JUST A COLLECTION OF ANTIQUES AND CURIOS

"Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios" is a live album release by UK folk rock/progressive rock act The Strawbs. The album was released in October 1970 through A&M Records. It´s the successor to "Dragonfly" from February 1970. Since the band´s eponymously titled debut album was released in May 1969, "Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios" is The Strawbs third album released in just 17 months. Quite a few lineup changes has taken place since the preceding album as cellist Claire Deniz and bassist Ron Chesterman have left. New in the lineup are John Ford (bass), Richard Hudson (vocals, drums, percussion, citar), and Rick Wakeman (piano, organ, harpsichord, celeste). The latter already guested on "Dragonfly", but has now become a full-time member of The Strawbs. The usual suspects are Dave Cousins (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dulcimer) and Tony Hooper (vocals, acoustic guitar, tambourine).

The material featured on "Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios" was recorded live on the 11th of July 1970 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The original version of the album features 6 tracks and a total playing time of 40:44 minutes, while the 1998 remaster adds 3 bonus tracks to the tracklist. One of them is "Forever", which is a studio track from a 1970 single, while the other two were recorded live at the same concert as the original material.

Most of the material is pretty standard early 70s folk rock, but the addition of Wakeman brings some much needed variation and classical music influenced finesse to the recording. especially on his own penned "Temperament of Mind", which shows his diverse musical influences. It would have been interesting to hear more of his playing incorporated on the more regular folk rock tracks (he plays the intro to "Song Of A Sad Little Girl" and some nice organ on "Where is This Dream of Your Youth", but you won´t hear him that often other than that). "Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios" features a well sounding organic production (courtesy of Tony Visconti), but ultimately it´s not the most interesting Strawbs release. It´s a bit on the uneventful and dull side. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.