Close to 5 stars but....
mike | sandy,ut | 06/06/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"unfortunately,this chorus of "this is the other side of life" ruins that idea...anyways,after that minor complaint,what we have is another solid GE effort,led by the immortal "she flies on strange wings",this song was one of my first introductions to golden earring and "i was hooked"!!.such a modern sounding for 1971,i actually thought it was like 1981...probably a big reason for the earring not being so big in the US was because their material was at least 5-10 years ahead of it's time,this music needless to say really holds up well today!!.but lo and behold,"she flies..." is not the only solid tune here,this album is chock full of 'em,check out the black sab-ish riff on "the road swallows her name",barry hay sings great on this."the guitar-sax riff on "hope" will stick in your head forever,guaranteed:for better or worse."don't worry",has a nice dancing-bouncy rock riff and also great bass playing."you're better off free" is nicely sung by george kooymans(i love his voice),with a kiler riff and guitar solo in the mid-section jam."silver ships" is a multi-part epic,that reminds me of pink floyd,the who and uriah heep all at once!!.so all-in-all,a neccesary purchase for the rabid GE fan and also anyone that wants to dig deeper in the realms of heavy rock.like i said earlier,if they would have replaced "this is the other side of life" with "holy,holy life",this would have been an easy 5-star record."
Seven Tears are Seven GEms
Chocolate Fudge | 12/21/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Silver Ships, She Flies on Strange Wings are unforgettable.
You're Better off Free is a fantastic guitar jam- and why newer
music pales in comparison to such virtuosity and spirit. Hope and
Don't Worry (which is quite funky) are probably the less desirable but I still enjoy them. The Other side of Life is weird maybe Old Worldish but it grew on me. The Road Swallowed Her Name is a good ole big riff rocker.All in all, you just can't
get enough of this stuff."