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Walton Street 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 24 2014
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 872
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 Posted: January 22 2015 at 10:22 |
I don't have anything past Don't Say Goodbye I have them all on vinyl from 'Just a Collection...' up to and including Don't Say Goodbye .. Still cant find the first 2 albums
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"I know one thing: that I know nothing"
- SpongeBob Socrates
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 11 2014
Location: Kyiv In Spirit
Status: Offline
Points: 20449
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Posted: January 22 2015 at 10:27 |
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^Yes, The debut and Dragonfly are extremely difficult to find on vinyl as there were not released in the States immediately, and only sporadically in the seventies. You might have to go digital on these. The debut is killer.
Edited by SteveG - January 22 2015 at 10:28
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Chris S
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: June 09 2004
Location: Front Range
Status: Offline
Points: 7028
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Posted: January 22 2015 at 12:19 |
 SteveG wrote:
^Yes, Nomadness grew on me as later Strawbs albums got weaker. One of thier most progressive albums is the on again/off again reissue of 1978's Heartbreak Hill. The two best songs Starting Over and the great title track can be found on a new compilation titled Prognostic. They may be live versions from the Strawbs' 40th anniversary album vol. 2, which are as good as the studio originals. |
Nomadness, another hidden jewel......Golden salamander; So Shall Our Love Die; Hanging in the gallery; Promised Land; Wakeman's visit on Tokyo Rose and the bluesy Absent Friend - How I need you- where Cousin's sounds almost like Gabriel on his debut's Waiting For The Big One
What is NOT to like 
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<font color=Brown>Music - The Sound Librarian
...As I venture through the slipstream, between the viaducts in your dreams...[/COLOR]
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kenethlevine
Special Collaborator
Prog-Folk Team
Joined: December 06 2006
Location: New England
Status: Offline
Points: 8849
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Posted: March 24 2015 at 14:27 |
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chiming in a bit late here, but this at least gives the album a well deserved bump. It's probably the most perfectly constructed Strawbs album (well, maybe wlong with GNW), with the whole being far greater than the sum of its parts. But neither of those are my favorites. For those, I go with albums that best reveal the group's ability to be both cerebral and accessible, a la Moody Blues - "Ghosts" and "Bursting at the Seams". Such juxtapositions of light and dark, brooding and belting out. Whereas Hero and GNW were decidedly dark with only occasional lightness.
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Squonk19
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2015
Location: Darlington, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 4705
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 07:03 |
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A long-standing fan of this band - spanning all aspects of their folk, pop and prog styles. Hero & Heroine is their prog rock high water mark - with tracks like 'Round & Round' and 'Autumn' - but you can find highlights on most other albums as well. Always liked Dave Cousins' voice but I can appreciate why some find it a barrier. The pastoral singer-songwriter style is always a refreshing change to their heavier stuff - but I think you need to be open to the English folk tradition to appreciate it fully. Always great lyrics and nice changes of tempo. 'Blue Angel' from Dave's solo album appears on some compilations, and is a real epic classic which you can add to the Strawbs playlist. Generally some good keyboards in the background...not least from the Wakemans!
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“Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.”
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Lafayette Assburn
Forum Groupie
Joined: April 02 2015
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 41
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 07:40 |
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Yes, "Nomadness" was a pleasant surprize, especially as I read on more than one forum that one should stay away from this lp as well as the one that came after. (And the coverart is deffo a turn-off.)
I cannot understand why "hero & Heroine" is considered their "high water mark". Sure , its a fine lp but give me "Witchwood" or "Grave New World" over "Hero".
"Hero" sounds bit more contemporary to me, whereas "Witchwood" is more "English" and pastoral.
If you took all the mellotron off "Hero", would it still be rated so highly? (Don't think so)
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moshkito
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 16125
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 09:18 |
Hi,
Betty Boop is outdated ... about the only thing I find outdated these days is Elvis!
And, of course, Katy and all of us will be outdated sooner than we think!
STRAWBS is just fine with me!
Edited by moshkito - April 03 2015 at 09:25
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Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
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kenethlevine
Special Collaborator
Prog-Folk Team
Joined: December 06 2006
Location: New England
Status: Offline
Points: 8849
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 16:30 |
Lafayette Assburn wrote:
Yes, "Nomadness" was a pleasant surprize, especially as I read on more than one forum that one should stay away from this lp as well as the one that came after. (And the coverart is deffo a turn-off.)
I cannot understand why "hero & Heroine" is considered their "high water mark". Sure , its a fine lp but give me "Witchwood" or "Grave New World" over "Hero".
"Hero" sounds bit more contemporary to me, whereas "Witchwood" is more "English" and pastoral.
If you took all the mellotron off "Hero", would it still be rated so highly? (Don't think so)
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funny how that remark keeps getting parroted around the internet, specifically about Hero and Heroine. Take the mellotron out of ITCOCK and what do you have? Take it out of most Moody Blues albums and what do you have. Take it out of Watcher of the Skies and what do you have? What is, I don't know, "The Wall", without the paranoid depressive lyrics. What is "Close to the Edge" without Squire's bass? It's irrelevant, because Hero and Heroine has mellotron, the use of which helps to make it special. There's also Cousins' lyrics, the usual memorable melodies, Chas Cronk's backing vocals, Rod Coombes nimble drumming, the galling variety of styles (typical of Strawbs), and so on. Actually, acoustic Strawbs do versions of quite a few of the songs off this album and they sound fresh and fine.
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SteveG
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 11 2014
Location: Kyiv In Spirit
Status: Offline
Points: 20449
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Posted: April 04 2015 at 11:01 |
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^Agreed. I never understood this Mellotron proviso myself. H&H is a great album because it featured a line up of musicians that was tailor made for prog and was firing on all cylinders as was Cousins' songwriting ability. The Mellotron merely added to a great album and was the not main cause for this album being great.
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Barbu
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 09 2005
Location: infinity
Status: Offline
Points: 30845
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Posted: April 04 2015 at 16:11 |
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Every home should have one.
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Hero and Heroine: Strawbs