GRAVE NEW WORLD

This is the story of one man's life, from the cradle to the grave.This would be the first record that the STRAWBS recorded after Rick Wakeman had left the band for YES. The new keyboardist Mick Weaver, would incorporate a lot of mellotron into this record, yes !

The first song "Benedictus" is my favourite on this record. What a great sounding song with organ, piano and mellotron and the amazing vocals of Dave Cousins. I really like the line "bless Lord those who cause us pain". I guess that is like praying for your enemies. "Hey Little Man...Thursday's Child" is a vocal and acoustic guitar tune about a father giving advise to his young son. "Queen Of Dreams" sounds like a George Harrison song, it sounds fantastic. "Heavy Disguise" is another great tune with a guitar intro and a brass section sounding BEATLES-like.

"New World" is an emotional, powerful song with 12 string acoustic guitar and mellotron about war in Ireland. "Hey Little Man...Wednesday's Child" is the same as song 2, just a different day. "The Flower And The Young Man" is another great song about running through the changes of seasons, beautiful vocals as usual, with organ and mellotron. "Tomorrow" is an angry aggressive tune that Dave wrote about Rick Wakeman when he left the band. There are some very good drums and guitar in this one. "On Growing Older" features jingly- jangling guitars like The BYRDS. "Ah Me, Ah My" is funny. "Is It Today Lord" is a mystical song with sitar, tablas, autoharp and Indian harmonium. "The Journey's End" is fantastic, with vocals and piano. The two bonus tracks were recorded about the same time as this record and are both worthy additions. "Here it Comes" was actually released as a single and "I'm Going Home" was never released.

Very worthy of 4 stars.