Customer Reviews

A Parcel of Steeleye Span

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4 star:		(1)
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First was the release of the double CD "The Lark in the Morning" by Castle in 2003, putting together the first three albums by Steeleye Span - "Hark! The Village Wait" (originally released in 1970 on RCA Records), "Please to See the King" (released in 1970 on B&C Records) and "Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again" (released in 1971 on Pegasus Records).

Now, EMI releases this fantastic box set, assembling the next five albums by the band, with its most successful lineups: Tim Hart (vocals, guitar, banjo, dulcimer), Maddy Prior (vocals, spoons), Peter Knight (fiddle, banjo, mandolin), Bob Johnson (guitar) and Rick Kemp (bass), with Nigel Pegrum as the drummer since 1974.

The box set gathers together five albums - "Below the Salt" (1972), "Parcel of Rogues" (1973), "Now We Are Six" (1974), "Commoner's Crow" (1975) and "All Around My Hat" (1975), along with four bonus tracks - the single "Gaudete" c/w "The Holly and The Ivy" (1972), "Bonny Moorhen" (1973) and a live version of "The Wife of Ushers Well" (1974).

The five albums are outstanding, although there are small differences between them: the first two albums from the set are no drumming (except for two songs), but the heavy bass and guitar playing (providing by Kemp, Johnson and Hart) creates an insuperable English folk-rock sound. Highlights: the a capella "Rosebud in June", the jigs "The Bride's Favourite/Tansey's Fancy", the beautiful ballad "One Misty Moisty Morning" and the rousing "The Ups and Downs".

The next three albums are full of energy, grace and great songs, with a better balance between the electric and the acoustic sides, with the wonderful vocal performances from Maddy Prior. Highlights: the traditional songs "Drink Down the Moon" and "Two Magicians", the great instrumental "The Mooncoin Jig" (with guitar and mandolin), the upbeat "Little Sir Hugh", the fancy "New York Girls" (with the late actor Peter Sellers on ukulele) and the exquisite harmonies from "Hard Times of Old England" and "All Around My Hat".

It's a treasure for the Steeleye Span fans and for all those who like folk-rock.

(Copy of UK Review - pay the postage from .co.uk!)

EMI - what a paradox you are. I'm still reeling from the brutal marketing decisions you made with Apple concerning the 2009 remastered Beatles (like spending 130 quid to hear Sgt Pepper in Mono), and then I discover this gem of a bargain. Five well-remastered Steeleye Span albums for twelve quid! [Sterling] Yiha!

Below The Salt was the unknown one for me and I am well impressed. Sufficiently impressed that I may now buy "Lark In The Morning" - another great deal, this time with the band's first three albums for a fiver! [Five pounds sterling].

Then the glorious run of albums from the muscular powerhouse of Parcel Of Rogues (the mix still veering over the edge of screechy in this remaster but I love it just the same) through to the semi-collapse of Mike Batt's anaesthetic "All Around My Hat" which nonetheless has the brilliant Black Jack Davy and - if I'm in the right mood - Hard Times Of Old England.

In between, well there's the truncated pleasure of Now We Are Six (which prompted one waggish reviewer to speculate on what type of distractions were afoot in the studio when they decided to include Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the appalling To Know Him Is To Love Him).... which nonetheless contains one of my most favourite tracks: The Two Magicians. Splendid!

Then, my overall favourite. And unusually, not the first one I owned, that was Parcel of Rogues. But Commoner's Crown was the album which I enjoyed so much back in my first year at University and I still do. It's worth the twelve quid all on it's own. Hear the smoothness of Long Lankin, Demon Lover, and Weary Cutters. Maddy Prior, you're an angel.

This, by the way, is clearly a shot of heaven for Steeleye fans who like to make their own compilations. I have been distracted for days now....ending up with one collection, but now beginning to start on these discs again which may lead to a second volume.

So; for those of you seeking quality sound, the news is a surprise to me: EMI have delivered on this occasion. (They are notoriously unreliable imho).

For those of you wondering if you will still like Steelye Span so many years after their folk-rock heyday - fear not! You'll love this organic music more than ever....it will remind you of how dismal is the new music you may be listening to. (They just don't make music this way anymore - see Tony Parsons/Ian MacDonald).

And if anyone out there is reading these reviews thinking "Well, it's a good deal, and they sound like an interesting band...maybe I should take a chance..." TAKE IT! You will not regret purchasing this fantastic triple-CD five-album Bargain of the Year. (Should be Re-Issue of the Year in the mags, but will any of them notice?). [U.S. customers - can you buy it direct from the British site? Am I allowed to suggest that? Anyhow - it's brilliant.]

And a gruding Thanks to someone at EMI who may be a little less mercenary and cynical than the...people?....involved with the Beatles marketing.

Excellent remastering for 5 of Steeleye's classic albums, which with their first 3 I believe represent the best of their output. This set is a testament to the brilliant pioneering job Steeleye did in the English Folk Revival. Modern elements that hallmark the band's sound are by no means overpowering or detract from the traditional style of the music. In fact the arrangements are generally spot on, best of the era. Could have done without one or two songs like To Know Him Is To Love Him and Twinkle Twinkle but there is a wealth of wonderful English folk music here played with enthusiasm and aplomb, brought back to life in a bright and lively remastering. Great value.

The first five Steeleye albums ('72 through '76) for the Chrysalis label, all newly remastered on three CDs -- at a very good price. No complaints from me other than that the liner notes are scant. It should've been possible for EMI to have enlisted someone out there to write up a comprehensive essay on this quintessential English folk-rock band. That criticism aside, though, this is an excellent collection for both the veteran Steeleye Span listener and the newbie.

This 3 CD box contains five of Steeleye Span's very best albums along with a handful of rarities from the same period ( 1972-1975 ).

Obviously at this price, it can only be called a great buy. The music sounds great in this remastered form. Some fans obviously would have liked to have more imformation about the songs, band history etc. but if you're just interested in good folk music from a band that were among the trendsetters of folk-rock in the early 1970's, here is really all you need.

It's worth noting that "Thomas the Rhymer" is the extended version, much superior to the single version, which was originally chosen for "Now We're Six".

This is a good remaster of the five earlier Chysalis label albums and good value overall. Steeleye fans will probably disagree with me but while the collection is loaded with great songs, it also contains quite a few weaker ones because the band did not always keep to their strengths. In my view, English folk rock exists within fairly narrow constraints; uplifting and intoxicating at best but emabarrasingly goofy when those moderating shackles are cast off. I think Steeleye Span made their two most consistent recordings in "Hark, the Village waits" and "Please to see the King" simply because they did not attempt to broaden the already great style they'd helped pioneer. If the band, along with Fairport Convention had kept the sound as taut and agressive on a consistent basis as they were capable of doing, folk rock may have survived the onslaught of punk. English punk might itself have borrowed from the hard-edged metallic drone of original folk rock.

Irish/Blugrass/Appalachian/Zydeco etc, all suffer from a similar malaise when musicians attempt to contemporise the style too much without retaining it's essential characteristics that make it so compelling in the first place. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but it's mostly unconvincing. I do of course realise that many of the styles we enjoy today wouldn't exist if earlier forms had not been re-imagined. Some other 70's folk rock albums I've enjoyed and recommend are: Fairport's 'Liege & Lief', R&L Thompson's 'I want to see the bright lights tonght', (some of) Steeleye Span's 'Storm Force 10', Chrosty Moore (self titled) and from the 80's Fisherman's Blues by 'The Waterboys'.

My musical journeys first took me to Steeleye Span in 1977 when I purchased the two-LP anthology THE STEELEYE SPAN STORY (now out of print). Fast forward almost twenty years and I bought the two-CD SPANNING THE YEARS. A few years later, I bought the two-CD THE HILLS OF GREENMORE. This featured all but a handful of the tracks from their first three albums--along with a few rarities. [This CD is now out of print, but it has been effectively replaced by 2003's LARK IN THE MORNING.]

Now we get A PARCEL OF STEELEYE SPAN, which collects the band's first five Chrysalis albums at a bargain price. In addition to all five albums in their entirety, there are a handful of bonus tracks: the single version of "Gaudete," along with its b-side "The Holly and the Ivy," an outtake from the PARCEL OF ROGUES' sessions "Bonny Moorhen" (previously available only on THE STEELEYE SPAN STORY), and a 1974 live version of "The Wife of Ushers Well."

While I've always been more of a Fairport Convention fan, Maddy Prior, Tim Hart and company gave them a serious run for their money. If I have a complaint with this collection, it's how skimpy the booklet is. No liner notes, a handful of pictures, and minimal album info. But you can't beat the price...or the terrific music. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED [Running time - disc-1 (62:35), disc-2 (73:02), disc-3 (77:37)

I had three of the albums (vinyl) on this compilation,And liked them in the seventies,Hearing them now, after 25 or so years,they are as good or better now as they were then.