Dragonfly - STRAWBS ***

The Weary Song/Dragonfly/I Turned My Face Into The Wind/Josephine For Better Or For Worse/Another Day/'Til The Sun Comes Shining Through/Young Again/The Vision Of The Lady Of The Lake/Close Your Eyes

Dragonfly was the follow up album from the folk band Strawbs led by Dave Cousins. They would soon achieve commercial success after the recruitment of new members, coupled to a more rock sound featuring electric guitar.

“This is probably the most underrated album by the Strawbs. The atmosphere is very laid back and the music has a sort of pastoral feeling. Dave Cousins really shines both as a performer and composer. It is hard to pick a favourite since all the tunes are strong, that represent Strawbs as an acoustic group.”

“This has always been an underrated Strawbs album, certainly not as dynamic as their later work, but possessing a quieter, rich, sombre charm. The band were still very much an acoustic group at this point, but already headed in the musical direction of their greatest fame, though they had yet to go electric. Perhaps that's one reason this earlier work isn't as well known as their classic albums.”

“This album is a more stripped down affair compared to their first. Tony Visconti's production give a more pastoral feeling than any other album from the band. There are no stand out tracks, since all the songs, written mostly by Dave Cousins, are of high standard.”

“After the lighter feel of the Strawbs' self-titled debut, they delivered a more serious record with Dragonfly, which is notable for being their first album to feature Rick Wakeman, who plays on a couple of tracks in a guest musician capacity. It is a step back from its predecessor with a darker tone that runs through the record and is certainly the band's folkiest album.”

“There's no doubt that there is some excellent songwriting on display once again on Dragonfly and the combination of acoustic guitars and cello is very engaging. However, many of these songs could do with some drums or percussion just to lift them a bit more, and some extra keyboards here and there would have given the material more depth and atmosphere.”

“Despite being a charming record, Dragonfly never really gets beyond second gear and serves as only a nice acoustic folk album to chill out to.”