GHOSTS

"Ghosts" is the eighth studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1975. It became to be an important mark in the band's career. Finally, this is their first studio album including the same line up of its predecessor seventh studio album, "Hero And Heroine", since their two first previous studio albums "Strawbs" and "Dragonfly". This was their last album while the band was in their upward curve of success. It was their last album that belongs to their golden era too.

So, the line up on the album is Dave Cousins (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar and recorder), Dave Lambert (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), John Hawken (piano, electric piano, harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, Hammond organ and pipe organ), Chas Cronk (backing vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar), Rod Coombes (backing vocals, drums, congas and percussion). The album has also the participation of Claire Deniz on cello, as a guest musician.

"Ghosts" has nine tracks. The first track is the title track "Ghosts" and is divided into three parts, "Sweet Dreams", "Night Light" and "Guardian Angel", all written by Dave Cousins. This is another great opener of Strawbs, in the wake of their best tradition, with which we were used to. It's similar in its musical structure to "Autumn", the opener of their previous studio album "Hero And Heroine", but much darker, reflecting its lyrics. It's a gorgeous melodic song with multiple musical instruments such as harpsichord, acoustic guitars and even church bells. This is, for me, the highest moment on the album and it's also one of the best pieces of music ever made by them. The second track "Lemon Pie" written by Dave Cousins is one of the two songs also released as a single. It's a very catchy song but very different from its previous. Here we can feel that the group moved to their most folk traditional roots. The song was written about his then girlfriend and future wife. The third track "Starshine/Angel Wine" written by Chas Cronk is also one of the highest moments on this great album and one of their most brilliant pieces of music. This is a very simple rock song, but very powerful, with a great riff, and that it's also at the same time technically brilliant. It's so simple and at the same time so good. The fourth track "Where Do You Go (When You Need A Hole To Crawl In)" written by Dave Cousins has a kind of a pop tune. It reminds me strongly the Cat Stevens' music. It's a nice song but I can't see anything special on it. Despite it's very well made and be nice to hear, it's far from being one of my favourite songs on the album. The fifth track "The Life Auction" is divided into two parts, "Impressions Of Southall From The Train" written by Dave Cousins and John Hawken and "The Auction" written by Dave Cousins and Dave Lambert. This is another superb song and represents the third highest musical moment on the album. It's a song with a very dark ambience, clearly marked by the low and very deep voice of Dave Cousins. This is a progressive song, very powerful, acidic and bombastic, especially due to the use of the Mellotron. The song is superiorly orchestrated and performed by all band's members. It's certainly one of the most powerful and one of the best pieces of music that the band has ever made. The sixth track "Don't Try To Change Me" written by Dave Lambert is a good, melodic, nice, enjoyable and a consistent song, very well arranged. It's the typical contribution song of Dave Lambert to the band to be on the charts. The seventh track "Remembering" written by John Hawken is the shortest song on the album, with less than one minute. It's a lovely song played beautifully by John Hawken on synthesizer and is an introduction to the next song "You And I (When We Were Young)". The eighth track "You And I (When We Were Young)" written by Dave Cousins is a soft, sad and dark ballad beautifully performed. It's a song with very nostalgic lyrics, reflecting in our younger days and that makes us want to live. The ninth track "Grace Darling" written by Dave Cousins is the epic ending of this album. It's a beautiful piece of music with fantastic keyboards performed on the chapel's pipe organ of the Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, and with a beautiful and majestic choral accompaniment provided by the school choir too. This is one of the most beautiful and celestial ballads I heard in all my life and it's, without any doubt, the perfect way to end another great album of Strawbs.

Conclusion: "Ghosts" is, in my humble opinion, another great album of Strawbs, probably the last great studio album released by them. So, and unfortunately, this album represents a mark in their musical career because, from here until the end of the 70's when they split and until the end of the 80's, there was no place for the releasing of another great studio album by them. However, Strawbs on albums such as "Just A Collection Of Antiques And Curious", "From The Witchwood", "Grave New World", "Bursting At The Seams", "Hero And Heroine" and "Ghosts" composed some of the most beautiful, brilliant and unforgettable pieces of music in the 70's, and because of that, they won a very special place of honour in the progressive music. So, Strawbs is one of the groups that wrote a brilliant page in the world of the progressive rock music. They won also a very special place into my heart as one of the classic prog bands I most love.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Share this STRAWBS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to VianaProghead
• Report this review (#2451568)
• Buy STRAWBS music online with PA partners
• Show all STRAWBS MP3/Stream
• Go to STRAWBS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Ghosts page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for STRAWBS related discussions