DRAGONFLY

Second album by The Strawbs had been most probably their quietest and most acoustic-type one and it was as well the only one with cellist Claire Deniz in the lineup contributing considerably to the overall mellow atmosphere. Though it might appeal more to people preferring acoustic music than their debut I've to say I found it rather less attractive than that one. Most of the songs here are pleasant folk songs, some more in a sorrowful and contemplative, others more in a cheerful mood but in some way not that effective as the mix between ethnic, classical and rock music shown in the best tracks from their first record. The only track that sounds significantly different from the rest is the 10-minute epic "The Vision of the Lady of the Lake" revealing piano play by Rick Wakeman who would soon join the band. But even this one could not fully satisfy my demands unfortunately, moreover it features some quite strange strange sound effects which I found rather disturbing than interesting. I think the better things had been still to come from them those days and I'd like to rate this one as still a solid and fairly good album but certainly not anything worth hunting for.