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The Pentangle - In The Round CD (album) cover

IN THE ROUND

The Pentangle

 

Prog Folk

3.52 | 17 ratings

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kenethlevine
Special Collaborator
Prog-Folk Team
4 stars 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.

kenethlevine | 4/5 |

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