IN THE ROUND

In The Round was my first entry into the reformed Pentangle after their 'classic' l line up had broken apart in the early 70's. The sound changed a lot, with new guitarrist Mike Piggott coming in since the previous CD and, most important, welcoming Nigel Portman-Smith on bass and keyboards. I should warn Pentangle's fans of the early incarnation that the sound changed A LOT! Gone are the almost all acoustic format and mostly of their jazz and heavy blues overtones. On the other hand the music became less pretentious and less intricated. Still they retained their folk credentials, their fine musicanship and added some colour to their sound.

Some would go on to say some songs on this record are almost pop, but I will desagree. Even at their most accessible moments, they are still too sophisticated to be classified as such. This is obvious a transitional record, but a good one. The major fault being the fact that some pieces sound too much like a Bert Jansch solo album (The Open Sea, Saturday Movie) and break the album's continuity, but when Jacqui Mcshee sings lead or duos then the band really shiness. No wonder they record at least three more studio CDs in such direction.

All in all it's a very good CD. The good songs are very memorable, while the weaker tracks are at least listenable and will certainly satisfy Bert Jansch solo career fans.

Pentangle sheds its somewhat twee folkie eclectic image for a more honest rocking eclectic approach.

We are still in the company of Jacqui McShee and Burt Jansch and that should and does speak to the quality. "In the Round" can be compared with some of Clannad's mid 1980s modernizations although Pentangle remains more grounded and earthy. In fact some of the best tracks are supported in a manner more muscular than the group's pedigree might dictate. Yet even there an unhurried jazzy and bluesy undercurrent runs through "Chase that Devil Away", "Sunday Morning Blues", and "Let me Be", like we might expect if Fleetwood Mac had been grafted upon the Pentangle. Nothing quite so cloying, mind you, as sentimentality is not what comes to mind on the catchy "Playing the Game", featuring Jansch's great hook on banjo, and the haunting "When the Night is Over". "Circle the Moon" is like a subdued Sally Oldfield both in sound and subject matter.

Interestingly, it is the more traditional folky material that gets short shrift, with "She moved through the fair" and "Suil Agrar" sounding lifeless; clearly the Pentangle heart is not in it. Nonetheless this is a well rounded album from one of British folk rock's most venerable acts. 3.5 stars rounded up for effort.