Strawbs - Burning For You & Heartbreak Hill re-issues

Strawbs
Burning For You - 6/10
Heartbreak Hill - 8/10
(Esoteric/Cherry Red)

By Decibel Report - May 20, 2020.

For most, Strawbs’ Part Of The Union hit single is their only exposure to a band possessing an extensive and varied discography from a productive and occasionally interrupted long career in show business. Its novelty nature acts as a misdirection song for a band that has existed across almost seven decades and whose albums skimmed marginally under the radar of mainstream progressive folk and rock awareness in the U.K.; whilst building up a formidable following and sales in America.

Those who paid their post decimal coin for this working person song of defiance to ‘the man’, or heard it on their radio, will discover a history of solid songcraft deftly delivered by a road-hardened band of seasoned players on these Esoteric/Cherry Red expanded re-issues.

Shortening their name from The Strawberry Hill Boys, and having folk royalty Sandy Denny then Rick Wakeman pass through their ranks onwards to progressive superstardom with Yes, these tenth and eleventh album releases finds a much-changed band undergoing a transitional and tumultuous period in their existence. Burning For You’s worthy mix of progressive folk-rock on what originally set out to be Dave Cousins’ final album with the band is sentimentally captured by the treacling tones of closing song Goodbye. Whereas Heartbreak Hill saw guitarist/singer Dave Lambert stepping out and away into a solo album of his own instead.

Nevertheless, Burning For You is sumptuously elevated by lustrous string arrangements by famed collaborator Robert Kirby of Nick Drake renown. As evidenced on the epic nature of the opening title track, there’s no small degree of thoughtful sonic embellishments shining through like a buffed up diamond on this re-mastered with extras edition.

However, in presenting a varied collection of songs that veer from the progressively alluring title song to jaunty rock-outs on Cut Like A Diamond and Heartbreaker, epic balladeering on I Feel Your Love Coming On, whispersish harmonies on Barcole and ordinary sounding album-fillers on Alexander The Great, Carry Me Home coupled with the throwaway music-hall Back In The Routine, renders this as a slightly off keel, uneven offering. The songs combine to make a very solid worthwhile listening experience, yet there’s not a standout song or two to match the album’s eye-catching cover. 

Meant to be the final ever Strawbs recording, it also suffers from Jeffrey Lesser's flat and by the numbers production which lacks a widescreen vision and clarity of purpose.

Of interesting note being this recording was originally released on Deep Purple’s Oyster label via Polydor.

Heartbreak Hill raises the game a notch or three as Something For Nothing ambitiously takes the listener on an aural journey with crack instrumentation hopping around this song like a three-legged cat on a hot tin roof. Ballads such as Without You and the AOR feel of We Can Make It Together benefit from the stronger production values by longstanding producer Tom Allom who injects a musical momentum and drive with an experienced guileful hand and grand vision from behind the desk.

Allom certainly makes his presence felt on the dramatic tale on title track Heartbreak Hill. The tempo changes, awesome arrangement and sweep of instrumentation and striking vocal by Cousins delivers this as an unmistaken landmark song in Strawbs' canon. To back up this vaulting aspirational level of musicality, the symphonic rock feel to Starting Over with its Styx like melodious modulations and harmonies over sonically charged peaks and softer, swooping passages is an epic captured in aspic on this originally unreleased jewel of an album.

Even in the quieter moments, as on what could have been a throwaway song, Two Separate Moments draws in the listener with production tricks that enable a simple sentiment to take on a much stronger meaning.

Moreover, further AOR infused numbers such as Desert Song tip the wink to radio playlists doing so with an uplifting charm. Even end song Let It Rain sounds defiant in its sonic stoicism revealing an uplifting silver lining guitar talk-box motif.

Overall, it’s a remarkable recording, given that it was shelved to gather cobwebs and be forgotten until it re-emerged in 1995, and this re-mastering with extra bonus tracks redefines this lost and found album as a solid-gold charming classic.

Both of these albums cover a transitional period of internecine powerplay where the epic songcraft of Dave Cousins mostly saves the day.