Search - Bridget St John :: Jumblequeen

One of the greatest albums of all time!

08/02/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The great John Peel (undisputedly the foremost discoverer of new musical talent in the UK) almost incessantly bombarded his radio audience with this woman's extraordinary voice in the seventies, and quite rightly too! Quintessentially English, with a tendancy toward the mystical; a breathy, haunting, flute-like quality to the singing, a strange and startling combination of innocence and wisdom in the lyrics. If devotees of June Tabor or Sandy Denny wish to see if their Heroines had any peers, they had better listen to this album a few times. The accompaniments, surprisingly, have hardly dated (except perhaps the 'bonus tracks' on the CD which were not on the original vinyl, and need to considered separately, but, although they aren't, in my view, up to the standard of the rest of the album, are still worth hearing). The power of some of the material, like the title track, is simply staggering! The magical voice, the evocative words, the seductive melody all come togeth! er in an overwhelming emotional rush. Devastating!"