Search - Jade :: Fly on Strangewings (Exp)

Very Good British Folk/Rock

Gregory P. Carrier | Iowa City, IA USA | 11/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Very comparable to Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny albums of the same era. Marian Segal has a great voice and writes some fine songs. The album has an autumnal feel to it that's typical of British Folk/Rock of the late 60's and early 70's. The extra tracks, Big Yellow Taxi and Carolina in My Mind, are interesting takes on the Joni Mitchell and James Taylor songs, but it's original tunes like Fly On Strangewings, Fly Me to The North, and Amongst Anenomes that make this an album worth adding to your collection."

Very fine underrated gem, good folk-rock

Strat_Lvr | 01/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, I agree with the other reviewers comments about this album and how they sound. Marian Segal definitely has a great and wonderful voice, very similar to Sandy Denny, and I also agree that the songs she wrote are very fine songs indeed. She had a great talent for songwriting as well as singing, and all of the originals on this CD are very good, and even the cover songs are done quite well. This album is a real gem for those who collect any British folk rock from the late 60's and early 70's, and when I first heard this, I was very pleased with it, there's not one bad song on it, and the music and the playing of the instruments by the other members is excellent as well, but it's Marian Segal's beautiful vocals that makes this one and only album by Jade a classic, and I higly recommend getting this if you like groups like Fairport Convention, Trees, Tudor Lodge, Mellow Candle, and many others. It really is a great album!"

Sweet harmonies

J. R. P. Wigman | Netherlands | 09/20/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Jade is one of the (nowadays) lesser known folkrock bands of the late 60s, and it's really nice to have this record back into print.

Apparently all songs have been written by Marian(ne) Segal (except for a few bonus tracks), and most of them are really fine with great melodies and tender lyrics. All instruments are handled deftly, while the trump card must be the vocals: miss Segal has an excellent voice (though a bit too heavy on the vibrato methinks) and the harmony singing is stunning!

On the other hand I am less impressed by the overall sound: as the songs themselves are quite pretty the addition of strings is making them rather too sweet.

In short, Jade is more like Sandy Denny solo than Sandy Denny with Fairport, more like Tudor Lodge than Trees, and with a tendency towards an american folk sound.

The accompanying booklet contains detailed historic information about the band by Marian(ne) Segal herself.



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