Grave New World | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 1972 | |||
Recorded | November 1971 | |||
Genre | Folk rock, progressive rock | |||
Length | 36:31 | |||
Label | A&M(UK) | |||
Producer | Strawbs | |||
Strawbs chronology | ||||
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Singles from Grave New World | ||||
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- Grave New World Pretty Little Liars
- Grave New World Discharge
- Youtube Strawbs Grave New World Full Album
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | D[2] |
- Back to main Grave New World page. Vinyl album: AMLH 68078 (A&M, UK, Feb 1972). Triplefold sleeve (one of if not the first!) with lavish booklet, both designed by Paper Tiger - arguably (IMHO) one of the best packaged albums ever! Inner spread is huge depiction of the wanderer in silver on background of rainbow colours.
- Grave New World appears to be the album that hooked a great many of the Strawbs permanent followers - it did me. 'New World' must be amongst the 5 best songs ever written in my mind. 'New World' must be amongst the 5 best songs ever written in my mind.
Grave New World is the fourth studio album by English band Strawbs, their fifth overall. It was the first album to be released after the departure of Rick Wakeman, under circumstances about which band leader Dave Cousins was very bitter. Cousins has admitted that the track 'Tomorrow' was written about Wakeman. Happily their friendship survived and the two have since performed and recorded together, releasing an album Hummingbird in 2002.
Tracks 1 to 12 are their 5th album 'Grave New World' - released February 1972 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 68078 and in the USA on A&M Records SP-4344. Produced by The Strawbs - all songs written by Dave Cousins except 'Heavy Disguise' by John Ford.
Wakeman's departure to join prog-rockersYes caused a lot of predictions of Strawbs demise. Cousins was into the I Ching at the time and he asked the book what he should do. The answer was used in the lyrics for the first track on the album, 'Benedictus'.
Blue Weaver, late of Amen Corner, was recruited and considered by most fans to be a more than adequate replacement for Wakeman.
The album depicts the story of one man's life. For instance, the track 'Hey Little Man' represents an older man giving advice to his young son. The songs themselves show the continuation of the movement away from Strawbs' original folk leanings. Founding member Tony Hooper began to be increasingly uncomfortable with this and left after the recording sessions of this album.
The original vinyl album had lavish artwork and included a pamphlet showing the lyrics of each track together with details of instrumentation. The front cover is a reproduction of William Blake's Glad Day.
The album reached number 11 in the UK Album Charts.[3][4]
- 1Track listing
Track listing[edit]
Side one[edit]
- 'Benedictus' (Dave Cousins) – 4:24
- 'Hey Little Man .. Thursday's Child' (Cousins) – 1:06
- 'Queen of Dreams' (Cousins) – 5:32
- 'Heavy Disguise' (John Ford) – 2:53
- 'New World' (Cousins) – 4:11
- 'Hey Little Man .. Wednesday's Child' (Cousins) – 1:06
Side two[edit]
- 'The Flower and the Young Man' (Cousins) – 4:17
- 'Tomorrow' (Cousins, Tony Hooper, Ford, Blue Weaver, Richard Hudson) – 4:49
- 'On Growing Older' (Cousins) – 1:56
- 'Ah Me, Ah My' (Hooper) – 1:24
- 'Is It Today, Lord?' (Hudson) – 3:07
- 'The Journey's End' (Cousins, Weaver) – 1:46
Bonus tracks[edit]
The following were featured as bonus tracks on the A&M 1998 reissue CD.
- 'Here it Comes' (Cousins) – 2:42
- 'I'm Going Home' (Cousins) – 3:14
'I'm Going Home' originally appeared on Dave Cousins's solo album Two Weeks Last Summer. This track is the first occasion on which Dave Lambert recorded with the band. He had occasionally been appearing on stage for encores but after this album and the departure of Tony Hooper, Lambert joined the band full-time.
Personnel[edit]
- Dave Cousins – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, dulcimer, recorder
- Tony Hooper – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, autoharp, tambourine
- Blue Weaver – organ, piano, harmonium, mellotron, clavioline
- John Ford – lead vocals, backing vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
- Richard Hudson – backing vocals, drums, sitar, tablas
- Additional personnel
- Trevor Lucas and Anne Collins – backing vocals on 'Benedictus'
- Robert Kirby - arranger ('Heavy Disguise')
- Tony Visconti - arranger ('Ah Me, Ah My')
The track 'Ah Me, Ah, My' credits 'The Gentlemen of the Chorus' with vocals and 'Tony Visconti's Old Tyme Dance Orchestra' (actually the Ted Heath Orchestra) as musicians.
Grave New World Pretty Little Liars
Recording[edit]
Recorded mainly at Morgan Studios, London with additional work at Island Studios and Landsdowne Studios.
Produced by Dave Cousins, Richard Hudson, John Ford, Blue Weaver and Tony Hooper
- Tom Allom – engineer at Morgan Studios
- Martin Levan – assistant engineer
- Frank Owen – engineer at Island Studios
- John Mackswith – engineer at Landsdowne Studios
- Tony Visconti – producer, 'Benedictus'
- Gus Dudgeon – original producer, 'Ah Me, Ah My'
Release history[edit]
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | February 1972 | A&M | stereo LP | AMLH 66078 |
United States | February 1972 | A&M | stereo LP | SP 4344 |
Japan | 1987 | A&M/Canyon | CD | D32Y3578 |
South Korea | 1997 | Si-Wan | CD | SRMC 0075 |
Worldwide | 1998 | A&M | remastered CD | 540,934-2 |
References[edit]
- Sleeve notes CD 540,934-2 Grave New World
Notes[edit]
- ^Grave New World at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^Christgau, Robert (1981). 'Consumer Guide '70s: S'. Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN089919026X. Retrieved 13 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^UK Top 40 databaseArchived 18 July 2007 at WebCite. everyHit.com retrieved on 16 December 2008
- ^'STRAWBS | Artist | Official Charts'. officialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grave_New_World&oldid=896192464'
Fulfillment! Singer/songwriter Dave Cousins finds a space somewhere between Bob Dylan and John Bunyan, Hudson and Ford come up with some superb hooks, and the electric sound is powerful and majestic. The music is serious -- perhaps too much so -- bracing, and sincere, if a bit downbeat. Reissued on CD in 1998 in remastered form, the band sounds really loud and close, so you can practically feel the room ambience of the studio. Cousins' electric guitar in 'The Flower and the Young Man' crunches right in your ear, and his acoustic fills the room in 'On Growing Older,' with new notes and two extra tracks. Of the latter, 'Here It Comes' (recorded before this album) is bouncy and pleasant enough, even if it doesn't fit the mood of most of the original album, and the previously unissued 'I'm Going Home' is one of the best hard rock sides the group ever recorded -- a piece of '70s rock & roll in the manner of Badfinger's 'Rock of Ages' and T. Rex's 'Get It On,' which it resembles.
Grave New World Discharge
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 04:26 | ||
2 | 01:06 | ||
3 | 05:31 | ||
4 | 02:53 | ||
5 | 04:11 | ||
6 | 01:08 | ||
7 | 04:17 | ||
8 | Dave Cousins / John Ford / Tony Hooper / Richard Hudson / Blue Weaver | 04:50 | |
9 | 01:56 | ||
10 | 01:25 | ||
11 | 03:09 | ||
12 | Dave Cousins / Blue Weaver | 01:45 | |
13 | 02:44 | ||
14 | 03:17 |