28-02-2021, 09:42
STRAWBS ~ Settlement
![[Image: R-17608564-1614430762-6272.jpeg.jpg]](https://img.discogs.com/q_zERlQbtWTNptoH-g5XbNMJEOs=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-17608564-1614430762-6272.jpeg.jpg)
Dave Cousins – vocals, acoustic guitar
Dave Lambert – vocals, electric guitar
Chas Cronk - bass, pedals, 12-string guitar, vocals)
Dave Bainbridge - keyboards, guitars, bouzouki, mandolin
Tony Fernandez - drums, percussion
with
John Ford - vocals, guitar
Cathryn Craig- vocals
Schalk Joubert – bass (Judgement Day) (Dave Cousins visited SA in early 2020 BC ...)
No frissons here for me - I wonder if I’m missing something?? There are literally two songs that I would listen to again - wait, make that three – no four, maybe five, lol! – but also only because being a bit of a Strawbs fan, I made the effort to try and like them. I really, really wanted to so have had a few false starts writing these thoughts (hence the dithering above) and have heard the album all the way through a few times now.
Hate to say it but Dave Cousins needs to not sing anymore, I think – or very occasionally, on select pieces - he does have a unique and highly recognisable delivery after all, but IMHO sounds best on the quieter, more reflective songs. He can still write lyrics (he’ll be delighted to know!) but someone else needs to give them a voice – sorry Dave. Actually – none of them are fabulous singers despite which John Ford’s contribution has already become earworm material. Also, despite these and prior scathing remarks, I will probably purchase this release, invoking the change of mind prerogative peculiar to my gender - that'll teach me to think out loud!
The premise of the album is that "there comes a time when every settlement is due" which is an ominous if true statement and which generally sets the tone for what is to come. Obviously, as with so many others in these times, there are marked references to, and commentary on the current state of affairs.
Some nice piano/keys work on “Quicksilver Days” and on other tracks too – I’m noticing those more than anything else on this album, mind you the bass is not too shabby, nor is the guitarwork of Dave Lambert. Keysman Dave Bainbridge is, or was, with the band Iona, (I have one of their albums which I quite like) and Blue Weaver mastered and produced the whole thing from a castle in Germany, apparently. Considering it’s all been done remotely without even one face to face meeting, it’s quite a feat.
There are nine tracks on the vinyl album and an additional three on the CD that are tacked on the end and collectively called Off the Beaten Tracks. Apparently “Champion Jack” is one of Dave Cousins’ storytelling coups, and annoyingly, I can’t find it anywhere! I shall persist and post when I do.
Track listing and writer/composer:
Settlement (Cousins)
Strange Times (Cousins)
Judgement Day (Cousins)
Each Manner of Man (Cousins/Ford)
The Visit (Lambert)
Flying Free (Lambert)
Quicksilver Days (Cousins)
We Are Everyone (Cousins/Cronk)
Chorale (Cronk)
Off the Beaten Tracks
Champion Jack (Cousins/Bainbridge)
Better Days (Cousins)
Liberty (Cronk)
I guess you either like Strawbs a lot, or the polar opposite, and if the former, this album will probably bring something more pleasing than The Ferryman’s Curse. Don’t expect the same magic as their seminal 70’s works though – those are where the real frissons remain.
I recommend listening to tracks 7, 8 & 9 one after the other - 7 and 8 make more sense as a suite, almost ...
The first of those ... "Quicksilver Days" ...
Dave Cousins – vocals, acoustic guitar
Dave Lambert – vocals, electric guitar
Chas Cronk - bass, pedals, 12-string guitar, vocals)
Dave Bainbridge - keyboards, guitars, bouzouki, mandolin
Tony Fernandez - drums, percussion
with
John Ford - vocals, guitar
Cathryn Craig- vocals
Schalk Joubert – bass (Judgement Day) (Dave Cousins visited SA in early 2020 BC ...)
No frissons here for me - I wonder if I’m missing something?? There are literally two songs that I would listen to again - wait, make that three – no four, maybe five, lol! – but also only because being a bit of a Strawbs fan, I made the effort to try and like them. I really, really wanted to so have had a few false starts writing these thoughts (hence the dithering above) and have heard the album all the way through a few times now.
Hate to say it but Dave Cousins needs to not sing anymore, I think – or very occasionally, on select pieces - he does have a unique and highly recognisable delivery after all, but IMHO sounds best on the quieter, more reflective songs. He can still write lyrics (he’ll be delighted to know!) but someone else needs to give them a voice – sorry Dave. Actually – none of them are fabulous singers despite which John Ford’s contribution has already become earworm material. Also, despite these and prior scathing remarks, I will probably purchase this release, invoking the change of mind prerogative peculiar to my gender - that'll teach me to think out loud!
The premise of the album is that "there comes a time when every settlement is due" which is an ominous if true statement and which generally sets the tone for what is to come. Obviously, as with so many others in these times, there are marked references to, and commentary on the current state of affairs.
Some nice piano/keys work on “Quicksilver Days” and on other tracks too – I’m noticing those more than anything else on this album, mind you the bass is not too shabby, nor is the guitarwork of Dave Lambert. Keysman Dave Bainbridge is, or was, with the band Iona, (I have one of their albums which I quite like) and Blue Weaver mastered and produced the whole thing from a castle in Germany, apparently. Considering it’s all been done remotely without even one face to face meeting, it’s quite a feat.
There are nine tracks on the vinyl album and an additional three on the CD that are tacked on the end and collectively called Off the Beaten Tracks. Apparently “Champion Jack” is one of Dave Cousins’ storytelling coups, and annoyingly, I can’t find it anywhere! I shall persist and post when I do.
Track listing and writer/composer:
Settlement (Cousins)
Strange Times (Cousins)
Judgement Day (Cousins)
Each Manner of Man (Cousins/Ford)
The Visit (Lambert)
Flying Free (Lambert)
Quicksilver Days (Cousins)
We Are Everyone (Cousins/Cronk)
Chorale (Cronk)
Off the Beaten Tracks
Champion Jack (Cousins/Bainbridge)
Better Days (Cousins)
Liberty (Cronk)
I guess you either like Strawbs a lot, or the polar opposite, and if the former, this album will probably bring something more pleasing than The Ferryman’s Curse. Don’t expect the same magic as their seminal 70’s works though – those are where the real frissons remain.
I recommend listening to tracks 7, 8 & 9 one after the other - 7 and 8 make more sense as a suite, almost ...
The first of those ... "Quicksilver Days" ...
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
