The second album in year 2004 – for many a year we have never had it so
good! But a Christmas Album? This conjures up visions of “other” Christmas
Albums, mostly sugary renditions that reappear on the radio stations
mid-November annually only to be thankfully buried in early January. This
vision is tempered by the knowledge that there is such a depth of traditional
music around Christmas and the Winter solstice thus giving the hope that
Steeleye will pull the rabbit out of the hat. THEY HAVE!
Having ordered my CD via Amazon in the UK (I live in Germany and Amazon
there didn’t stock it) it arrived by post yesterday (2nd December).
With trepidation we put it into the player & sat down – the display
showed 59 minutes of content!
1. The First Nowell
2. Down in Yon Forest
3. Unconquered Sun
4. Chanticleer
5. Bright Morning Star
6. Winter
7. See Amid the Winter's Snow
8. Mistletoe Bough
9. Sing We the Virgin Mary
10. Today in Bethlehem
11. Blow Your Trumpet Gabriel
12. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
13. Good King Wenceslas
14. In The Bleak Midwinter
The following are my almost instant impressions having listened to the
album 3 times during that last 20 hours. I have to say that I am not a
musician having never got further than playing the treble recorder at school
almost 40 years ago. Folk music is for me generally too weak, just Steeleye’s
music has captured my interest.
To be honest, as the first track played I got that sinking feeling. It wasn’t
very inspiring & Maddy’s voice sounded a bit tired. The opening chords
for “Down in Yon Forest” changed all that. Instantly recognisable
as Steeleye. Here was the less-known item I’d been hoping for, excellently
played & Maddy’s voice superb..
This gets even better with “Unconquered Sun” sung by Ken.
Powerful but somehow sad. The beat on “Chanticleer” (the cockerel)
is fascinating – how do they do this?
“Bright Morning Star” is sung a cappella, reminds one of gospel
singing and is followed by the quieter “Winter” from Peter. “See
Amid the Winter's Snow” has Peter’s mandolin making us wonder if we
are now in Greece – with great singing. “Mistletoe Bough” starts
off with acoustic guitar sequence and then launches into the song sung by Ken.
Excellent.
“Today in Bethlehem” has again a fascinating tune. This is followed
by “Blow Your Trumpet Gabriel” with Maddy accompanied by Liam on
drums. How do they manage it? What a masterpiece! For us the high-point of the
album. The sleeve notes state that Maddy sang this at her mother’s funeral
– there was probably not a dry eye in the place.
The album moves on with the more well-known “Hark The Herald Angels
Sing” & “Good King Wenceslas” – that latter starting
off a la Dire Straits and at breakneck speed which I’m not so sure about. It
has the flavour of American square-dancing! Finally there is “In The
Bleak Midwinter” as an excellent finish. I had forgotten that the tune
came from Gustav Holst. Maddy’s voice & Peter’s playing.
My wife (who is from Hamburg) echoed my feelings this morning when she said
that this album stands way HEAD & SHOULDERS above the usual Christmas
fare. We look forward to attending a concert just before Christmas.
What does the future offer? After two great albums in 2004 with the current
line-up they hopefully don’t throw in the towel and stop at this peak –
MORE!!!!!
Has anyone noticed how unusual this album is for Steeleye? As far as I can
see there are no bodies littering the album! One of the characteristics of
Steeleye’s songs are that they are of murder and so-on sung in the most
carefree way. In “Long Lankin” there are 4 dead, in “Two
Butchers” there are 3 – on “Storm Force 10” there is a
whole town full. WINTER lacks the bodies but is none the worse for that.
