Deboraarobed/Stacey Grove/Wind Quartets/Conesuala/Trelawny Lawn/Aznageel The Mage/The Friends/ Salamanda Palaganda/Our Wonderful Brownskin Man/O Harley(The Saltimbanques/Eastern Spell/The Travelling Tragition/Juniper Suction/Scenescof Dynasty
Prophets Seers & Sages delivers a second helping of hippy-dippy idealism from Marc Bolan before he became a teen idol. The songs are very much in the same vein as the first album earlier in the year.
"It by and large presents a refined and tightened up version of their sound from their debut. That said, there's definite instrumental improvement on both players' accounts and they manage to pack sufficient surprises and unexpected twists into sub-two minute songs such as Stacey Grove to keep things interesting. The weak point at this point is Bolan's vocals - his hippy-dippy lyrics are hard to even recognise, let alone understand. Like the last one, pleasant but not compelling."
"I don't get why Prophets is considered by most as the weakest album of acoustic era Marc Bolan. The songs you'll find here are so much more catchy than those on the debut."
"Bolan's lyrics are mostly incomprehensible as he sings in a slurring and shaking voice, often coming to a chorus of la de da's as the rather unrhythmic and incessant tapping of various hand percussion instruments drone over like a hummingbird beating out a distress signal. I found the whole thing charming."
"To Bolan's multi-tracked vocals, whistling and acoustic guitars have been added Steve Peregrine Took's complementary harmony vocals and percussion on a variety of exotic instruments, including talking drums, Chinese gong, kazoo and pixiephone. The strong sense of melody, however strange it may seem at first listen, remains as memorable and haunting as on the first, and together with the extraordinary lyrics, seem to inhabit a world other than our own, but which would be eminently suitable for an extended picnic. The exclusive use of real instruments, most if not all unamplified, gives the album a timelessness which serves it well."
"Prophets is a musically accomplished record with a strong sense of 'other world' magic. Old fashioned instruments and Tolkien inspired lyrics really do put you in mind of noble warriors, wise sages, elves dancing in groves and kings in their timbered halls. This record is a lot of fun but is also credible."
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