RINGING DOWN THE YEARS

I am a huge Strawbs fan (indeed, saw them live just a few months ago - they are still great!), and have virtually everything they ever did (even the five-CD 'Taste of Strawbs'). I will start my reviews of their albums with their two least-known. This one was originally only released in Canada, and only on cassette, in the late 1980s. As a huge fan, I still bought it, and tried to like it. VERY disappointing. In general, this album has the weakest compositions of any Strawbs album. This is not to say there are no good songs here, but in every case there are better versions on later albums. The big problem here is the production and sonic quality, which is *terrible*. It is the classic 80s over-production gone to extremes. The whole album is saturated with now out-dated synths, an awful drum sound, too much reverb, and often difficult to hear the singing. While other bands and even the Strawbs have examples of this issue, here it is extreme and very detrimental. Quite literally, NONE of the tracks on this album are listenable as they are. You need to hear the re-recordings the versions of the few strong ones on this album. Of these, the title track (written in memory of Sandy Denny) is probably the best - a great and poignant song - but ONLY on later albums (my favourite version is the one on Dave Cousins' solo album 'Secret Paths'). "Forever Ocean Blue" is wonderful, but again only on later albums (for that one, my favourite is the version on the Cousins and Wakeman duet album 'Hummingbird'). Here, it sounds like the worst AOR easy-listening schmaltz. Same for "Stone Cold is a Woman's Heart" (a MUCH better version is on Cousins/Wakeman 'Hummingbird'). The best track on this album is the opener "Might as Well be on Mars", which actually kindof reflects where the Strawbs were at during this period. This was originally a big hit in Canada by a band called the Pukka Orchestra. Why the Strawbs released their own version of that song only in Canada then is a mystery. I could see the Strawbs thinking the song was so good they might want people in the UK or elsewhere to hear it, but it was not going to get attention in Canada where everyone already knew and loved the original. This album is so bad, I have to give it 1 star. I love the Strawbs, but this album should never have been made, at least not in the form it took. I give it 0.8 out of 10 on my 10-point scale. If you are interested in the songs on this album, get Dave Cousins' solo albums and the Cousins/Wakeman duet - they contain much better versions.

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