Strawbs - Blue Angel

Artist : Strawbs (1964 - present)

Album Title : Blue Angel (2003)

Genre : Prog Rock

Rating : ***** ****½ (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...
The Strawb's heyday was the first half of the 70's, so Blue Angel is 30 years past their prime. It was their first new material in 12 years, and almost all the main Strawbs musicians form the past (with the exception of Rick Wakeman) are present on at least a couple of the tracks. Needless to say, Dave Cousins, the mainstay of this group throughout its history, is the lead-singer and guitar-player here.

What's To Like...
This album hearkens back to the finest days of the Strawbs. The eponymous title track is an 11-minute triptych that will remind you of Ghosts from their 1975 album. The rest of the album is more akin to Deep Cuts (1976) and Burning For You (1977). There is no filler here; the whole album is replete with varied styles and sounds, expert musicianship, dynamic lyrics, and fantastic guitar licks.

For the first time since Sandy Denny sang with them in the 60's, there is a female vocal presence. Welsh-born Mary Hopkin (she of "Those were the days, my friend; we thought they'd never end...") sings accompaniment on about half of the first dozen tracks; and Maddy Prior joins in the chorus on the final cut, "The King". Awesome!

What's Not To Like...
Nothing really. 3 or 4 songs from earlier Strawbs' and Dave Cousins' solo albums are re-worked here; that apparently miffs some folks. Other than that, the worst I can say is that I don't think the Strawbs tour at all anymore. Cousins does some acoustic concerts, but on those rare occasions when he comes to the USA, he seems to confine himself to the Northeast. The odds of me seeing him/them in Arizona are pretty remote.

YouTube Links...
I haven't found any of the tracks from the Blue Angel album available at You Tube, but there are a couple videos featuring their better-known songs. One is "New World" which you can watch here. "Part of the Union" is undoubtedly their biggest hit (in th UK only), and you can hear it here. And "Lay Down", another signature piece, can be heard here. Finally, although it's a non-Strawbs video, you can listen to "Round & Round" here.

Treat Me Kindly, Dear Blue Angel
Deepest Colour of the Night
Be Merciful, Be Gentle
For I Have No Strength to Fight...
I became a Strawbs fan the day in 1972 when I walked into the local record store and found Grave New World, an album with a cool cover, and whose title was a take-off of a book by my favorite author, Aldous Huxley.

The album was quite progressive, quite metaphysical, quite spacey, and quite good. Its cover is posted below. Then in 1974, I found Hero & Heroine, which at least one person (not me, honest.) has described as "the greatest album of all time". That's not far from the truth.

I'm tempted to give Blue Angel a rare 10-star rating, except for one thing - it isn't even in the top-three Strawbs albums of all time. In order, those would be Hero & Heroine, Bursting At The Seams, Ghosts, and Grave New World. Blue Angel checks in at #5, and there's still a couple Strawbs albums I haven't listened to. So we'll stick with 9½-stars, and give this our highest recommendation, provided you can find a copy.