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Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking CD (album) cover

UNHALFBRICKING

Fairport Convention

 

Prog Related

3.72 | 115 ratings

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Sean Trane
Special Collaborator
Prog Folk
3 stars Third album from FC, this one taking from where the predecessor left it at, except that Iain Matthews left to found his more US-inclined folk rock group Southern Comfort, where he will continue to cover Dylan and Mitchell even scoring on her Woodstock song a giant hit. But his departure certainly didn't mean an end to Dylan reverence, quite the opposite as the band will cover a catastrophic version of Dylan's If You Must Go, sung in French....(Hey, guys: thoughtful, certainly, but no thanks!!!), plus another two tracks including percy's Song where Matthews comes back to help. Other than that this album is a bit of a schizo with qsome very boring track and some more enthralling (for progheads) ones that put the emphasis on the music. you'll guess the longer tracks.

Starting on the average Genesis Hall, then on that French version of Dylan's classic, the album has a tough time getting wound up as Autopsy is another over-rated ednny composition, although it features Thompson's good guitar works. We have to wait for the 12-mins monster A Sailor's Life, the first mammoth track from FC, one that would almost earn its name as a prog epic, if it was not simply on 4/4 and while constantly building on it, it remains steady 4, but there is some magnificent interplay, soloing and jamming on the heart of the track, including guest (and future member) Dave Swarbrick (although I believe he did some violin work on the previous album Holidays as well), this very track leading into the future Matty Groves and Tam Lin.

After getting rid of the self explanatory Cajun Dance, we find the second indisputable gem of this album, the Denny-penned "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?", which is building up impressively , a bit like if it was Sailor's life's little brother. Splendid stuff and now Denny has finally contributed worthily to the band's repertoire (IMHO, of course). Pasrt this track, it's hard to get a real enthusiasm for the two Dylan covers of Percy's Song (but the song is smooth and glides effortlessly) and the closing Million Dollar Bash, a complete bore)

In its remastered version, the album has two bonus track, the first being yet another Dylan cover, this one unfinished and a Byrds' cover Easy Rider, neither really adding value to the original album. While there are definitely (maybe even three) tracks that are unavoidable, I wouldn't call Unhalfbrickin even close to being essential, because there are a few duds that ruin the unity of the album.

Sean Trane | 3/5 |

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