HERO AND HEROINE

The English rock band Strawbs has made twenty-one studio records. One was released this october and I look forward to perhaps review it. "Hero and heroine" which is the subject of the day is their second most rated and also their second highest ranked record after 1972's "Grave new world".

"Strawbs" is avery special band which music is inspired by folk music, classical music and rock'n'roll music as well. The debut album "Strawbs" came 1969 and "Hero and Heroine" is their sixth effort. The cover picture is white and shows a hand grabbing a white dove who is flying. The line up is Dave Cousins(vocals, guitars), Dave Lambert(vocals, guitars), John Hawken(piano, organ, mellotron, synthesizer), Chas Cronk(bass, synthesizer, vocals) and Rod Coombes(drums, percussion, vocals). Let's finally say it has gone as much as fourty years since this was new music.

We face a record with many lovely songs between quite pure pop rock and prog music. The starting composition "Autumn" is also the best (10/10) and a reason to hear the record. This long song contains classical moods as well as more folky and symphonic rock patterns. Second best on the record is the title track "Hero and heroine" (8/10) a cool innovative rock song with a heavy symphonic main structure. "Sad young man"(8/10) is another of the record's jewels, an intriguing and special bit. The pop song "Lay a little light on me"(8/10) is also recommended, it reminds me a bit of Genesis in the beginning but the pop feeling is more like Electric Light Orchestra. The closer "Hero's them"8/10) is mighty as well. Furthermore should you of course listen to "Out in the cold" and "Round and round". The remaining three songs are of less interest.

Over all is Strawbs work here something quite unique and I am curious to further investigate their discography. I rate this record 3.7 which becomes four stars. It's not a prog masterpiece and yet very interesting. Best song: "Autumn"