BLUE ANGEL

New Strawbs material was quite a rare item at the time of this release. Twelve years separate their last original album Don't Say Goodbye and this one which features mostly new versions of existing material (be Strawbs or Cousin-Willoughby solo work).

The centrepiece is of course the long opener Blue Angel. Cousin is really doing a great job here. Each element is well on its place: his voice is always good, the melody is catchy and the folk aspects are much closer than on previous releases. It will overshadow the whole of this album which features both rock music (which is not the genre in which the band excels) as well as folk.

Another good song is There Will Come The Day although the chorus is quite childish and seems to have been sung on a Sunday morning at the parish around the corner. The country style Strange Day Over The Hill is a song you wouldn't like to hear I guess; but in this case, you know what to do.

The vocal work from Mary Hopkin is also pleasant and contrasts nicely with Cousin's nasal one (there are plenty of guests on this release who are helping as well).

The overall atmosphere of this album doesn't succeed to raise my enthusiasm. Rhythm Of The Night is a rocking song which sounds as if it was coming out Springsteen's repertoire. But this song is OK, even if on the pop-rock side.

The very much Beatles-esque Morning Glory has a fine melody as long as the chorus doesn't appear. Once this happens, the church feeling strikes back again (but with such a title, it might be nothing but normal).

To summarize my feeling: Blue Angel is a very good song. And there are no others like it (or even close) here. Two stars.