Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal/Dr Dim & Dr Strange/Roy Rogers/Dark Haired Lady/On The West Cork Hack/A Tale Of Two Orphanages/Strings In The Earth & Air/Ship Of Fools/Frosty Mornings/Donnybrook Fair
King Of The Serenes was the debut album from the Irish progressive folk group Dr Strangely Strange. Their music has been described as not dissimilar to The Incredible String Band.
“Among the most revered of folk/prog bands. This is their first of two, and fairly consistent. It's a mix of semi-Celtic, minstrel and traditional folk with progressive influences, and featuring extensive use of pan-flute and with male vocals. Unfortunately, for my taste, the songwriting is rather weak, yielding somewhat uninteresting material.”
“Very quirky, charming folk-rock with ties and similarities to The Incredible String Band. Surreal lyrics at times, probably a minor classic to some people. With some of the songs, I'm not sure if they're grabbing me or just annoying me.”
“Not as catchy as their second album. It's well played, but a little boring by and by. But for fans of The Incredible String Band, this is recommended.”
“Remarkably mature for 1969, this first album of Dr. Strangely Strange is a marvel of progressive folk. Most of the pieces are very well orchestrated, vocal harmonies are complex and multifaceted, instrumentation is rich, adventurous, sometimes psychedelic, always controlled.”
“Its nice enough, certainly ramshackle and plenty weird too. Unfortunately a couple of songs are just a little undistinguished in that nothing really leaps and grabs me, but then again a couple of songs are very good.”
“It drifts, it loses focus on occasion, it indulges in all sorts of whimsy and mythological silliness, you can hear the barely suppressed giggling and it seems to stagger off in random directions for no real reason.”
“Some songs have so many layers of subtle complexity to them I'm sure I could appreciate them differently each time I listen indefinitely. They clearly had an acute sense for the little details and for how to tell their eccentric stories, unexpectedly baffling the listener by introducing a new tune mid-song, only for it to vanish again.”
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