Customer Reviews

Hark the Village Wait

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I would just like to gush over this album for a moment. This remains my favorite British folk-rock album of all time, and has held up through over twelve years of listening.

Steeleye Span released some tremendous albums over the years, especially in the 1972-1976 period. Time (1996) and Bedlam Born (2001) are also incredibly strong as new releases by older bands go...

However, this is the Steeleye Span album to start with. Heck, and end with it too - its that good.

This album is the most accessible one for those who come from rock roots and want to try some Steeleye. Although diehards will tell you Below The Salt and Please To See The King are the classics, they and the other two albums in the 1971-73 period are also the least accessible and most traditional albums, and have no drumming. (Drums reappear in 1974 for Now We Are Six)

Those albums also don't have Gay Woods, a woman who could easily be one of the top 5 or 6 vocalists in British Folk, and yet actually plays second "fiddle" here to Maddy Prior, while constructing some eerie and absolutely gorgeous melodies. And yes, Maddy is THAT good. An incredibly, rich, powerful voice with not only tremendous range, but tremendous tone and versatility, as she can sound anything from diva to chanteuse to little girl.

The most distinctive feature of Steeleye Span is that they were a group that took 400 year old British traditional songs and added crunchy guitar, punchy bass and contemporary arrangements. The Fairport Convention has a couple masterpieces themselves, and The Pentangle has quite a unique quality of their own, but no other group has quite duplicated this sound, nor did they manage to produce work at an extremely high level past the peak 1967-71 period for this genre.

This particular album goes a little bit lighter on the tradition, as well as on the hard rock edges, then do the later albums. For those who don't quite know how you might stomach a song from 1650 with a 90 second electric guitar workout, this album treads a little bit more quietly in both capacities. However, by no means is the album a compromise. The song selection and arrangements are amazing; the songs will simply lodge in your head. The multi-part harmonizing and haunting melodies are nothing short of scintillating. And in an ironic but positive way, the fusion presented by this album is actually a bit ahead of its time, and sounds barely dated in 2001.

This is also in my opinion Steeleye's best album. It is also the album that does not contain a single weak track. Many people will argue that this album is a great "starter" album, both for Steeleye Span themselves, and for the uninitiated British Folk listener. I would like to express my strong view that this is simply a great album, period, possibly the best British Folk-Rock album of all time. Even if not quite as varied as later albums, it stands on its own, strongly and proudly, as an artistic statement.

Steeleye's first album truly is something special! Every song on here is great...too bad that this line-up didn't get a more thorough work-out since the magic is flying everywhere on this recording, and having BOTH female singers makes this one SOAR (though the male vocals are spot-on as well)! The Blacksmith version on here may be one of my favorite songs I've ever heard in this genre. Other beautiful songs like Fisherman's Wife, Dark-Eyed Sailor, Lowlands of Holland, All Things Are Quite Silent, and One Night as I Lay on my Bed have such great harmonies, melodies and energy (some rock! I'd love to see Tull record a couple of these) that they stick with you long after the cd shuts off. Black-leg Miner is such an energetic and trippy string-whacking and cool vision of a new musical style, I am amazed...even that heavy accent really adds to the song (Bluegrass musicians should check this out). I could go on and on with other songs on HARK! This album is just wonderful from beginning to end, do yourself a favor and let this soak into your soul, you won't regret it. Cross-over appeal is broad with this band. I should further explore Terry and Gay Wood's music to see if this magic was created on other recordings of theirs. I know it was on the (also great) later Steeleye albums (this album has drumming which gives it a familiar feel, although they tried it without drums after this album for awhile). Is there a better way to start a new band and album than the Calling On Song?

You might want to get "Lark in the Morning" if you don't have the 1st 3 Steeleye albums - all 3 remastered on 2 cd's for about $11.00 is a nicely packaged steal! I imagine this band sometimes as hairy-feet Hobbits smoking long-bottom leaf cranking their wired, crazy little electric instruments to the Shire's delight at the great harvest festival - Mordor quakes at the power of these Middle-Earth minstrels, Orcs and Goblins run for their lives...fun thought anyway! Thanks for the gift of your music Steeleye members past and present. The world would feel more empty without it. Enjoy!

This first Steeleye Span album is folkier and less rock-influenced than their later work -- but, if you haven't heard them, don't get the false impression that "folky" means soft or wimpy -- or that "traditional" music has to be a dead museum piece. This album bursts with energy. The gutsy yet finely-honed voices of Maddy Pryor and Gay Woods never let you down, either separately or in rich harmony. The tunes are memorable and always make me want to sing along. The mood varies from the romantic "All things are quite silent," to the angry last verse of "Blacksmith" and the creepy, macabre "Twa Corbies." One of my favorite albums ever!

"Hark! The Village Wait" is one of the best debut album rivaling Tull's "This Was". Starting off with a breath taking harmony "Calling-on Song", the group eases into a perfect ten, grade A album. One of the best Progressive rock albums, (Though not as popular as some), "Hark!" is truely a great album to own for any prog rock -or even Steeleye- fan. THis album stands out above the others mainly because there are two female vocalists, Maddy Prior, (In my opinion, could win American Idol) and Gay Woods. They originally started out with a drummer, but dropped one after the album. Though constantly shifting personnel, the band came out on top as one of Prog Rock's greats.

When Fairport Convention released "Liege and Lief" in 1969, it was the beginning of British Folk/Rock. But no one knew how much of an impact it would have on the music until this band, Steeleye Span, reached commercial success with their album "All Around My Hat." They eventually would tour in the U.S. opening for bands like Jethro Tull. People like David Bowie and Peter Sellers would make guest appearances on their albums. But that was years after the release of this album--their first--"Hark! The Village Wait."

When Ashley Hutchings left Fairport, he decided to form a band that would focus primarily on traditional material. He found Maddy Prior and Tim Hart who were a folk duo playing folk clubs in England. He also asked Gay and Terry Woods (Terry of Sweeny's Men) to join this new electric folk band. Their first album was released in 1970 but the band never played live since Gay and Terry decided to leave.

This first album could be their best. Featuring the drumming of Dave Mattacks--this album paved the way for what was to come. "The Blacksmith" is a favorite among Steeleyers and songs like "Blackleg Miner" and "One Night as I Lay on my Bed" stand out as the best.

If you're just discovering the music of Steeleye--this is a great place to start. If you know their work but my be apprehensive of their first line-up--don't be. This album is clear, smooth, and very accessible to today's ears.

Steeleye Span forever changed my life when I heard their album "Below the Salt." They may even change yours. Give it a chance--you may like these old tales of love, deceit, deception, and English history.

The very first Steeleye Span album is still, in many ways, their best.

Filled with magnificent vocal harmonies backed with acoustic and lightly electric instrumental backing, this album is a glorious reminder (as if we needed one) of just how gorgeous traditional Elizabethian folk ballads (you know - the ones with all the lovely "tra la las) can be. Though the songs here date back several hundred years, and the album was first released on vinyl back in 1970, the music contained within is utterly timeless.

Ranging from the lovely ("All Things Are Quite Silent," "My Johnny Was A Shoemaker "Dark Eyed Sailor," "One Night As I Lay On My Bed" "Fisherman's Wife) to the tragic ("Lowlands of Holland," "The Blacksmith," "Blackleg Miner") to the downright spooky ("Twa Corbies," "Copshawolme Fair") this one has something for everyone. Don't let this CD pass your collection by!

Steeleye Span pioneered folk rock along with Fairport convention (whose music I still haven't picked up yet, though I've been meaning to for variety's sake). If you're a Steeleye Span fan, you will like this CD. Period. It's a Steeleye classic, and one of my many favorites.

Skip the newer releases, like: They Called Her Babylon, Bedlam Born, Bloody Men.

Go for the Classics: Tempted and Tried, All Around my Hat, Sails of Silver, Storm Force Ten, Rocket Cottage, Hark! The Village Wait, Please to See the King, Ten Man Mop, Commoners Crown, Now We Are Six, Parcel of Rogues, Below the Salt, Back in Line.

If you must pick up "modern" Steelye albums, pick up: Time (one of their best "modern" releases) and Horkstow Grange (their other good "modern" release). "Winter" is supposed to also be good, on par with the classics (traditional arrangements of holiday songs), though I haven't yet seen it.

The above "classic" albums cover the early and middle years.

I've been a fan of Steeleye Span since the mid 70's, coming aboard after the release of "Below the Salt", but for some reason, I'd never heard this album, their first, until 1999! What a pleasant surprise! It's probably their best album vocally - Maddy Prior and Gay Woods' voices mesh wonderfully; and I think the music is the loveliest they ever recorded. It contains more straight forward folk music than their later releases, and the fine drumming by Dave Mattacks and Gerry Conway is another plus. Highly recommended to anyone with any interest at all in folk music or folk-rock.

and reissued from the UK with all original art, etc. in 2006
Avoid this issue from 1991.Hark the Village Wait

This is the first Steeleye Span album in what has proven to be a remarkable career. 30 years later, and it has only improved with age.

It is also, perhaps, Steeleye's most simple album. Acoustic, with touches of electric guitar and electric dulcimer, it is full of vocal harmonies and gorgeous melodies. Steeleye Span have made many first rate albums in their career, but of them all this one is still the best.