Big Ted/White Bird/Dust Be Diamonds/Sleepers Awake/Mr & Mrs/Creation
By the end of the decade the sixties hippie era had started to fade and groups such as The Incredible String Band began to go out of fashion as well as lose their inspiration. Changing Horses disappointed many of their remaining fans. (US:166 UK:30)
“The problem with Changing Horses is that it is a 50 minutes plus album with just six tracks. There are two very long songs White Bird written by Mike and Creation written by Robin. If you don't like these - then you won’t think much of this album. I do and think it should have been their breakthrough.”
“Now personally, White Bird is my all time favourite song and I can’t say enough good things about it. Its just a truly stunning song, from Mike's wonderful vocals, his strongest to date, to Robin's flute and sarangi to the clattering, climactic final chorus, and at just under 15 minutes in length it's more than the equal of anything else they had recorded previously. The other massive song here is the closing Creation. Its probably the most excessive String Band song and its either a product of genius or madness. The only problem with these two songs is that they do tend to overshadow their shorter companions, which is the main stumbling block for this album.”
“Try as I might I find it hard to get into this album. I don't hate it, there are parts of even the longer, completely rambling tunes that I find engaging. Its just find the irritating parts are too common and completely grating. Like that chorus to Dust Be Diamonds.”
“Obviously their first (psychedelic) source of inspiration was flowing away rapidly, leaving the shell of a thought and not the thought itself. Not that it's a bad record - it's just a disappointment after the glory of their earlier records. Most songs are quite good, although it seems that the smile The Incredible String Band presented to the world with this album is a little brittle and forced.”
“This album caused quite a split among the band's fans when it first came out. Some saw it as the culmination of the brilliant hippy weirdness developed over previous gems, to others it was just boring. The epitome or the nadir of The String Band depending on which side of the great divide you fall.”
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