Strawbs
Bursting At The Seams

In my humble opinion, 1973 remains a musical vintage worth uncorking for very special occasions, and this my first review on DeBaser examines an album that caused a sensation upon its release, not just in England.

The Strawbs had revolutionized the line-up to such an extent that only Dave Cousins remained to represent the original core, as well as the undisputed leader in all incarnations of the band. Tony Hooper exited without drama, having been left too much in the background in songwriting, he would slip back into anonymity to reappear with his old mates in 1987. His replacement is Dave Lambert, an electric guitarist formerly with FIRE, an unfortunate band of late English psychedelia. His inclusion inevitably caused a distortion of the acoustic sound, shifting to electric riffs already evident in the lead single Lay Down, a pleasant commercial pop-rock, since then always present in live setlists. The success of the track, No.12 UK, further heightened the anticipation for the album, which shot to No.2 driven by the subsequent single Part Of The Union, a sharp union ballad written by the Hudson-Ford duo, hit the market concurrently with a workers' uprising that turned the song into a sort of anthem, causing some trouble for the band but also lots of publicity. It ended up at No.2 as well, a huge success at home that the quintet would never taste again in the future.

The rest of the album offers the best fruits, thanks to particularly inspired songwriting, a balanced and harmonious group sound, evident in the opening of Flying, a choral piece with velvety tones, and in Lady Fuschia, more exotic and enhanced by Hudson's sitar. The compositional peaks, which make the album memorable, include the dramatic pace of Down by the sea, multifaceted in mood changes and vocals, the beautiful voice of Lambert surprises during the rocking break that resolves into Cousins' return in the most emotional verses, punctuated by the mellotron. The orchestral finale, sinister and in crescendo, majestically closes a great classic, absolutely worth rediscovering! Turning the album leaves a deep impression of the beauty of Tears and Pavan, a track divided into two parts: Tears, with great emotional tension in Cousins' vocal interpretation describing the scents of a vanished love, here Blue Weaver shines on mellotron and harpsichord, before giving way to a folk dance, a Pavan indeed, highlighted by an irresistible handclap and splendid banjo work. There is also room for Dave Lambert's first contribution, The Winter and The Summer, an ideal pop-rock compromise that anticipates certain future choices, not always right.

The album surprises for its variety of harmonic solutions with total respect for the acoustic background, always present here and there in every track. There's only regret for an extremely fragile line-up, bent by internal discord, leaving Cousins and Lambert to pick up the pieces and start anew with a new quintet.

In conclusion, at the end of the album, a touching thank you to the children's choir of the Charterhouse School.