DRAGONFLY

In their early days Strawbs were very much a band that really "progressed". From the almost psychedelic 60's pop of the debut album in 1969 to the symphonic Prog Folk masterpiece Hero And Heroine in 1974 was quite a journey. And the sound and approach changed basically with every album during this creative and turbulent period. It is quite striking how different this album is from the first one. Dragonfly is basically a Folk album with acoustic guitars as the primary instrument. There are occasional drums, cello, recorder, electric guitar and a few other instruments but overall the instrumentation is very simple and almost all acoustic. Rick Wakeman appears on piano on the epic The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake, but his contribution is minimal and very subtle, it could have been anyone really. Dragonfly is also much darker and there are no humourous songs here.

The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake is the best song here, and the one closest to what the band would do later on. However, this track is also available as a bonus track on the Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curios live album (in a better version), so don't rush out and try to find Dragonfly for that reason alone. Wakeman also has a much more prominent place on that live album than he is afforded here. Overall, Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curios is a much better point of entry into the early period of Strawbs. At least from a Prog perspective.

I generally prefer Dragonfly over the self titled debut, but both these albums have mainly historical interest now.

Only for fans and collectors and for people who want to study the early historical roots of Prog Folk.