Customer Reviews

Rare Collection 1972-1996

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

 

 

This CD is stunning; I bought it for the Christmas cuts and am still playing it in March. There are no clunkers or fillers; just great songs between truly superb standouts. The harmony of "Holly and Ivy" is in a class of its own; I had never heard "Harvest Home" before, and it is ineffably pretty. Madeline sounds like an angel. If you are a fan but don't have this, get it. If you are not a fan, this CD will introduce to the incedible range and depth of these people.

On a more sober note, and from the point of view of someone who has all of the band`s albums on CD, this particular collection does not have much to get excited about. Several of the tracks are already available on other(original)album CDs and they sound more or less the same. There is a horribly `edited`(more like butchered!)version of Montrose which is basically a waste of space to anyone familiar with the excellent full length original.
`I have a Wish` is surely a filler, if ever there was one. `Fire on the Line`?..isn`t that taken from a Prior/Kemp CD which is not `rare`.
This CD is for completists. Even though it`s good to have those singles, such as Boar`s Head Carol, Holly and the Ivy, on CD, I personally would prefer them as bonus tracks on the appropriate album CD reisssues - Boar`s Head Carol on Storm Force Ten, for example - instead of having them all thrown together in a disjointed compilation. Still, better than not having them at all, I guess. There are some great live tracks here, but again, I think Raven should have saved them for their recently released *live* CD. Royal Forester is a standout track here, much livelier and rockier than the studio version, thanks to Pegrum`s energetic drumming(the original didn`t have a drummer), and Knight`s wild fiddle playing!
Yeah...but....the real LOW point of this compilation is the last, and definitely least, track - it`s Status Quo performing a cover of All Around My Hat, live, with Maddy Prior purportedly `guesting`. Hmm..no disrespect but, what`s Status Quo got to do with Steeleye Span/Maddy Prior! Haven`t we heard enough versions of this song already, anyway, without being subjected to a Status Quo interpretation(especially if you don`t like Status Quo)....
Oh yeah, one more moan - The exact same version of `Rave On` being peddled here as unavailable elsewhere is, and has been since 1991, a bonus track on Please To See the King(Mooncrest). Not so rare...
All in all, a disjointed collection comprising some genuinely rare and unique singles, some tracks that are not unique and sound very much the same as their album versions, one superfluous single that is completely eclipsed by the un-edited album original, a couple of tracks already on other CDs, some great live tracks, some fillers(I Have a Wish, Stookie)....and of course the Status Quo thing.
Nice pictures, too.
A first timer would be better advised to take his/her chances with the original albums, or one of the better compilations such as Original Masters or Spanning the Years.

This is an extremely eclectic recording, but IMHO, Maddie's gorgeous song "I Live Not Where I Love" alone is worth the price of admission. My other favorites on the CD are the full length version of "Thomas the Rhymer," the two Christmas carols and "Somewhere Along the Road."

I agree with another reviewer--the butchered version of "Montrose" should not have been included. "Stookie, a theme from a British children's TV show, is a nice touch. Even Steeleye Span can be annoying. (Does TV corrupt everything it touches?)

The best thing about this CD are the songs that are difficult or impossible to find eslewhere. I actually bought it for the Boar's Head Carol. It is a holiday favorite that was previously only available by hearing it on the radio once per year.

I bought this CD from two completely separate and independent Amazon dealers. I never received either CD and was greatly disappointed. It hardly matters what I think of the actual CD, which I know to be delightful. It is irrelevant, since apparently there are none to be had, even when one pays for them from reputable dealers. (who by the way, did refund my money) I am just not willing to tempt fate a third time. I will live without it.

This CD is a good selection for those who have not collected the extensive works of Steeleye Span. For those not familiar with this group, they are the ongoing (throughout the last thirty years) pivotal group of British Folk Rock. Their repertoire includes everything from contemporary rock through classical Child's Ballads with a detour through the "naughty bits" of historical British Folk Music. As Maddy Prior once said, "We're your typical medieval rock and roll band". If you like the old ballads and you like rock, get this CD.