FROM THE WITCHWOOD

Being a huge fan of this band and the writings of Dave Cousins, it's my least favorite of most of the A & M work they did up to 'Ghosts'. Even though Rick Wakeman is on this record and has some nice solo stuff, ('The Hangman And The Papist', 'Sheep', 'The Shepherd's Song') it wasn't until he joined YES was he able to stretch his fingers, so to speak. What keeps me from enjoying this album is the tracks by Hudson & Ford. I'm not a big fan of theirs and their work seems out of place as compared to Cousins. Be it a popish tune, or folk, Hudson & Ford's songs just ruin the overall feel of the album whole. Whereas Cousins songs are dreamy, introspective and grand, the Hudson & Ford tracks leave me cold. Anywho, this particular album is, nevertheless, a must have for Folk/Prog fans just for the simple fact that the master keyboarder Wakeman was actually in such a group, and he's magnificent! 4-stars for Strawb fans, 3-stars for prog fans, so rounded out I'll give it a 3.5 rating rounding it out to 4 just cause I like them so much :-).