TIME

After a 6 year absence from the studios (though some live albums did emerge during that time) Steeleye Span came back with a powerful CD that reminded everyone how talented and in good shape they still were. And, best of all, they brought back original singer Gay Woods to the fold - more than twenty five years after she left. As one can expect, the vocal lines are the highlight of this album: both female and male parts are superb, even if it was also clear the legendary Maddy Prior is still the star of the band.

This time the band decided to shed some of the bad decisions they made during the 80's and did a record like the old days: they picked up some great traditional songs and gave them such a beautiful and well crafted arrangements they become tunes of Steeleye Span. Very few groups could ever dream of doing those songs so well. The instrumental parts are also very strong, with Peter Knight's violin and Bob Johnsons's fine guitar lines the absolute strong points. Although the electric instrumentation is used full time, they do not make any concessions for commercialism: Time is pure Steeleye Span.

There are many excellent tracks here and the production is very good. My favorites are the strong opener The Prickly Bush, the great dueting vocals of Prior and Woods on The Old Maid In The Garret, the epic The Elf King, and the different, but gorgeous, The Water Is Wide (fine piano and violin parts). With a strong sense of direction, passionate interpretations and no fillers, this an album that showed Steeleye Span could still deliver an album as convincing and consistent as the ones it released during its heydey. 4 strong stars.