Customer Reviews

Grave New World

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This excellent 1972 release by the Strawbs is much proggier/rockier sounding than From the Witchwood (1971), with electric instruments outweighing acoustic instruments. The lineup at this point no longer included Rick Wakeman, who had (rather abruptly) joined Yes. Apparently Dave Cousins was very upset by the way Rick left the band, which was expressed in the angry-sounding track Tomorrow. In addition to Dave Cousins (vocals acoustic/electric guitars, dulcimer) the other players on the album include the superb keyboardist Blue Weaver (mellotron, Hammond organ, harmonium, clavioline); John Ford (bass, vocals); Tony Hooper (guitars, vocals); and Richard Hudson (drums). The overall sound of the album is dark and features plenty of brooding mellotron parts and a few delicate, folk-flavored acoustic pieces (Hey Little Man...Wednesday's Child). The track Grave New World is the best example of gloom and doom on the album and is simply loaded with mellotron (w/string setting) - it is my favorite piece on the album in fact. On the other side of the equation is some brisk Hammond organ work - Blue Weaver certainly gives Wakeman a run for his money on the track Tomorrow; aggressive bass parts played on a very trebly Rickenbacker bass; rocking electric guitar work; and some heavy drumming. In general though, the heaviness is not overbearing in any way. Although Dave Cousins certainly has an unusual voice, I actually find it very listenable. The three and four part vocal harmonies are also very nice - the folk inflected vocal harmonies on The Flower and the Young Man are especially good. Although prog, folk and rock styles predominate, there are Indian influences as well (Is It Today, Lord?), along with a bit of silliness. Specifically, the track Ah Me, Ah My is silly in a Monty Python, barbershop quartet way and really does not fit with the heavy gloom that characterizes most of the material. This is a minor complaint however, and does not affect the quality of the listening experience. The remastering of the album is generally pretty good and features improved sound quality (although the bass is screaming), along with detailed liner notes and restored cover art. The bonus tracks Here it Comes and I'm Going Home are not especially good. Overall, this is a wonderful Strawbs album and is recommended along with From the Witchwood (1971); Hero and Heroine (1974); and Ghosts (1975).

Early in the 1970's, I went to see Fleetwood Mac at the then Tower Theatre in Philly and remember Stawbs ( originally known as the Strawberry Hill Boys) opening for them. They played about an hour and blew everyone away. Poor Fleetwood minus Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green ( no Lindsay and Stevie yet) were virtually bood off the stage, people screaming for Strawbs to come back, even as the band entered the podium. Strawbs began the set with Benedictus...and then went into Down by the Sea, Hero and Heroine, and then In Amongst the Roses...it was one of the best 4 set I ever heared in a concert, anywhere! Heck, my yoga teacher back then use to chant the chorus to Benedictus in her yoga mundles every Friday night...and she was in her 40's at the time.

The popularity of this album at that time amongst serious listeners of prog rock can not be underscored. It is a concept album that really hits at the root of the spirituality that was availiable and happening at that time, steeped in tarot, medieval mysticism, and alchemy...the entire album is a journey into some form of Blakian enlightenment, as Cousins seemed to be taking his studies in these areas very seriously. Though Strawbs was to produce fine singular pieces in the future, they would never attain the complete package ( I have an original LP and the artwork is just gorgeous ), nor the complete concept, like this one again. Metaphors and symbolism abound on this record...the little man, the hermit/traveler, the Queen of Dreams, the flower and the fool ( on the cover too), the transformed Old Sage, they are all there...the ancient journey of turning inward is about to begin, leaving behind the confusion of the world..."Grave New World" and "Heavy Disquise." Strawbs seemed to take seriously what the Beatles only dabbled in when they made their pilgrimage to India. Additionally, this LP occured well before the "New Age Merchants" could get their hands around what was going down.

So what relevence does this all have today? Very little unless you are a fan of prog rock and want one of the best, most uniquely blended concept albums ever produced ( in ANY genre). The lyrics, artwork, musicality, instumentation, albeit..the sum of all the band's talented energies went into making a singular concept to express a clear spiritual point. And it was done in a fashion that was deeper and more gorgeous ( Cousin's style I guess) than "Tommy," "Days of Future Passed," or "Court of the Crimson King" ( though one could argue who had the better musical scores). If you can get your hands on an original copy of the LP, it is well worth having along side your cd, since some of the "wholeness" of this album is lost a little with the cd alone. But for fans of prog rock, this cd is an ABSOLUTE MUST. I don't want to sound like your grandpa, but seriously, they simply don't produce concept albums as complete as this one was and still is. If you are a musician and want to know how to put together the most complete conceptual package, start here.

Every Strawbs album between Witchwood and Nomadness has something unique to offer. Put it all together, its the same band but the progression of band member changes and sound were so quick and impressive that for the most part no two albums are all that similar. Grave New World is the Strawbs pioneering the sound to its farthest reaches. This was a really great band and Dave Cousins is a fantastic talent who deserves more attention for passionate songs and original ideas. I only found out about his band by chance, but I feel that their music had a great joy and sincerity about it, and this album is the cornerstone at which all their ideas reached it's zenith.

If there is a genre of music known as cosmic folk, then this album by the Strawbs is that which all else of this ilk revolves around. Grave New World represents the folk-rock movement (pioneered by other bands such as Fairport Convention, Magna Carta and early Renaissance) taken to its logical limit. In the end the Grave New World album incorporates just about every style from the eastern sitar-flavored "Is It Today, Lord?" to the heavy, melotron progressiveness of rock songs of "Tomorrow" and the title track. In between are some other wonderful songs. "Queen of Dreams" waxes some light psychedelia with its backwards organ; "Heavy Disguise" and "The Flower and the Young Man" recall some of the Strawbs earlier folkier moments of the first two albums; my personal favorite is "On Growing Older"--a great song about that stage of your life when one half of you is straddling the youth you're trying to hang onto and the other half is shying away from midlife. The album ends with the gorgeous "The Journey's End". As concepts go, Grave New World is straightforward and simple. Where the Moody Blues charted the passing of a day in their landmark Days of Future Passed album, and Magna Carta charted the course of a year on their sophmore album, Seasons, the Strawbs have charted the course of a man's life. The bonus tracks, almost straight-ahead rockers, do not necessarilly compliment the overall theme of the album, but are nice insights into the full creative processes that were at work at that time. Buy this album. You will wonder what took you so long to get turned onto these guys after you listen to it!

Ditto all the praise before my blurb. This remains a solid LPof space-folk, less kitsch than DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED (which stillgrabs my heart, make no mistake) and better produced. Will someoneplease tell me what "Hey, Little Man" is about, though?...

Nice concept work, too, great packaging. "Benedictus"instilled in us a sense of wonder and reverence we were sorely missingat that time.

Were only albums this well crafted today....

This is one of Strawbs' finest moments, with great songwriting, great arrangements and superb perfomances all round. From the spiritual uplift of "Benedictus" to the acoustic simplicity of "Hey Little Man...Thursday's Child" and on to the riches deeper into the album (particularly the powerful "New World"), this music is pure joy. Dave Cousin's haunting vocals drift in and out beautifully. John Ford gives an impressive "Beatle-like" performance on "Heavy Disguise" and there's lots more to enjoy and cherish here. This is a GREAT album!

Although, I'm not too crazy about the track "Benedictus", nor the silly little "Hey Little Man" tracks, I do think that everything else on this album of "Grave New World" are the strongest, most important recordings that the Strawbs ever did. It is certainly the Strawbs best line-up of their most important personnel.

"Queen of Dreams" is a great psychedelic folk song. "Heavy Disguise" sounds very Beatle-ish. "New World" is probably Dave Cousins most angry song. "The Flower and the Young Man" is a beautiful folk ballad. And "Tommorrow" represents the distance that folk "hard rock" can achieve. "On Growing Older" is a great short piece about simply that: grower older. And the last three tracks of the original album are just warm and fuzzy, beautiful but slightly hypnotic, psychedelic folk music and Progressive Rock. This is one of the last Strawbs albums that I bought when I was collecting Strawbs albums back in the seventies. Who would have thought that their best album would have been the one I bought last from A&M Records. After this album came "Bursting At The Seams", "Hero and Heroine", "Ghosts", and then A&M's last album from the Strawbs, "Nomadness".

After their "Nomadness" album, the Strawbs continued to have band member changes and they drifted further away from both of their Folk and their Progressive influences and started to sound more like a typical pop music group that was already the sound that was saturating the pop music charts. But none of this music ever really went to pop radio. It was all so easily dismissible since the Strawbs were so strong during their A&M days. Only true Strawbs loyalists continued to buy the Strawbs albums (I'm guilty of this too, nowadays) even after they left A&M. Their immediate follow-up albums (from the Oyster label) were "Deep Cuts" and "Burning for You". There are a few good tunes, but these albums are easily and regrettably forgettable.

The album afterwards, called "Deadlines" ended strong. Their songs "Deadly Nightshade" and "Words of Wisdom" are two of Dave Cousins best songs ever.

Strawbs continued to perform and release albums in later years. Dave Cousins still likes to find old band members who probably have nothing better to do, and they've done some shows and released some albums. In 1988, their album "Don't Say Goodbye" and 1991's "Ringing Down the Years" are both pretty good. I think these two albums are better than their albums from the late seventies after "Nomadness".

But, alas, they were running out of creative ideas yet again, and started to lose their appeal once again. What's frustrating about the Strawbs is that Dave Cousins likes to keep re-recording earlier songs, like he thinks he's improving on them. I wish he wouldn't do this. In 2002, Dave Cousins got together with Rick Wakeman and recorded another album together called "Hummingbird". Rick Wakeman left the Strawbs back in 1971 to join Yes and to do solo projects. And even on this Cousins and Wakeman album, Cousins still did some re-recordings that Rick Wakeman had nothing to do with back in their heyday.

Dave Cousins seems to be the only member of the Strawbs that was on every Strawbs album. All the other members just came and went over the years. But, I'm sure that every Strawbs fan will agree that the Strawbs best albums were the albums of the A&M years (1969-1975). If you can find it, look for their double CD called "Halcyon Days" (the US version). It is the very best of the Strawbs put together all in one great double CD package. In fact, it was done so well that it is very obvious that A&M have no intentions of releasing their albums separately. You'd have to buy their expensive imports as I have.

I hope someday they will release the Hudson-Ford albums on CD. These two guys contributed to what made the folk side of the Strawbs so strong back in their earlier days.

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, The Strawbs, Yes, Pink Floyd, Triumvirat, King Crimson, The Moody Blues, Rick Wakeman, and Monty Python's Flying Circus. And enjoying a tall cold bottle of Vernor's Ginger Ale while kicking back to the most adventurous music ever made. These were the strongest influences in my life as a kid. The Strawbs are still performing shows throughout England. They have a following just like the Grateful Dead had here in America. I'd like to see them come do a show here in California. Perhaps they could do a double billing with maybe Blackmore's Night. That would be a great show where they would actually compliment each other being seen together. What do you think? I think Strawbs fan's should definitely check out Blackmore's Night.

I generally agree with the positive comments offered. However, I would highly recommend that you consider getting the DVD instead. The DVD is normally no more expensive than the CD (often cheaper) and arguably demonstrates the full "concept" that the album was getting at in one of the first full-length music videos. Images of the Troubles in Belfast hint at the meaning of the lyrics of the title track. Maybe some of the images are pretentious - but what do you expect? The Strawbs were as much prog rock as folk rock by the time of release of this album.

back in my 7th or 8th grade days, when i first started buying albums, i recall the strawbs were a regular feature in all the cut-out bins i went through. i'm pretty sure that i bought one of their recordings for 99 cents or something, and i probably listened to it at least once, but being a little retard, it left no impression. well, many a year later, i have given "grave new world" a go, and it certainly has left an impression. great prog-folk-rock. a pinch of genesis, a dash of procol harum, a touch of cat stevens, and a whole lot of other stuff. a great album. i need to get more strawbs.

The strawbs are one of my favorite bands and in my opinion one of the most unique and special bands to come out of the 70's. They released a number of good albums during the 70's but this was their peak. Most of their better albums (hero and heroine, ghosts, bursting at the seams) were actually a bit inconsistant, especailly compared to this. This album however is pretty damn great from start to finish. Their appears to be a theme going on, probably something war. Most of the songs are great, but i have one complaint..the song "ah me ah my" is not only out of context but is such a bad, stupid, ridiculuos song that it hurts the whole album in my opinion..besides that song this is a great album pretty much from start to finish.