Customer Reviews

Storm Force 10

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

 

 

An underrated album. An earlier reviewer suggested that the band had lost its way at this point. On the contrary, Storm Force Ten(and Live at Last, the following year), if anything, *redeemed* the reputation of Steeleye Span. They really DID seem to have lost their way on the previous album, Rocket Cottage, which was a very hit and miss affair. After that mediocre offering, Peter Knight and Bob Johnson left the band, to be replaced by stalwart folk musicians Martin Carthy and Jonn Kirkpatrick. This line-up, during their all too brief existence, came up with some lovely arrangements of traditional songs that are substantially more authentic sounding and pleasing to the ear than some of the material on the previous album (Bob Johnson was always more rock-orientated than anything else and, even though he did compose some Steeleye classics, he had an irritating propensity for re-arranging old traditional songs into nothing more than pop/rock numbers, e.g.,James the Rose, on Rocket Cottage, is just a throwaway rock song, completely robbed of any traditional `feel`). It`s great to hear Carthy`s vocals again on a Steeleye album, and Kirkpatrick`s accordion playing makes a welcome change.
I like all of the songs on Storm Force Ten. My only `complaint` would be that it is perhaps a little over-produced. I recommend this album and the other album of this line-up, Live at Last.

"Storm Force Ten" is among the very best Steeleye Span albums. Every song is extremely interesting to me, and gets under my skin. I visualize the characters: the proud chimney sweep who only plans to work for the gentry, the miserable treadmill prisoners/laborers, the ecstatic girl about to turn 17, the army widow...What the band does with the interlaced voices and harmonies, and electric and acoustic guitars interweaving, is improve these ancient songs from mere folk ballads (and Brecht's strange theatrical songs) into something more ambitious. Some songs on earlier Steeleye Span albums, like "Thomas The Rhymer," while catchy, are essentially very simple, repetitive, rock treatments of their source. The songs on "Storm Force Ten" are more developed, with sophisticated experiments that work in every case to bring them alive. I am shocked that critics in the past, and many Amazon reviewers today, consider this a lesser work by this great band. My suspicion is that creativity and change of style aren't prized by many traditional folk music fans. But if you are simply interested in music that is magical, lyrics that cinematically transport you into the dramatic or whimsical or romantic or joyful or miserable stories of past souls, and into the sunny or dark atmospheres of places in distant centuries, and you don't mind--even appreciate--that the band uses different instruments than they did in another album, this is a not-to-be-missed selection of songs. This album, and the collection "The Steeleye Span Story (Original Masters)," were the first two Steeleye Span albums I bought, and they remain my favorites. If you like Dickensian tales, or shows like "Oliver!" or "Mary Poppins" or "Threepenny Opera," this album is recommended.

After the commercial failure of Rocket Cottage, Steeleye Span regrouped seriously for the first time in their history, rerecruiting Martin Carthy and adding accordionist John Kirkpatrick for "Storm Force Ten".

Though this might have seemed a fatal mistake, in fact "Storm Fore Ten" was a surprising return artistic form, with Kirkpatrick's accordion adding a touch that had not been seen beforehand, notable at the end of the beautiful, complex Bertolt Brecht tale "Wife Of The Soldier", which Maddy, John and Martin turn into exemplary folk-rock. The next song, the epic "The Victory" was an amazingly enchanting epic of ever changing mood that yet managed not to repeat the same line in its eight minutes. The alternating lines of fuzzed-out rock and mystical folk - and everything in between - enchant in a way Steeleye had not done since "Sheep Crook and Black Dog."

The album's other Bertolt Brecht piece, "The Black Freighter," featured even more prominent accordion work and a tearfully slow chorus that actually fitted the mood of the faster sections of the song. Maddy's amazing voice here has more range and clarity than one might even suspect from previous Steeleye works. Martin Carthy's melodic solo reminds one of the things Tom Verlaine was praised lavishly for at the time of "Storm Force Ten"'s release.

After those two amazing epics, the simple "Some Rival" sounded like a return to earth, but Maddy's melodic and pure voice cannot let the song down. The a capella "Sweep, Chimney Sweep" showed that Steeleye's voices had developed on a par with the band's ability to produce original and challenging interpretations of traditional folk songs, a point reaffirmed yet again by "Treadmill Song" with its quasi-danceable beat and vocal inflections.

The closer "Seventeen Come Sunday" showed how well the accordion fitted into traditional folk songs, and the joyful voices sounded utterly quirky, and by no means serious. John's accordion produced a long yet brilliant melody that recalls the band's best years when it interplays with the fiery guitar at the end of the song.

Though overlooked for many years by both listeners and critics, "Storm Force Ten" is a blend of classic folk-rock and unconventional song structures that sounds like nothing you will ever hear. Though sounding more modern than Hark! The Village Wait or Below The Salt, it was the first time since then that the band was really on form - and at their best Steeleye has few rivals in the 1970s.

I've been a Steeleye Span fan for 30 years and have been working on completing my collection. SFT is difficult to find so I was glad that the price of this import was reduced from an astronomical $30 to a more reasonable $18. Although not their best effort, it's another fine set of songs with roots in English folk music, this time with a darker tone than on some earlier albums.

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.

It's okay.It's kind of like when Jehtro Tull started out bluesy. I'm no too much of a blues fan, but Tull is so talented, they make it sound good. It is the same with Steeleye Span. They kind of went into this weird faze with Storm Force, but they snapped out of it. I hate the mellotrons. But basically it is a very relaxing album, not many of the songs will make you really want to dance. One song makes you feel like you're at the carnival. A new member, John Kirkpatrick, plays the accordion. I don't really like the accordion, I would prefer Pete's violin to John's squeeze box.

One of Steeleye's most uncharacteristic albums due to the use of accordion, and the rendition of a relatively modern non-British song (The Black Freighter, a redo of Brecht's Pirate Jenny). Pretty good stuff, though, by any measure. One of their lost treasures.

As a youth I haunted cutout bins at the local record stores. Storm Force 10 was one of my most treasured finds. Although I've owned many Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior albums over the years; this remains my personal favorite - maybe it's the accordion? - and have bought both the LP and CD. The Black Freighter and the The Victory are standouts, but there isn't a weak cut on the album. If you ever get a chance to listen to this, by all means check it out. It is difficult to get - the last copy I got I paid for in Euros and had it shipped from the UK.

I agree with other reviewers that this album is definitely not Span's best. However, because one reviewer singled out "Awake, awake" as not being very interesting, I felt compelled to disagree. This is one of the most beautiful and haunting love songs I have ever heard, with Maddy and Tim trading off verses about a couple's infatuation with each other. It surpasses even "My Love" from Sails of Silver. Yes, "The Victory" is wonderful also, but for me the price of admission is well spent on the first track of this album.

Other than "sweep," which is a bit too trad-stiff and hymn-like, I find this album quite wonderful.