A MAID DEEP IN LOVE

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3,5 stars really!!

Although hardly ever-mentioned in catalogues or encyclopaedias, this album is a compilation mainly favouring two albums Reflection and Cruel Sister but the side-long Jack Orion track has been omitted in favour of five shorter tracks. And among these there are one or two gems that make you quickly forget the partially successful epic. The title track of the album is another beautiful moment of sitars mixing with trad folk. Lord Franklin is dominated by a harmonium but is not the most exciting track around even if an interesting electric guitar takes over halfway through! Rain And Snow pretty well takes up where their If I Was A House Carpenter cover had left it in Basket Of Light. Cruel Sister - the longest track on this version of the album but not in the album to which it gives its name - is another superb if slightly long track so typical of Pentangle. Wedding Dress is another banjo driven track but in this case it is underlined by a bowed bass. Omie Wise is one of the highlights of this selection but also much worthy of notice is the standard Will the Circle Be Unbroken and the finale of When I Get Home. This odd compilation is really worth it if you are a fan but will not bring you that much more than the two separate albums. Why do compilations of just two albums is beyond me especially choosing one excellent album and a definitely weaker one.

This compilation seemed to be released for folk fans only. Pentangle's mix of traditional folk, blues, jazz and baroque music is hardly heard here at all. Like the Cruel Sister album, this is basicly a collection of reworked traditional songs from europe and USA played by a less inspired Pentangle: all very well done and all, but lacking the sparks that usually made their albums so interesting and varied, even if you're not really a fan of both jazz and blues (like in my case).

Besides, the selection was not one of the most clever either. Many of their best perfomances in the tradtional folk field are not here, let alone their most daring ones (like the side long version of Jack Orion). And clocking on just 38:30 the CD version could and should have included some bonus tracks to justify its simply reissue. This is not to say the selection is bad: the title track, Cruel Sister and Omie Wise are simply great examples of how good the original Pentangle was. However, those tracks do not do justice to the band's greatness and uniqueness. They were better and bigger than what's been shown here. You better save the money to get the Basket Of Light album or a more diversified compilation.

Conclusion: good, but not essential in any way. Only for the folk purists.