DRAGONFLY

This album is a more striped down affair if you compare it to their first release. There's a more pastoral feeling and it sounds a bit like Nick Drake's first album. Fans of folk music should really love this. The tracks are mostly acoustic and often feature some cello and piano too.

There are no highpoints on the album, since all the songs, written mostly by Dave Cousins, are of highest standard, but if I have to pick a few favorites it will be the melancholy "I Turned My Face Into The Wind", which brings some dark imagery of the moody English countryside, "Josephine" and the jolly, uplifting "Another Day" are also wonderful. "Til The Sun Comes Shining Through" is absolutely gorgeous and I love the title track very much as well.

You won't miss the lengthly 'The Vision of the Lady of the Lake' which combines Dave Cousin's flair for story telling with Arthurian imagery and Catholic morality problems. This one builds up and becomes quite aggressive, with some energetic drumming. It really is English folk rock at its best.

For years, this has not been available and to own this on vinyl would be a valued treasure for me. Unfortunately, such copies have long since gone to ground. Therefore, its release on CD was very welcoming. Dragonfly and their album called just "Strawbs" are vintage classics. The band changed their direction a bit after this, with some more varied influences, more to the attention of prog fans. The music here is still beautiful stuff though, from a truly great period. Four and a half stars.