Customer Reviews

Bedlam Born

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Steeleye Span is back with a worthy follow-up to the excellent Horkstow Grange, in which it returned to the acoustic sounds of its early-1970s youth. In places Bedlam Bound echoes those pleasingly spare atmospherics, but for the most part this time it's electric guitars and shimmering electronica (nowhere more so than in the loving reinvention of the English patriotic anthem "White Cliffs of Dover"). Happily, what we have here is still the recognizable Steeleye sound, only updated, with the band's usual exquisite taste and restraint everywhere apparent. As always the song selection -- of traditional songs, rewritten traditional songs, and originals all but indistinguishable from traditional songs -- is a marvel. I like them all but am especially grateful for the gorgeous "Connemara Cradle Song," the unfamiliar Irish variant of the familiar American "Down in the Valley." (I heard it last on Tommy Makem's first solo album, released in the 1950s. It may have been recorded since, but if so, rarely enough for me to miss it.) As it heads into its fourth decade, Steeleye Span has become a treasured British institution. Long may it record and prosper.

With "Bedlam Born" Steeleye Span have once again raised the bar for what all of us who consider ourselves folk/rockers should aspire to. There simply is not a weak cut on this record and I expect to be listening to, and enjoying it, for years to come. Some of the finest and most emtoional performances of Steeleye Span's long carrer.

Steeleye Span return to the fray with a superb new album. Whereas "Horkstow Grange" was a relatively gentle, semi-acoustic affair, "Bedlam Born" restores the rock element to their music. You can tell they mean business from the start, as "Well Done Liar!" blasts out with some great Bob Johnson guitar work and a driving drumbeat from guest drummer Dave Mattacks, who plays on most of the tracks here.

It's a very varied album. Other rockers like "John Of Ditchford", which is the heaviest thing Steeleye have ever done, and "The Beggar", sit alongside ballads such as the beautiful "Connemara Cradle Song" and "There Was A Wealthy Merchant". There are also some experimental tracks. "Arbour" has a minimalist feel to it, while "White Cliffs Of Dover" (that's right - the Vera Lynn song) is given a slightly disturbing electronic arrangement. The instrumentation is excellent throughout (particularly Peter Knight's violin solos), and the lead vocals are shared between Peter, Tim Harries, and Gay Woods on various tracks. Gay's backing vocals are also very effective, and Tim emerges in a major role. He contributes some great songs, and also adds lead guitar to his usual bass and keyboards.

"Bedlam Born" shows Steeleye Span on top form. It's a powerful piece of work, and can stand alongside their best albums of the past. Not to be missed!

Bedlam Born is Steeleye's best album in years. After the disappointing "Horkstow Grange" album, they come back strong and powerful with this effort. In fact, this is possibly the most "rocking" of Steeleye albums-especially with the song "John of Ditchford" with is by far the heaviest song they have ever recorded. Most of the other tracks are just as strong.

Bedlam Born is a very strong album indeed. To those die-hard fans, this is a record not to be missed. For the new listener of Steeleye, I'd suggest older albums first but this one is sure to add to your collection.

Rather than the "calling on" song which begins their very first album (Hark the Village Waits), these songs show a distinct falling off of Steeleye Span's talents.

With Tim Hart and Maddy Prior gone, the vocalists left in the band simply don't hold up. Unlike other reviewers here, I liked the sound of "Horkstow Grange" much better. The rock elements so prominent in "Bedlam Born" were original back in the seventies when Steeleye first started recording, but now the heavy guitar on this album just sounds outdated.

Horkstow Grange had a much more traditional sound, which in this modern era has a freshness all its own. Bedlam Born, on the other hand, sounds like a bunch of old hippies trying hard to relive their youth. And Gay Woods, while she has a pleasant enough voice, simply does not have the tone or the power to sustain lead vocals for an entire album.

I am a huge Steeleye Span fan, and many of the albums they did after their reunion in the '80s have been as good as, or better than, the old ones. This one, however, is a very sad exception. If I keep this one, it will only be so I can do my own more traditional arrangement of the two or three decent folk songs on the album.

First things first..Steeleye Span without Maddy Prior is a diminished group. That being said,they are still the best at what they do. The tunes on this cd are leaner than some of their cds and with a harder edge in the bass line on many of the cuts. This is a group which still has not settled into one particular rut and I hope they never do.

Despite what others thought about the repertoire on Steeleye Span's "Bedlam Born," I think this album is totally cool. Along with this great band, I'm also a big fan of BBC sitcoms such as "My Hero" and "Fawlty Towers." The opening track, "Well Done, Liar" reminds me of the part in the "Zero Tolerance" episode of "My Hero" where George got Janet's dad done for speeding. This was because he lied to a cop about why he was in a hurry. During an argument that George, Janet, and her parents had at home in Northolt, I imagined that "Well done, liar!" was the last thing that George had on his mind because of what Janet's dad did and said. "Poor Old, Soldier" makes me think about the "Good Byeee" episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth" which is the forth series of "The Black Adder." Mostly, the first verse makes me think about the bitter ending to that last "Black Adder" episode because what happened there was soooo sad. :( Other than that, I still think that "Bedlam Born" is such a cool album.

The title of my review sums up my opinion of this CD. I am a folk music fan. "Bedlam Born" is Steeleye kicking out the jams. As an agressive non-rock fan, I am unqualified to assess how good or bad the rock is. The CD has none of the beauty or
humor that other Steeleye Span recordings have.

All respect to Gay Woods, but Steeleye Span without Maddie Prior, the 17th century Gracie Slick, is not Steeleye Span.

...The heavy guitar playing on tracks like Well Done Liar, John of Ditchford, We Poor Labouring Men, The Beggar is just plain boring and gratuitous, and it has the effect of dumbing down the songs and robbing them of their traditional feel. John of Ditchford sounds like a straight heavy-rock track. I don`t understand why they did this. I mean, it`s so derivative and unoriginal. As for Peter Knight`s new "octave violin" that everyone got so excited about, to me the octave violin solos have more of a synthesized guitar sound than anything else, which is not to my liking. Bedlam Born is an odd mix of different styles that just doesn`t gel. It`s as if the different band members were each motivated by their own personal agendas and, not surprisingly, this line-up went their separate ways soon afterwards. Stylistically, Bedlam Born is sheer bedlam!! It`s more like a compilation of different bands. I know that a lot of fans LOVE the heavy guitar sound and the self-indulgent pretentiousness of Gay Woods(singer), but it`s not for me. I eventually gave away my copy of the CD, without even bothering to record it first. Good riddance!

The GOOD NEWS is that Steeleye Span have just announced a reunion, minus Gay Woods and Tim Harries(the `heavy-rock` influence), and with the essential Steeleye vocalist Maddy Prior back in the band.