Rating: 5/10

Track Amount: 12

Running Time: 39 minutes

Genre: Folk Music

Personnel: Mike Heron, Robin Williamson, Malcolm Le Maistre, Gerard Dott, Jack Ingram, Stan Schnier

Producer: Roger Mayer & Mike Heron

Record Label: Island Records

Recording Location: N/A

Art Direction: N/A

Best Tracks: Little Girl

Quick Verdict: A disappointing release that was the beginning of the end for The Incredible String Band

The times were changing, and so was The Incredible String Band. Although they had major successes in the past, it seemed that time was against the group with the departure of Licorice McKechnie before this album was recorded. In turn, she was replaced by Gerard Dott. The band struggled to adapt as the 1970s progressed and reacted to this by changing some of their sound and approach musically to incorporate Reggae, Pop and Rock sounds. Even Mike Heron stopped using his 12-string acoustic guitar on this album. Regardless, could The Incredible String Band make progress in the 1970s? Let’s find out.

1. Explorer begins with a fresh set of drums and launches into a quite frankly weird and not that good-sounding piece of music. It seems that The Incredible String Band was not able to adapt and change with the times by this point. Even so, you can do much worse than this song. It just sounds rather forced and odd for the group. It still has acoustic guitars and a very organic sound compared to the likes of today’s EDM Music. It sounds more like an attempt to emulate the Eagles rather than an attempt at a new path forward for The Incredible String Band. It’s good, but it does not sound like something that these guys would typically do. The drumming throughout is really excellent, however. It’s okay, but far and away from the group’s best efforts, sadly. Nice shot at something different, however.

2. Down Before Cathay begins with some beautiful acoustic guitar, and launches into a more mainstream-sounding piece that sounds fluid and natural. A really awesome listen throughout, this is one of the better pieces from this album. The combination of sweet melodies and vocal harmonies is simply awesome to hear. This is a better example of what these guys could do on a musical level. The music is sweet, smooth and natural throughout, and it sounds absolutely lovely. This proves that talent trumps popularity every single time. All in all, a really sweet and magical listen throughout. A natural sounding and pleasant listen that is very rewarding and deep music in its own way. Yes, there is a keyboard solo here, and these guys were struggling, but nonetheless, it is a very good listen in its own way. This beats any computerised Rap Music out there today, and has its own unique and expressive appeal musically throughout. All in all, this music is a fantastic winner of a listen, and it takes you on a journey of its own. Great music to hear from start to finish. The chorus is repeated with the solo section throughout the fade-out.

3. Saturday Maybe begins with clean, clear acoustic guitar playing and has some beautiful and dramatic vocals present. All in all, this music is very sweet and lovely to hear. It has a semi-Eastern sounding string section that just sounds amazing to listen to. This music is a fresh, dramatic and lovely listen, and puts the strings in The Incredible String Band. Overall, this is a very good listen from these musicians and is far better than anything on the radio in today’s postmodern world. A very lovely listen with a hint of regret about it all. The music is sweet and fantastic to listen to. It wraps up with the neat string section being prominent. A great listen.

4. Jigs begins with fiddle, Fender Telecaster and sounds quite frankly odd for The Incredible String Band. The music is upbeat and dramatic, and there are no lyrics or singing throughout. Very odd. This is far and away from The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion (1967) classic album that these guys made. It doesn’t sit all that well on this album, and sounds like these guys were really struggling to adapt to the early 1970s. This isn’t bad, just an odd selection musically. Still, it is certainly listenable, just very odd to hear on this release. In any case, this does have a refreshing nature about it all. The dramatic playing and performance do sound good, however. It gets very frenetic towards the end, and is a short listen that is sweet, for the most part.

5. Old Buccaneer sounds odd, like a wannabe Deep Purple sort of song. Unfortunately, this isn’t that good for that reason. It is far and away from the original concept of The Incredible String Band out there. All in all, this is a good song, but it lacks the magic and consistency of the original sounds from the group. The breakdown also sounds fairly uninspired. A good song at best, but nothing special. It also gives off a Grateful Dead feel rather than a feel reminiscent of The Incredible String Band. Good, but not good enough to listen to. All the same, this has a murky breakdown that doesn’t sound that good, to be fair. A weird tune, and many older fans of the group will be turned off by this piece. Sadly, it is not that good. A disappointment.

6. At The Lighthouse Dance begins with weird chords and sounds, quite frankly, awful. This is the point where these guys, quite frankly, should have stopped. This is a sell-out piece for The Incredible String Band that has not aged at all well. This just sounds like a bad misstep for the group, and there is little consistency on this album for the once mighty power that was The Incredible String Band. All in all, this music could have been seriously readjusted or dropped entirely. The vocal harmonies are, quite frankly, awful to listen to. A mistake for these guys, and a poor song on an increasingly poor album. With a reference to how bad the band was going in this song, this is a very ordinary effort by this group. Skip ahead, this fails to resonate.

7. Second Fiddle begins with some loud drumming and launches into a really poor Reggae style tune. Honestly, why? This does not need to be here at all. It is an instrumental tune that could have been axed from this album. The Incredible String Band hit reverse in terms of their song quality and what they originally stood for on this album. A very poor representation for a once hugely inspired and influential group that was verging on disaster. A real drag to listen to, this sounds off. Skip ahead if you can. This is not a good piece of music throughout. Totally unnecessary.

8. Circus Girl begins with some dramatic piano playing, a brass section and no guitars. What? This is a weird song that has very little consistency and appeal throughout. This sounds more like an excuse for poor music experimentation rather than an actual song at hand. The brass section and music experimentation throughout are all very weird to listen to. A strange tune with no guitars or strings throughout. An honest misstep and a poor attempt at a contemporary (for the 1970s) song that does not do any justice musically. It finishes with some circus melodies playing, which is ridiculous.

9. Turquoise Blue begins with a nicely strummed acoustic and launches into a pseudo-Frank Sinatra-sounding piece. This is better than before, but it still makes little impression upon the listener. All in all, this song is another fairly difficult listen to appreciate. This music is good, but the album is not consistently great enough at this point to warrant listening. This is a simple campfire sort of jam that does sound simple and unique. The clarinet on this one is different as well. A neat and expressive listen, all the same, despite the musical experimentation. This music is different, and it sounds much more natural compared to the likes of today’s pop stars. The lyrics are adventurous, but these guys had their best days behind them at this stage. Towards the end, this whole piece sounds very blissful and pretty. Nice, even though it is on this album. Not too bad.

10. My Blue Tears is a strange, pseudo-Country Music piece that sounds really ordinary. At this point, you can probably hit stop on this album and go and do something else. This is a short piece of self-parody by The Incredible String Band that does not have any power or finesse to it. It simply is a joke, and is totally worth avoiding if you can. Just not good enough. This is the beginning of the end of it all for The Incredible String Band, as you can clearly hear if you listen to it. The lyrics are appalling as well.

11. Weather The Storm begins with an organ keyboard, which sounds super cheesy. It launches into another fairly ordinary and out of place tune with saxophone and a Poppier approach throughout. This is not very good by these guys, and again, a serious rethink of the music at hand was needed. This music is enough to put you off these guys for good. It’s nothing seriously wonderful to listen to. You’d be better off listening to The Rolling Stones instead at this point. An off-sounding tune that doesn’t inspire listeners out there. The whistling solo also isn’t that good. Not a great listen. The bass guitar solo is different, and is followed by other solos, including some Syd Barrett-style vocal percussion sounds. Ordinary.

12. Little Girl is thankfully, the final listen on this album. It begins with some nice acoustic guitar, which sounds really great. Some soft singing with romanticism is present, and the tune is a much, much better listen than the rest of the album. Even so, this is not the best of the once mighty group, The Incredible String Band. A nice listen, but very uninspired throughout. A good listen on a fairly disappointing album, but nothing hugely inspiring here. If more songs on this album were focused, like this one, the album would be much, much better as a result. Although the lyrics contain potentially paedophilic content, this is a softer and better listen musically. Nonetheless, this does have some nice acoustic guitar playing and chord progressions throughout. A sweet and enjoyable listening experience throughout, even if the rest of the album does not match it. Simple and beautiful here. A really bright and pretty listen, with some keyboard in the background. It ends after four minutes of music.

This is a marked disappointment from The Incredible String Band. It shows that Licorice McKechnie obviously left these guys for a very solid reason. As time went on, the band became less and less relevant to music listeners, and by this point, the band had lost its focus and consistency as a group. Yes, there are a couple of good songs here, but overall, avoid this if you are a fan. Should you listen to this album? Probably not, it’s not really worth it.

If you like this article, please like, share, comment and follow me on The Ultimate Music Library. Thank you, Chris Airey.