Search - Jack the Lad :: Old Straight Track

Folk rock that ROCKS

G. Putman | Las Vegas, NV United States | 07/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My guess is that if you are checking this album out it is probably because you are a Lindisfarne fan and are curious as to what Rod Clements, Ray Laidlaw, and Simon Crowe were up to after they all left the original Lindisfarne line-up. Well, this is their second album and the one a lot people feel to be their best. By this point Rod Clements had split, and two members of the fairly obscure folk-rock band Hedgedog Pie (who were very good, and produced by Rick Kemp...by the way) replaced him. Now, I have not heard the first Jack The Lad album "It's", but from everything I have read it seems that it is much less traditional sounding, and probably closer in sound to Lindisfarne than this one. This is VERY TRADITIONAL sounding folk rock. There is a mixture of rocked-up traditional songs and very strong originals (mainly written by Simon Crowe). I won't go into details about specific songs, but the playing is very fresh, engaging, and energetic and the album is really enjoyable as a whole. If I had to compare this to someone else, then I would say maybe LOOSELY like the "All Around My Hat" era Steeleye Span (no female vocals here though), or some of the more folky Jethro Tull stuff off of the "Songs From The Wood" era. So, if you like traditional English folk mucic with a heavy dose of rock, then you will sbsolutely love this album. I just ordered the other two JTL albums and will be reviewing them when they come in. By the way, this album was voted Melody Maker's "Folk Album of the Year" in 1974."