DEADLINES

'Deadlines' was the first Strawbs release on the Arista label, the band's third label in the seventies after leaving A&M for Oyster in 1975. It would also turn out to be their last studio album for more than a decade as Cousins would depart the band after a poor showing for this record and an aborted attempt at a second Arista album (which would eventually be released as the appropriately-titled 'Heartbreak Hill'). Probably just as well as it turns out as the band managed to survive the musically turbulent eighties by simply staying quiet during a decade that brought down many of their progressive and folk rock peers.

The group had just come off a pair of financially disastrous tours supporting their 'Nomadness' and 'Deep Cuts' releases, both of those records cutting into the Billboard Top-200 in the U.S. but just barely. Their plan to reconstitute themselves financially with a back-to-back studio releases before going back on the road was not exactly working out. 'Burning for You' was barely released when the 'Deadlines' sessions began but it was already pretty clear that album wasn't going to take off on its own, and the group was not in a position to go out on the road to support it. Also drummer Rod Coombes left the band to focus on studio production and engineering and was replaced by relative unknown Tony Fernandez whose only notable prior credit was a stint in the rock band Ross with Badfinger guitarist/keyboardist Bob Jackson. And really his contributions are mostly muted on this release and restricted almost exclusively to snare drums although he does break out his tambourine a couple times. Coombes of course had sung backing on several Strawbs songs and also played various hand drums and a bit of acoustic guitar as well and while Fernandez would grow into almost as valuable an addition over time this was an understated debut for him.

The band was further challenged by having to re-record several tracks and overdub parts of others after the master tapes were damaged during the mixing process. This of course added to the delay of getting back on the road and further contributed to their financial distress with the additional studio costs and no measurable revenue coming in from sales of 'Burning for You'.

John Mealing and Robert Kirby are credited with various keyboards on this album but honestly except for some piano on "Sealed with a Traitor's Kiss", "I Don't Want to Talk About It" and "New Beginnings" about all I can hear are mostly synthesizers set to borderline new- wave mode. I guess there is a heavy organ/piano thread that weaves through "Deadly Nightshade" but the real point is that there isn't anywhere near as much moog, Mellotron or really even organ as the liner notes and past history would lead one to expect. These are for the most part head-on rockers with very little attempt, except on "Deadly Nightshade" and "Words of Wisdom", at either progressive or folk-rock nuances.

The two opening numbers "No Return" and "Joey and Me" suffer either from odd minor guitar chords, weird tunings or both as the strident guitars and slightly off-key vocals really detract from any theme or lyrical message the band may be trying to share. Honestly I had the check the liner notes the first time I heard these songs to see if the band had dropped melody from their lineup as part of their latest reorganization.

"Sealed with a Traitor's Kiss" is an improvement over the first part of the album, if nothing else thanks to the lead-in piano and some pretty decent vocals from Cousins. I'm sure the band has performed this live in later years and honestly would personally have chosen this above "Joey and Me" as one of the album's singles.

And speaking of singles, "I Don't Want to Talk About It" was one of three the band released in support of the record. None of them charted. I can see why this one with its plaintive rhythm section and angsty-lover lyrics might appeal to preteens listening to radio songs at the local roller skating rink, but seriously this is not the sort of thing the Strawbs should have been cranking out at this point of their career no matter how tough the commercial market was at the time.

There are a couple tracks on this album I personally don't find very attractive, but have to admit from a purely musical view are pretty well done and show a harder, slightly darker side of the band that may have been interesting or even attractive to some newer fans. "The Last Resort" and "Time and Life" suffer from plodding rhythms but I can't be sure if this was intentional or just due to Fernandez not having gelled with the group by this point. Otherwise the guitars and tight organ arrangements almost border on heavy prog (dare I say metal?) at times and make for a sharp contrast to the rest of the album's lighter and sometimes acoustic sound.

Other than "Deadly Nightshade" I would have picked "New Beginnings" as a strong candidate for a single with its emphasis on vocal harmonies and mellower, more complex piano and acoustic guitar. And it was in fact a single but as with the other two never charted. "Deadly Nightshade" has all those things that seemed to be present on the few latter Strawbs songs that really clicked: excellent electric guitar riffs from Dave Lambert; Cousins' creepy yet intoxicating vocals and understated acoustic guitar; Mellotron; heavy organ; and lyrics wrapped around a moral encompassed by a folk-tale. Very nicely done by all hands, and a definite keeper for the band.

"Words of Wisdom" comes close to the level of "Deadly Nightshade" but on this closing tune I have to say the keyboards are a bit directionless which makes the five minute-plus length seems a bit longer than it needed to be.

'Deadlines' is another Strawbs album that ranks near the bottom of my favorites list, but unlike "Burning for You" (which I also found to be musically sub-par) this one is well executed, but just not my personal cup of tea if you will. I'm going to go with three stars for 'Deadlines' and add that if you are a fan of classic Strawbs there's a good chance you'll be disappointed with this record. For Americans especially, if you are a Strawbs and also a Kansas fan who found things to like in 'Audio Visions' then you'll likely be able to make the same sort of leap from 'Ghosts' to 'Deadlines' here. Otherwise you may need to skip this one.

peace