BASKET OF LIGHT

I would prefer to characterise the kind of music on this album as 'completely acoustic, somewhat eclectic Folk Pop'. What made bands like Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span interesting was that they put the Rock into Folk Rock. The music of Pentangle (at least on the present album) is in contrast wholly devoid of Rock elements. Instead we get pure acoustic Folk music with some slight Jazz influences. Mixing Folk music with Pop and Jazz may be "progressive" in some sense, but it is very hard for this reviewer to see what makes this Prog. In my opinion, in order for something to be Progressive Rock it has to be Rock in the first place.

There are indeed some lovely songs here and I can definitely understand why many like this album. However, it tends to be a rather tiresome listen in its entirety since all the songs basically have the same sound and instrumentation. The very interesting use of sitar in Once I Had A Sweetheart stands out. The very discrete and jazzy drums are hardly driving the music. The acoustic guitars and bass are very well played, but I seem to get enough of it after less than half the album's running time. The male and female vocals are nice but rather anonymous. Jacqui McShee's vocals are far from as distinctive as, say, Maddy Prior's or Sandy Denny's.

In conclusion, this is indeed a nice set of acoustic Folk songs with some jazzy and poppy touches. But it fails miserably to be anything over and above that. Needless to say, this is not really my cup of tea. A very lightweight basket!

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