Earthspan - THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND***

My Father Was A Lighthouse Keeper/Antoine/Restless Night/Sunday Song/Black Jack David/Banks Of Sweet Italy/The Actor/Moon Hang Low/Sailor & The Dancer/Seagull

Earthspan was the first Incredible String Band album, apart from their debut, not to chart. Their waning popularity might account for this attempt at a more mainstream sound that attracted mixed reviews.

“The songs and vocals just aren't that good. I hear something neat buried in the esoteric, progressive folk quirkiness of these tracks, so the jury is still out on this.”

“There are so many flaws with this album, but as a whole it’s an idiosyncratic one that sees the band trying to do something normal and mainstream, and though they largely succeed there's still something ever so slightly odd about it.”

“This album is just killer. It is not the mystical eccentric pastoral folk The ISB is best known for. There are some complex, gripping and very moving songs on this album. Side one is one of the best, Sunday Song is especially remarkable; sometimes I can't believe its only seven minutes long as it can feel like you've spent a whole lifetime in the song.”

“Earthspan is the musical equivalent of a caged animal. It exists estranged from its true purpose, resigned to being a shadow of what it might be. Though still beautiful in its own way, its spirit is utterly broken.”

“Earthspan was the group's attempt at going mainstream, and the album's lead track My Father Was A Lighthouse Keeper is enjoyable, uneventful folk-rock that almost succeeded in redefining their sound towards that which would foster top 40 success. In attempting to become more radio-friendly, the group was rendered flat and lifeless.”

“This album found the Incredibles in one of their many transitional phases - not yet the full-blooded rock band of Hard Rope, no longer the whimsical hippy minstrels of Hangman's, this was a band with an identity crisis. They gamely tried out different musical styles, Robin's jazzy excursions here are only partly successful, Mike's Antoine is powerful but essentially melodramatic whilst Sunday Song is strangely affecting but does takes some getting into. Sailor & The Dancer is one of the more enjoyable tracks in an eclectic collection. Still great because it is the Incredibles, but not essential.”