DEEP CUTS

Another one of these horrible late 70's Strawbs album that ruined the group's early legend from a folk group to a folk rock group than a prog folk group that culminated with Witchwood's stellar series of poignant songs. In retrospect of course, it could appear that Wakeman's short passage in the band might have given the band the best of themselves, but ultimately they couldn't really cope with his departure, although it would be unfair to point at his replacement Blue Weaver. The gradually uneven slope that the band had started with GNW (still a good classic), then the average but re-building H&H and Ghosts couldn't help hide their first disaster in BATS (that almost destroyed the group) and the less than thrilling Nomadness. Indeed by now Strawbs might have still had some folk overtones, but they'd become a rock FM/AOR group with little to dissociate themselves from the mass. And even with their change of label (they'd left A&M now), all hopes of their change of late musical directions were crushed.

Keeping the group as a quartet and using the same Kirby/Mealing duo on KB as guests, Deep Cuts came with an atrocious artwork that might suggest they'd become a tear jerking song group, which in view of that horrendous opener might have been so. Most of the tracks are boring fillers (like Nomadness was filled too) and they seem to through the motions, not even caring to sound passionate, even in the potentially emotive Soldier"s Tale and the promising Hard Hard Winter, which they could've developed, had they cared a tad more.

Nothing to hide in such an album: poor unspectacular songwriting, uninspired playing and direct-to-the-point radio-aiming tunes, Strawbs were selling -out their leftover stocks, but strawberry season was well over, the fruits starting to rot. Best avoided, if you know what's good for your wallet and shelf-space.