ONE MORE ROAD & LIVE 1994

Before relinquishing control of the Pentangle name to co-founder Jacqui McShee, Bert Jancsh and the reformed Pentangle recorded a studio album, that was released in 1993, and a live album, released in 1994, for the small but dedicated following of fans that the band still enjoyed in Germany in the nineties and is the basis for this double CD compilation.

The studio material displays the most overt of the band's slightly harder but more conventional, for the times, folk rock sound that would not be out of place with contemporary Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span material. Long gone all the band's trademark jazz flourishes, which seemed to disappear years earlier when double bass great Danny Thompson left the group.

The Pentangle, at this juncture, are still world class musicians and McShee is as brilliant a vocalist as ever.

The key to the success of this material is that Jansch is still a great songwriter, both musically and lyrically, as is displayed on the One More Road studio disc while the band as a whole effortlessly show off their live wares on the live disc titled Live In 1994. Put together by UK's Hux label, both albums are excellently remastered and make a good match. Especially since many of the studio disc's songs sound like they were cut live in the studio, so there's a sonic continuity between the two recordings.

Is this double offering a necessary addition for a Pentangle collector? Probably not. But it is extremely enjoyable to listen to. 3.5 stars.