Candles In The Rain - MELANIE****

Candles In The Rain/Lay Down/Carolina In My Mind/Citiest People/What Have They Done To My Song Ma/Alexander Beetle/The Good Guys/Lovin' Baby Girl/Ruby Tuesday/Leftover Wine

Idealistic singer songwriter Melanie achieved her commercial breakthrough with Candles In The Rain, epitomizing the era of love and peace. Features the UK No. 9 cover of Ruby Tuesday and the US No. 6 Lay Down. (US:17 UK:5)

"Melanie has an awesome voice and she has no problem belting it out. The track Lay Down is amazing and she does a great take on Ruby Tuesday." "Definitely one of the most unique albums of the 1970s, full of power, passion and compassion. Melanie has such a beautiful voice and this album is great example of the fade from the 1960s into the 1970s."

"A striking and warm album. This has aged well, with only a very few somewhat lame hippy moments. Her Ruby Tuesday is truly remarkable."

"A lovely folk album, why it's so forgotten is a complete mystery to me. A couple of nice covers, Ruby Tuesday and Carolina On My Mind; the rest is all Melanie's work. Hippie appeals for peace and love are mixed with a bucket load of angst, with her voice having a beautiful fragile childlike quality, which often rises to really belt it out, making her one of my all time favourite singers."

"Nice little chunk of psychedelic pop. Lay Down and the title track are standouts but it's all good."

"By far the best album of Melanie's early period. Significantly more sophisticated than her previous efforts in terms of both writing and instrumentation. Lay Down rightfully brought Melanie to a much wider audience than she had previously enjoyed. It also garnered what may have been the highest level of respect of her career. It contains her first big hit, the stirring, gospel flavoured anthem to the Woodstock generation, but it's truly solid throughout.”

"Listen to the title track and you'll be taken back to the Woodstock era. Melanie has an occasionally raspy voice, but she delivers folk music with real verve. The title track is especially nice with the Eddie Hawkins Singers, a gospel group."

"Candles in the Rain and Lay Down touch me deeply and shiver my spine. The two closing tracks, Ruby Tuesday and Leftover Wine, have the same quality."