NOMADNESS

"Nomadness" is the ninth studio album of Strawbs and was released in 1975. Musically, it's very different from their previous three studio albums "Bursting At The Seams", "Hero And Heroine" and "Ghosts". All tracks are short and timed with less than five minutes giving the album a less epic feel. By the other hand, all songs are different and don't seem to be a unified musical effort, how we were used to. It's significantly less adventurous than their previous albums.

Again, "Nomadness" saw another change in their line up. John Hawken left the band. It was their first album with no full time keyboardist since their two previous albums "Strawbs" and "Dragonfly" released in 1969 and 1970, respectively.

So, the line up on "Nomadness" is Dave Cousins (vocals, acoustic guitar, dulcimer and banjo), Dave Lambert (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars), Chas Cronk (backing vocals and bass guitar) and Rod Coombes (backing vocals, drums and acoustic guitar). The album has also the participation of Rick Wakeman (electric harpsichord), John Mealing (piano, organ and electric piano), Tommy Eyre (piano, clavinet and synthesizer), John Lumley-Saville (synthesizer), Tony Carr (congas), Jack Emblow (accordion) and Tom Allom (cymbalum).

"Nomadness" has ten tracks. The first track "To Be Free" written by Dave Cousins is an energetic hard rock song made to be listened on the radio stations and also to be a big it. It's an uncommon heavy way to Strawbs open a studio album. However, I think it represents a good open to this completely different musical proposal, very pleasant to hear and well constructed. The second track "Little Sleepy" written by Dave Lambert is another song in the vein of the previous one. It's also an energetic hard rock song with very powerful riffs, made to be listened on radio stations and also to be a big it. But this time it sounds more to the American taste. Sincerely, I think it's less good and more vulgar than "To Be Free" is. The third track "The Golden Salamander" written by Dave Cousins is one of the four highlights on the album. It's a fantastic song in the traditional vein of the great songs of the band. It has beautiful lyrics, musically is very simple and delicate, almost acoustic and nicely sung by Dave Cousins. This is, without any doubt, one of the best and most beautiful musical moments on the album, indeed. The fourth track "Absent Friend (How I Need You)" written by Dave Cousins is a very strange and bizarre song on the album. It's a song completely different to anything Strawbs had done until now. This is really a good song, but sincerely, I think it's completely out of the place on the album and it's also out of the music style of the band. The fifth track "Back On The Farm" written by Dave Cousins is a song made in the country musical style. Like the previous song, it's also out of the place on the album, but this time we can't even say this is a good song, really. It's another song that represents unfortunately one of the weakest musical moments on the album. The sixth track "So Shall Our Love Die" written by Dave Cousins is, fortunately the opposite. It represents the second and probably the best highlight on the album. This is a fantastic and sad love song, entirely acoustic and very sumptuous, which is magnificently performed with 12 string guitars and piano. It's really a must for those, like me, who love the musical golden era of this incredible, fantastic and unique band. The seventh track "Tokyo Rosie" written by Dave Cousins is, in my opinion, a strange song. It's also a song made to be listened on radio stations and to be a big commercial it, but unfortunately for them that completely failed. Despite is a vulgar commercial song, its pleasant enough to hear, because it has a funny and catchy rhythm. Sincerely, I like this song. The eighth track "A Mind Of My Own" written by Rod Coombes is a good musical composition sung by Dave Lambert and made more in the blues style. It's almost an acoustic song, calm and slow, with a nice acoustic guitar work. Despite that, it doesn't bring anything special to the album. The ninth track "Hanging In The Gallery" written by Dave Cousins represents the third highest moment on the album and reminds us the good old days of the band. Here we have Dave Cousins at his best. The song has excellent lyrics with Dave Cousins giving a nice vocal interpretation of it, and musically, it's at the same level of their best musical folk progressive moments. The tenth track "The Promised Land" written by Chas Cronk represents the fourth and last highest moment on the album. Like the opener "To Be Free", it's a very strong song and is a good way to close the album. It has powerful keyboards, strong guitar, good lyrics, great singing and also an amazing refrain.

Conclusion: I have a vinyl copy of this album bought in the good old 70's. It was also my first musical work of them. Despite I know that it's far from be one of their best pieces, I always liked it. I know it was made in a commercial musical approach and that it has very few progressive moments, but it has, in my humble opinion, four great musical moments "The Golden Salamander", "So Shall Our Love Die", "Hanging In The Gallery" and "The Promised Land". But despite all I said before, "Nomadness" is clearly a turning point into their music. It represents a turn from their progressive roots to a more commercial approach. But it represents also the beginning of the fall of another great progressive rock band.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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