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Strawbs - Dancing To The Devil's Beat CD (album) cover

DANCING TO THE DEVIL'S BEAT

Strawbs

 

Prog Folk

3.30 | 45 ratings

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arcane-beautiful
4 stars Now, I have only been aware of Strawbs for a few months now, and having being interested by the band, I decided to purchase their new album.

So is it good?

Suprisingly yes, very good, in fact way better than I excpected.

Yes, this album really is a great album, and this marking their 40th anniversery, really shows that they haven't lost their touch.

At times Dave Cousin's voice can sound a wee bit strained and sound like Bowie in a 100 years, but he can suprise you.

And also, this album hosts one of the Wakeman Satanic spawn, Oliver.

And does he do a good job.

Yes a very good job, and don't hit me for saying this, but he out does his father. He really has an amazing talent, and I do at times find Rick to be annoying.

Alot of people may label this band as a poor man's Jethro Tull, but don't knock em until you've tried em.

1. Revenge (Can Be So Sweet) - Fantastic song. The repeated melody line is great and cheesy. The chorus has a very atmospheric Pink Floyd vibe to it. 10/10

2. Beneath The Angry Sky - Just an amazing song. Very catchy chorus and some great instrumentation. Fantastic keyboard solo from Oliver. 10/10

3. Copenhagen - Beautiful acoustic work. The folk atmosphere adds to the beautiful timbre of the song. 8/10

4. Pro Pratria Suite - The banjo work in this song is very beautifull. The keyboard melody over the banjo accompaniment in the first part is a beautifull counter melody. The piano work in the 2nd part is also very beautifull. The change in tones add to the dramatic nature of the song. 9/10

5. Where Silent Shadows Fall - Has a very millitry march feel to the song. Oliver really does outmatch his dad on this song. Beautifull mellotron work at the end. The orchestration is very beautifull but also very chessy. A great composition. 8/10

6. The Man Who Would Never Leave Grimsby - I do prefer Dave Lambert as a better singer, so I did favour this song a little more. Has a very Cat Stevens vibe to the song. Great chorus and some interesting lyrics. 9/10

7. The Ballad Of Jay & Rose Mary - Usually these types of songs annoy me, but this one was alright. The suave atmosphere was pulled off really well. Great key work in this song. 7/10

8. Dancing To The Devil's Beat - Some great organ work in this song. I like the very rocky tone to the song. David's vocals are actually suprisingly great. 8/10

9. Oh How She Changed - Quite sinister and dark. Love all the tone changes. An amazing song. I haven't heard the original recording though, so I have no frame of reference. 9/10

CONCLUSION: If you haven't tried Strawbs before, then you should, they taste grrrreat.

arcane-beautiful | 4/5 |

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