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Product Description
CD Description
Reduced to mid price 17/10/05. Studio album recorded in 1995. Outstanding tracks are "The Hunter", "The Preacher" and "Exile".
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Show of Hands, aka songwriter/vocalist Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer, had been together a few years before this album came out, but aside from their relentless touring schedule this was the first real glimmer of critical acclaim outside the sometimes insular world of the folk circuit. As with all Show of Hands material, this album is full of modern concerns addressed through the medium of traditionally inspired (and half familiar-sounding) melodies and beautiful acoustic instrumentation, so anyone who dares suggest that folk music has no relevance to contemporary life could certainly do worse than listen to this! The songs are a mixture of haunting ballads ("Captains" and the much-covered "Exile", a song that may well be familiar to many who've not even heard of Show of Hands), cleverly barbed (and slightly left-of-centre) protest songs ("The Hunter" and "The Well"), rabble-rousing choruses ("The Man in Green") and a couple of outstanding, chilling story-songs with perhaps a nod in the direction of the Fairport Convention lyric tradition. All the songs are rooted in a deep love for the countryside and its people and traditions, but never over-romanticised: these are songs of the real world, of general elections ("The Hunter"), TV and the internet ("Safe as Houses"), asylum seekers ("Exile") and the meaning of life in a world tbat's accelerating out of control. For anyone with an interest in singer-songwriters and storytelling, this is probably the best starting point to get into Show of Hands. They are a band deserving of great things, who've made their mark from sheer hard graft and pure poetry - and this is a definite contender for the Top 10 Greatest Folk Albums Ever!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Anyone who may be under the impression that folk music is a product of a bygone age, and that in a world of global conflict, capitalism and the Internet it has lost its place, would do very well to listen to this album. Steve Knightley and Phil Beer have a wonderful knack of taking simple acoustic instrumentation and traditional-inspired tunes and using them to tell stories which are disturbingly up-to-the-minute.
Those who mourn the decline of the "protest song" in the 1990s can take pride in songs such as "The Hunter", comparing the bloodthirsty fox hunter to the greedy Tory MP canvassing for votes, or "The Well", a scathing critique on privatisation in the guise of a beautiful folk ballad, or the now much-covered "Exile". Even the Internet finds a reference in the mournful "Safe as Houses". Those in search of angst and yearning can find it in abundance in the weird, bluesy "Unlock Me" or the tragic tale of "The Preacher". And anyone who has ever been short-changed in a London pub will definitely appreciate the sentiments of "Ratcliffe Highway"!
The gem of the collection however has to be the bittersweet "Captains", a very modern ballad of love with a tune that would be as much at home in a smoky folk club as it would to accompany a candlelit dinner. Worth buying for this song alone!
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Here is the holy grail of albums for disillusioned music fans - at last an album without a single duff track! Encompassing a variety of songs from traditional jolly folk tunes to achingly tender love ballads, all performed with consummate skill and delivered in Steve Knightley's rich and powerful voice, this is music to fall in love with.
Beware though - 'Captains' will stop you in your tracks and make your heart soar even as it is being gently ripped from your body...as you can tell, I am bowled over by the sheer quality of this album.
Beware though - 'Captains' will stop you in your tracks and make your heart soar even as it is being gently ripped from your body...as you can tell, I am bowled over by the sheer quality of this album.
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