Strawbs - Hero And Heroine (74)

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01 – Autumn
02 - Sad Young Man
03 - Just Love
04 - Shine On Silver Sun
05 - Hero And Heroine
06 - Midnight Sun
07 - Out In The Cold
08 - Round And Round
09 - Lay A Little Light On Me
10 - Hero's Theme

The group's ballsiest album to date, a surging, hard-rocking follow-up to Bursting at the Seams, which debuted a new lineup, Richard Hudson, John Ford, and Blue Weaver having left to form their own group.

In their places, ex-Nashville Teens keyboardman John Hawken and the more muscular rhythm section of Rod Coombes and Chas Cronk make their debut, on what is the Strawbs' first fully electric album.

Dave Cousins' songwriting (augmented by Dave Lambert, who also contributes some slashing electric lead guitar) is still as romantic as ever in various spots ("Shine On Silver Sun," "Deep Summer's Sleep"), but also boasts dark visions ("Round and Round") which, coupled with new band's muscular playing, made the Strawbs one of the hardest-rocking progressive bands in the world.

Strawbs - Heartbreak Hill (96)

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01 - Something For Nothing
02 - Another Day Without You
03 - We Can Make It Together
04 - Heartbreak Hill
05 - Starting Over
06 - Two Separate People
07 - Desert Song
08 - Let It Rain


This is a rather peculiar and disjointed collection of tracks culled from 1988's reunion album Don't Say Goodbye along with other late period recordings.

Only fleeting moments of the Strawbs' patented progressive folk and rock gets uncovered, which is no surprise since their final albums leading up to their late '70s demise were also bereft of those key ingredients.

With only eight tracks, continuity is definitely lacking here, other than the familiar and unique voice of Dave Cousins.

The Strawbs are neither pop hitmakers nor schmaltzy romantics so why was this compilation necessary?

Strawbs - Burning For You (77)

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01 - Burning For Me
02 - Cut Like A Diamond
03 - I Feel Your Loving Coming On
04 - Barcarole (For The Death OF Venice)
05 - Alexander The Great
06 - Keep On Trying
07 - Back In The Old Routine
08 – Heartbreaker
09 - Carry Me Home
10 - Goodbye (Is Not An Easy Word To Say)


The Strawbs' second and final album for their new label starts off promisingly with the moody and expansive "Burning for Me"; Dave Cousins sings with restraint over a somber repeating theme on piano and strings, and it ends with a hint of a Moog solo.

Alas, later numbers like "Keep on Trying" turn out to be a limply insincere sort of "positive pop," which is all the more grating given the sincere moodiness of the band's earlier work.

"Back in the Old Routine" is a patronizing mimicry of the working bloke, a sort of folky watering down of their old hit "Part of the Union."

Cousins at least gets back a bit of his old bile in "Alexander the Great," where he gives a sour kiss-off to music critics — who, at this point, probably weren't listening anyway.