Steeleye Span: Bedlam Born
 A review by Mark Edward Askren

Maddy Prior once said of Gay Woods' return to Steeleye Span that "what goes around, comes around." If so, then these are exciting times for Steeleye Span. Although Maddy has been gone for a few years now, the band seems to be forging ahead in the same vein it did in the early 1970s, when the idea of playing folk music with rock instruments seemed sacrilegious. The band is pushing the envelope even harder now that Maddy's gone, and despite personnel changes, including the recent parting of stalwart Bob Johnson, the band is at its strongest since those early days.

"Bedlam Born", Steeleye's most recent album, is proof that Steeleye Span is alive and well and here to stay in the foreseeable future. Unlike 1998's "Horkstow Grange", in which the band seemed to struggle to find its voice, "Bedlam Born" is loud and convincing. Of the fourteen songs on the album, nearly half are rockers, and the composing and performing duties are shared almost equally by all the members of the band. The album also shows Steeleye exploring more than before the boundaries of the folk-rock genre while remaining recognizably Steeleye Span. Though musically it is reminiscent of 1976's "Rocket Cottage", in general seriousness it is much closer to the even earlier "Please to See the King".

The album opens with "Well Done Liar!", a rocker by Bob Johnson, one of three songs he contributed to this, apparently his last Steeleye album. Bob seems very much at home here, rocking as always with the band in a song that speaks to his own story-telling abilities. Along with "The Beggar" and "We Poor Labouring Men", which builds slowly to a rousing conclusion, all of Bob's songs are solidly performed and written. Bob also plays guitar, as expertly as ever, on many of the other tunes.

Bob's song is followed by "Who Told the Butcher", a riddle-song by Peter Knight, a song not at all about butchery. Whimsical and playful, the song reveals some excellent harmonizing between Peter and Gay Woods. Also note-worthy about Peter's playing on the album, though not on this particular song, is his use of the new "Octave" electric violin, tuned an octave lower that his usual violin and sounding hauntingly like an electric guitar in many of the tunes in which it appears.

The real surprise on the album, however, is the emergence of Tim Harries as a leading song-writing force. His "John of Ditchford", which follows Peter's song, is arguably the best song on the album, for which Tim deserves a lot of credit. Tim seems to have taken his cue from Bob Johnson on this album, for like Bob, who usually writes songs about mayhem and murder, "John of Ditchford" is just such a song. Tim's songs on "Bedlam Born" are the strongest and most haunting songs on the album, and they also contain some of the most original subject matter as source material. Tim also contributes to the album its only instrumental, the Baroque-like "Black Swan".

But Gay Woods is equally at home on the album and shows her ethereal voice in top form. In "I See His Blood Upon The Rose", a song based upon the words of poet Joseph Plunkett, who died in the 1916 uprising, Gay's voice has never sounded better, particularly in the high ranges. Gay's songs are as haunting and as beautiful as Tim's, with whom she trades off vocals on "There Was a Wealthy Merchant", and her own "Beyond the Dreaming Place", which sounds vaguely reminiscent of Maire Brennan and Clannad. Gay also experiments heavily with spoken lyric in "Arbour" and her unusual version of "The White Cliffs of Dover", which sounds downright chilling over the synthesized sound of whales singing.

The album is completed, though not in this order, by "Poor Old Soldier", a song by Peter similar in theme to "Fighting for Strangers", but far more traditional musically; "Stephen", a song by Tim about Herod's reaction to the birth of Christ; and Gay's remaking of "The Connemara Cradle Song", sung to a melody adapted from "Down in the Valley". Special attention should be given to guest drummer Dave Mattacks, who performs outstandingly on many of the tracks, and who, one hopes, may eventually become more than just a guest drummer. Dave's drumming provides a solid beat for the band and holds many of the tunes together.

All in all, "Bedlam Born" is a superb album, one that shows the band at its best in years. Anyone debating whether to purchase this album, Steeleye fan or not, will not be disappointed. The album has something for everyone, from those seeking rock to those interested in folk to those merely curious. It is an album that Steeleye can be proud of.

Mark Edward Askren. 2000