TIME

'Time' is a great title for this album as it was (at the time of its release) a very long time since Steeleye Span made an album as strong album as this. This is a return to the form of the bands prime time in the mid 70's and for me this has stood the test of time better than many of their early albums and remains one of my all time Steeleye favourites.

The production is strong and all the songs are very good. There is a surprisingly strong Rock drive in many of the songs due to powerful drumming and the strong presence of electric guitars and even piano. The distinctive lead vocals of Maddy Prior are here, of course, and they are stronger than ever. But there is nice mix between male and female vocals. An earlier member in Gay Woods, also sings on the album. This is obviously not a Prog album by any means but there is thankfully no All Around My Hat-type of song present. The songs are better developed than usual and we are treated to more extended instrumental sections.

The opener Prickly Bush, though a good song, repeats its chorus perhaps a couple of times too many. The same problem might be said to apply to a couple of the other tracks too, but overall it is more than acceptable. The longest track is Elf King with its eight and a half minutes and while it does not utilize this time to make anything truly progressive, it does feature excellent solos and it builds towards a bombastic ending. A great song!

There is a very nice variation on here too with everything from an up tempo reel to folky (power) ballads. The Water Is Wide is a song of the latter type with moving vocals that reminds of Sandy Denny.

There is not much more a Prog fan could reasonably ask of a Steeleye Span album!

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