HERO AND HEROINE

'Hero And Heroine' is the seventh studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1974. It's another conceptual album. After the supporting live tour to their previous studio album 'Bursting At The Seams', an authentic earthquake hit the band. Blue Weaver, John Ford and Richard Hudson left Strawbs to form their own band. Only the founder member and leader of the group Dave Cousins and the newly joined member Dave Lambert stayed together to rebuild Strawbs.

So, the line up on this album is Dave Cousins (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Dave Lambert (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), John Hawken (organ, piano, electric piano, mellotron and synthesizer), Chas Cronk (backing vocals, bass guitar and synthesizer) and Rod Coombes (backing vocals, drums and percussion). Of the three new members who joined the band, deserves special mention John Hawken, a classically trained piano player. He was the former keyboardist of the first incarnation of Renaissance and member of that band on their two first studio albums.

'Hero And Heroine' has ten tracks. The first track 'Autumn' is divided into three parts, 'Heroine's Theme' written by John Hawken, 'Deep Summer Sleep' and 'The Winter Long', both written by Dave Cousins. It's a great start and the great epic moment on the album. This is a must for all mellotron lovers like me. The song is very varied, with great moments and nice choruses in the end. This is a sublime song that represents the most beautiful moment on the entire album. It represents one of their finest moments, too. The final part 'The Winter Long' was released as a single under the title 'Hold On To Me (The Winter Long)'. The second track 'Sad Young Man' written by Rod Coombes is a very nice ballad. This is a song with some musical contrasts. It has good guitar, nice organ and great vocal work. This is a very pleasant song which offers to us fine musical arrangements. The third track 'Just Love' written by Dave Lambert is a rock song written in a more commercial vein. It's a typical rock love song that seems composed to be released as a single and to be played on the radio. Despite be a good song it seems somehow out of the place in the general context of the album. The fourth track 'Shine On Silver Sun' written by Dave Cousins was also a song released as a single. It was written intended to be a great big hit as like 'Part Of The Union' of 'Bursting At The Seams'. However, the single was a minor success. This is a typical and classic song from the band with excellent vocal harmonies, good mellotron work and a very catchy piano strong harmony. The fifth track is the title track 'Hero And Heroine'. It was written by Dave Cousins. This is the second best musical moment on the album and is also an epic song. It's a very strong song, very energetic, with great musical moments and a variety of instrumental choruses. This is a superb musical moment of the group with good lyrics and a notable vocal performance of Dave Cousins. It represents also one of their greatest musical moments. The sixth track 'Midnight Sun' written by Dave Cousins and Chas Cronk is joined to the title track. It's a short melodic folk ballad and represents one of the most beautiful musical moments on the album. This is performed mostly by acoustic guitar, percussion and mellotron flute. It's a very enjoyable musical moment to listen to. The seventh track 'Out In The Cold' written by Dave Cousins is another very interesting and good song. It has some good and intricate guitar work, good harmonica and nice drumming. This is a very enjoyable and emotional folk ballad that sounds a bit to a country song. The eighth track 'Round And Round' written by Dave Cousins is a very progressive song with a beautiful and brilliant keyboard work by John Hawken. It combines perfectly well some pop elements into their music with the classical symphonic based elements of the song. The ninth track 'Lay A Little Light On Me' written by Dave Cousins is another very catchy and good song. It's a song with lyrics with awesome power and depth. Musically, it's also a great song, very strong and powerful in the vein of the band's best musical moments. This is a true classic progressive musical moment. The tenth track 'Hero's Theme' written by Dave Lambert is almost an instrumental song with some vocal effects. It's really a beautiful, classic and brilliant progressive musical moment that closes the album in a magnificent and progressive way. It represents one of the best album closers, I've already heard.

Conclusion: Despite I prefer 'Grave New World', 'Hero And Heroine' is probably the Strawbs best musical work. What I find most impressive on this album is its musical cohesion and its musical coherence, which makes of it a perfect piece of music. It flows perfectly and gracefully from the start to finish. It hasn't really any weak track. I don't want to finish my review without mention the presence of John Hawken on the album. He's a brilliant keyboard player and his presence on the album is evident and represents a great addition to the line up of the band. In my humble opinion, 'Hero And Heroine' is an unknown and underrated musical work that deserves to be better known. In my humble opinion, 'Hero And Heroine' is one of the best guitar driven progressive rock albums of the 70's, a true classic album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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