UNHALFBRICKING

The second album of this group with Sandy Denny is more unbalanced than the earlier masterpiece, in my consideration mostly due very different styled songs. "Genesis Hall" and "Autopsy" open the record with very sad and emotional moods, and late Martin Lamble's drumming drives these bluesy laments to powerful heights. The masterful "A Sailor's Life" also relates to Martin Lamble powerfully, as I understood this should be among quite much the last recorded takes he played on, before being lost on a car accident. I also think this song shows Fairport Convention's connections to ideals of "progressive rock" most clearly, as the over eleven minutes long psychedelic treatment brings a new viewpoint to the arrangements of traditional songs, and is performed in the studio with little over dubbings, going for the power via "live in the studio" methods. The further developments of this style can be heard for example on the recordings of The Trees, but seldom such beautifulness and open euphoric freedom as on this track is encountered. Sandy's pretty folk number "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" was also recorded with the fellows of The Strawbs, and that version can be heard on their album "All of Our Own Work". The Bob Dylan's cover songs "Si Tu Dois Partir", "Percy's Song" and "Million Dollar Bash" aren't very interesting though, and they lower the overall experience for me. Interesting is however that there is this huge concentration of his compositions on this record. "Cajun Woman" was also slightly redneck-oriented folk strumming to my ears, but luckily the good parts outcome the poorer elements with time and quality still. The record cover showing the band locked inside a British garden is really stunning also.