ANST - cd review: Steeleye Span - Spanning The Years

[j'lynn yeates]

today i found a treausre ....

usually i shy away from retrospective collections and focus on the primary 
works, but glad i did'na pass on this gem.  being a long standing Span fan 
(since early 70's), but with no Span CD's,  i jumped at the chance to grab it 
when i found it in the bins today.

it's a 2 cd set that contains 35 songs that appear to be primarily from their 
early and mid period. included are most of my favorites ... some of the gems on 
this marvelous collection:

Gaudete
John Barleycorn
Alison Gross
Rougues Of A Nation
Cam Ye O'er Frae France
Thomas The Rymer
Hard Times Of Old England
All Around My Hat
Fighting For Strangers
The False Knight On The Road

it's got a publication date of 1995 by Chrysalis / EMI if anyone wants to track 
it

after listening, i dug down in some things and pulled up a *old* Span 
compilation tape i made back in mid 70's to compare the songs.  several of the 
more "edged" (Thomas Rhymer for example) songs have been "sharpened" by heavier 
electric guitar,  but to very good effect ... reading the liner notes, they 
explain that when they started electric instruments were rather primative and 
their music evolved along with the tech (i like that ...).  

to my ears, in some tracks Maddie Prior's vocals are not mixed quit high enough 
for my tastes - the final sound being more Queen or Tull'ish than i remember, 
but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  

after listening, integrating the CD's into the changers (and ripping to WAV for 
my personal digital uses) i think it's time to start a new project to get the 
rest of my Span vinyl out of secure storage (along with all my 60's, 70's & 
80's stuff) and start cutting it to CD format and MP3  ...

next target ... more Horslips CD's

'wolf 
 


... truth is the sword of us all (lords of the new church)
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