HEARTBREAK HILL [AKA: STARTING OVER]

Nothing technically or musically wrong with this album, it`s just that it comes off as a Dave Cousins solo outing, relying on session musicians to complete as Dave Lambert was leaving to pursue a solo career himself and makes only a marginal contribution on one track, Something For Nothing. As a result of a record deal falling through, it was only circulated among fans as a bootleg cassette under the title Starting Over in `78 and didn`t see the light of day as a legitimate CD release until 1995 on the retro label Road Goes On Forever.

While it`s not really a bad album, many Strawbs aficionados consider it to be the band at it`s lowest ebb as Dave Cousins would also call it quits after it`s release to work on solo projects and in radio. Lyrically connected with love themes of separation, starting anew and overcoming loss the material contains the sentimentalism one would expect from a Strawbs album, but with a sharper more metallic tone with less emotive melancholy than previous work fom the `70s. As such, at times it is also representative of the sholckier material being churned out by creatively drained prog bands in the late seventies. Fragmented as they are, there are some redeeming moments to be heard here and it`s worth a brief analysis of some of the standouts.

Something For Nothing, about a romance gone sour, possesses some distinctive haunting qualities that were apparent in many Strawbs songs from the late sixties and features some nice synth orchestrations and piano cadences. Another Day Without You and the title track continue on in much the same vein, although some more folky optimism is evident in the lyrics, both spew out some of the shlock that so many prog bands couldn`t seem to avoid in the stylistic confusion of the late seventies. Some salvation arrives on a ten minute epic which has an interesting centre section with all the structural ingredients of a good extended prog track. There are some beautiful vocal harmonies but as a whole, once again lacks the moody atmospheres the Strawbs were noted for, although shimmering synths do attempt to create ethereal overtones. Although some more dedicated fans might be able too glean something here it doesn`t come without considerable essay especially on the other three shorter tracks which complete the work.

Re-released and re-mastered in 2006 on the band`s own label Witchwood Medias The Platinum edition ( whatever that`s supposed to imply ) the remastering does make the work sound a bit brighter and a better remixed version of Something For Nothing gives the track a second wind. Heartbreak Hill is a bit of an odd one out in the Strawbs catalogue and should not be aproached with lofty expectations. Fortunately this was only a temporary lull for the band who would continue on in pristine form towards the end of the 90s and into the new millenium. Add ½ a star here for the 2006 Platinum Edition.