine, with its great rhythm section and a good instrumental interludes, and the closing song To Know You Is To Love You, which is kinda funky as well, and not surprisingly since it is a Stevie Wonder cover. The other songs are nice too, but they are more commercial, especially Mrs. O'Reily, which is probably the weakest song of the album.

It seems like these albums here not released recently, so it was not worthy hunting down a copy, although the album is good. However, with music stream services, it is available, so it is fine. The version "Graheme Smith's personal tapes" is fine, though it is a bit rough and maybe it deserved a remaster.