Search - Steeleye Span :: Storm Force Ten

What do you mean, not their best?

Gregory Zeigerson | Garwood, NJ USA | 08/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Storm Force Ten" is among the very best Steeleye Span albums. Every song is extremely interesting to me, and gets under my skin. I visualize the characters: the proud chimney sweep who only plans to work for the gentry, the miserable treadmill prisoners/laborers, the ecstatic girl about to turn 17, the army widow...What the band does with the interlaced voices and harmonies, and electric and acoustic guitars interweaving, is improve these ancient songs from mere folk ballads (and Brecht's strange theatrical songs) into something more ambitious. Some songs on earlier Steeleye Span albums, like "Thomas The Rhymer," while catchy, are essentially very simple, repetitive, rock treatments of their source. The songs on "Storm Force Ten" are more developed, with sophisticated experiments that work in every case to bring them alive. I am shocked that critics in the past, and many Amazon reviewers today, consider this a lesser work by this great band. My suspicion is that creativity and change of style aren't prized by many traditional folk music fans. But if you are simply interested in music that is magical, lyrics that cinematically transport you into the dramatic or whimsical or romantic or joyful or miserable stories of past souls, and into the sunny or dark atmospheres of places in distant centuries, and you don't mind--even appreciate--that the band uses different instruments than they did in another album, this is a not-to-be-missed selection of songs. This album, and the collection "The Steeleye Span Story (Original Masters)," were the first two Steeleye Span albums I bought, and they remain my favorites. If you like Dickensian tales, or shows like "Oliver!" or "Mary Poppins" or "Threepenny Opera," this album is recommended."

Quintessential "Classic" Steeleye Span

Michael Gmirkin | Beaverton, Oregon, USA | 05/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Steeleye Span pioneered folk rock along with Fairport convention (whose music I still haven't picked up yet, though I've been meaning to for variety's sake). If you're a Steeleye Span fan, you will like this CD. Period. It's a Steeleye classic, and one of my many favorites.



Skip the newer releases, like: They Called Her Babylon, Bedlam Born, Bloody Men.



Go for the Classics: Tempted and Tried, All Around my Hat, Sails of Silver, Storm Force Ten, Rocket Cottage, Hark! The Village Wait, Please to See the King, Ten Man Mop, Commoners Crown, Now We Are Six, Parcel of Rogues, Below the Salt, Back in Line.



If you must pick up "modern" Steelye albums, pick up: Time (one of their best "modern" releases) and Horkstow Grange (their other good "modern" release). "Winter" is supposed to also be good, on par with the classics (traditional arrangements of holiday songs), though I haven't yet seen it.



The above "classic" albums cover the early and middle years."

It Isn't Steeleye Span, But I Like It!

Horkstow Grange | San Fransisco, California USA | 05/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's okay.It's kind of like when Jehtro Tull started out bluesy. I'm no too much of a blues fan, but Tull is so talented, they make it sound good. It is the same with Steeleye Span. They kind of went into this weird faze with Storm Force, but they snapped out of it. I hate the mellotrons. But basically it is a very relaxing album, not many of the songs will make you really want to dance. One song makes you feel like you're at the carnival. A new member, John Kirkpatrick, plays the accordion. I don't really like the accordion, I would prefer Pete's violin to John's squeeze box."