Customer Reviews

Below The Salt

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album, along with its sister, Parcel of Rogues, are my two favorite albums of all time. I first heard them before I was old enough to walk, talk, and go to the bathroom on my own. My mother used to read me stories and sing the words to the tune of "Spotted Cow." My father used to rock me to sleep singing their songs. I continued listening to these albums as I grew older and older. Last year, I finally purchased them on CD. I will be 20 this year, and this music still remains one of the most listened to in my 200 large and growing CD collection.

It seems odd thinking of them as ordinary people and musicians at times, because for me, they created a world that was, and still is, nothing short of magical. But now that I am older, I know that (I probably sound like a moron now). But anyway, onto the music.

Much of this album is very medieval, telling tales of old. All of the lyrics are traditional, so some terms such as "maidenhead" may not be understood by the inexperienced. My personal favorite off here is "King Henry," an epic tale which can be well described as Beauty and the Beast reversed. It tells the story of a female beast, who forces the poor king kill his beloved animals for food, and sleep with her. In the end, she turns into a beautiful girl. The tune penned by guitarist Bob Johnson in the key of G minor make it all the more thrilling to hear, and to this day remains arguably my favorite song ever.

Every song tells a story and recalls a time hundreds of years ago, as these songs are hundreds of years old. "Spotted Cow" is a romance tale of a woman who has lost her cow, and a man helps her find it, and they also find romance together. The jigs recall festival dancing in Ireland. dancing in Ireland. "Royal Forrester" is a tale of rape and marriage. "John Barleycorn" is a song about the making of beer, different from Traffic's classic version of it, but the Traffic version will also remind one of Steeleye. The hit off this album is "Gaudete," a Christmas latin chant which when listened to sounds like an ancient church choir walking through the hills singing in the wee hours of Christmas morning. There is plenty to offer here as far as story entertainment and excellent music.

This album (along with Parcel of Rogues) as been with me my whole life, and is a major part of who I am. I would recommend this album to anyone wanting to hear great traditional music. If I don't know what else to listen to, just like I have my whole life, I can turn to this and never get bored of it. Hey, I've been listening to it for almost 20 years, and I still haven't tired of it, and I never will. There is no question that when I have children, I will introduce them to this wonderful music. There are many albums I love, but this and Parcel Of Rogues will always hold a special place in my heart.

5/5

Before I heard Steeleye Span, my musical tastes were only that of hard rock and heavy metal. But when I heard "Below the Salt," my life changed forever! I had never heard of a band that did old English folk songs with a rock attitude until I heard Steelye Span. From the epic "King Henry," to their first major Top 40 hit with the lating chant Gaudete--"Below the Salt" will have you wanting more of Steelye. I recomend ALL their albums. After you try this, get Parecel of Rouges, then "Hark!, the Village Wait." Also try one of their latest, "Time"--the last Maddy Prior album. Their most recent called "Horkstow Grange" is somewhat dissappointing without Maddy but still an album to buy once you get into the band. Let me know what you think. This is the band that changed my life forever--oven your mind, your ears, and open your soul. Travel to a world long ago with tales of ghosts, kings, maidens, and knights. Go their with the help of Steeleye Span!

With this album, Steeleye Span came to the fore of the British folk/rock movement and made serious headway with American listeners. Though it begins with the precious yet jaunty "Spotted Cow" followed by the forlorn "Rosebud In June" and then some snappy jigs, the songs become progressively complex thereafter. Tunes such as "Sheepcrook and Blackdog", "Royal Forester", the resplendent "King Henry", and a cappela "Gaudete" are haunting beyond belief. The interplay between voices, guitars, bass, and violin is unlike anything one will hear on record. The way these elements and the spirit of Olde England perfectly meld in a relatively "low-production" manner would later be replicated, with added drums and percussion, on the group's other best album Commoner's Crown. Their rendition of "John Barleycorn" breaks the serious mood just long enough to set the stage for the beautiful concluding tune "Saucy Sailor".
I have owned and listened to all the group's albums through Get In Line and must conclude that Below the Salt and Commoner's Crown are the essential albums to own while their other efforts would tend to sway toward more ancillary tastes. Try them for yourself and see.

This album is just one of the very finest albums of any kind I have ever heard. The songs are just utterly gorgeous, haunting, and beautiful - wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! From the irrestibly lovely "Spotted Cow" to the toe-tapping "Jigs" to the marvellous "Sheepcrook and Blackdog" - listen to the haunting lyrics. Theres the brilliant "Royal Forester" which sounds astoninshingly good for a song dating from the year 1293 - the live version (on the "Rare Collection" is even better), to the spine tingling "King Henry" and "Gaudete" and finishing with the delicious "Saucy Sailor!"

This album is something to be cherished forever, a glorious, timeless classic.

For me anyway, this is something close to perfection; in reaching into "rockier" realms after the departure of folk giant Martin Carthy and founder Ashley Hutchins, Steeleye hit upon a truly beautiful blend of all that is best in Folk and Rock in this wonderful album. Vignettes of traditional country life mix with religious mysticism and a sprinkling of sword and sorcery. Maddy's peerless vocals are well to the fore on most tracks, but the ensemble singing is also great and the musicianship throughout is superb. Highlights include the irresistibly uplifting "Spotted Cow" and the breathtaking "Gaudette", but the whole album is simply beautiful. A timeless classic.

Arriving at the place they had been headed with their first three albums, Steeleye took its deepest plunge into the electric folk world with this its fourth album. And what a winner it is!

Beginning with the whimsical "Spotted Cow," and ending with the gorgeous "Saucy Sailor" this one covers it all. A startling ghost story ("King Henry"), and pair of spine tingling acapella numbers ("Rosebud In June," and "Gaudete") a dare you to keep your toes from taping instrumental ("Jigs") among others, the album is a gem from start to finish, and a must for anyone interested in British folk rock.

In medieval times, the monarchs and rulers of the house would sit at the north end of the table. Salt, being a rare mineral, would be put in the center to symbolize its extreme superioriority above all other foods. The salt would also serve as a divider from the servants and dependants, and the family and intimates. As you can see if you flat out your album, they symbolize this in the front and back photographs. The poor people eat below the salt. Below the Salt. Being probably the only Steeleye Span fan under the age of twelve, I would asure you that my tastes have been delighted by this collection of sad mellodies clashed with joy unparalleled by the most joyful recorder. Steeleye's amazing knowlegde of folk music broadens as they excel even without a steady percussion section to back them up. Their true magic is portrayed in Guadete, (Pronounced, Gaw-day-tay), the only true Steeleye hit, which made to the UK's top ten list. Gaudete, which in Latin means rejoice, is a beutiful vocal-only short, with Maddy Prior's sheer soprano voice cracking your strongest window. Saucy Sailor, a beautiful love story, will make your eyes water.The charming jigs will get you kicking your feet in joy. The album is so harmonizing it will give you chills. And just to let your know, the small child on the cover isn't an instrument, nor a prop. He is just a child, a small child.

I don't suppose there's really any need for me to join the chorus, but what the hell: I can say without hyperbole that Below the Salt is one of the greatest albums in the universe. Listening to the band's mostly-uninspiring post-seventies albums, it's easy to lose perspective about how awesome Steeleye Span was in their prime, but listening to BtS brings it all back. This is just sublimely beautiful, deeply evocative music.

The opener, "Spotted Cow," is a very sweet love song--certainly a rarity for this band. Then the acappella "Rosebud in June" shows off the group's vocal abilities to breathtaking effect. It's a sort of fertility song, equating human and ovine fecundity. I suppose in this instance the word is being used in a manner similar to the French "jolie," but I can't help but smile at the line about the jolly, jolly sheep. The instrumental jigs are fine, if inessential--but then there's another stunner, "Sheep-Crook and Black Dog." It features some of Maddy Prior's best vocals--which, given her track record, is high praise indeed. I suppose that, broadly speaking, it's about feeling incapable of following societal expectations, in spite of the pain this causes--but that makes it sound way more like a sociology lecture than it should. It's beautifully sad, and the denouement is quietly devastating: "But she wrote that she's led such a contrary life/She said that she'd never be a young shepherd's wife."

Then there's "Royal Forester," which takes a mischievously proto-feminist approach to the "stolen maidenhead" trope that's so common in the band's oeuvre--even if the conclusion, wherein the maiden in question's violator's "punishment" is being forced to marry her, forcibly drags things back to a more medieval context.

"King Henry"--man, seriously, what can you say? At eight minutes, with several phases and complex arrangements, it's the album's obvious centerpiece. It's a tale of hospitality and duty with obvious echoes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Wife of Bath's Tale, among others. It sort of feels like there should be another verse or two--but there I go, applying modern narrative sensibilities to an ancient song. Bad! I suppose I'd also be guilty of that if I noted that Henry's "hospitality" seems, in places, remarkably indistinguishable from plain ol' cowardice--but regardless of how you read it, it's a great song.

"Gaudete"--eh, it's decent enough, very pretty, great singing, and so forth, but, while I know it's one of the band's best-known (best-loved?) songs it doesn't exactly set me on fire.

"John Barleycorn" gets things back on track, however--there are innumerable variations on the "patron saint of alcohol" theme, including a number of well-known versions of this same song, but this one is, predictably, one of the best. "Saucy Sailor" finishes things well, even if the instrumental section at the end drags a bit.

So yeah. In summary: fantastic stuff. Easily the band's best album. Commoner's Crown is another popular candidate, and I think (somewhat surprisingly) that their reunion album Time ought to be another--but, great as those albums are, I don't think they can really touch Below the Salt. If you think you might be at all interested in archaic British folk music, this is the only place to start--and even if you don't, give it a try. You may well surprise yourself.

British folk music has really grown on me over the years, and this is one of the best cds of the genre. I am especially fond of the lovely vocal harmonies in Rosebud in June and Gaudete, the instrumental Jig/The Bride's Favorite/Tansey's Fancey, Maddy Ryan's disarming vocal in Royal Forester, and the seductive strings in the closing Saucy Sailor.

This will make you want to further explore Steeleye Span's catalog of cds, and you will want to delve further into Irish Celtic music. I highly recommend this beautiful, catchy, folk music cd.

The very first album I bought way back in 1972. I had heard Steeleye on Radio 2 on John Peel's program. (UK) The reason I really enjoy this album is the lack of drums which tend to drown out the sound of the other instruments. Maddy Prior is singing beautiful crystal clear notes and the violin and mandolins can be quite hypnotic. The tracks are typical English folk materpieces with a touch of inuendo. Tim Hart plays a mean dulcimer and Peter Knight is his usual groovy self on violin and mandolin. Don't play it too loud, you need to hear each and every note on every instrument as well as the brilliant vocals. Buy this with "A parcel of Rogues". You won't be dissapointed.