The Use Of Ashes - PEARLS BEFORE SWINE***

The Jeweller/From The Movie Of The Same Name/Rocket Man/God Save The Child/Song About A Rose/Tell Me Why/Margery/The Old Man/The Riegal/When The War Began

By the time of the release of The Use Of Ashes all the original members had departed the psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine, except for guiding light Tom Rapp. For this release he recruited some top session musicians and also called in aid his then wife Elisabeth.

“Although somewhat dated in sound, what saves the record are the songs. They are incredibly well crafted and melodic, with the only clunker being Tell Me Why which is a meandering mess.”

“With the other founder members of the band all gone, Pearls Before Swine had rather become the Tom Rapp show by this point. That said, as far as psychedelictinged folk-rock singer-songwriters go, he does an admirable job here, backed up with his then wife and Memphis backing musicians, to issue forth a range of sweetly sung ruminations.”

“I'm not the biggest fan of this style of downer folk, but their earlier releases were in such a non-commercial vein as to be almost compelling. I found this less interesting even than its predecessor, of which I was no big supporter either.”

“One gets the feeling listening to The Use Of Ashes that it was intended to be the commercial breakthrough for Tom Rapp. Certainly the hook laden God Save The Child was meant for more radio exposure and it deserved it. This a quiet album and more refined than Balaklava.”

“The only real great song on this album is Rocket Man an eerie track about the family of an astronaut. Most of the rest is slow depressing murky folk rock without the hooks of previous albums.”

"The Jeweller leads off the album and it instantly displays the vocal and songwriting prowess of Tom. If you like this song you will know instantly you are on to something. Loaded with talented back up musicians, the complex song play is only more enhanced by Tom's expressive singing. Margery and Riegal are also worthy of high praise. This is slow but intense music and probably not for everyone.”

“A collection of psychedelic influenced folk rock ballads, many of which are sadly overlooked classics resulting in a melancholy masterpiece.”