Rare Collection 1972-1996

Rare Collection 1972-1996

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
75 minutes worth of rare & previously unreleased performances by this hit British folk rock group & its lead vocalist Maddy Prior. 20 tracks, including unique single edits only issued in Australia and live performances taken from Adelaide in 1982 & Perth in 1995. The highlight of the concert recordings is the previously unreleased breathtaking eight & a half minute 'Autumn To Spring Medley'. All tracks have been mastered using Super Bit Mapping (SBM) technology. 1999 release.

Tracks:

The King
Thomas The Rhymer
Elf Call
Gaudette
Lanercost
I Live Not Where I Love
The Boar's Head Carol
Montrose
The Holly & The Ivy
Like The Wind
I Have A Wish
Rag Doll
Rave On
Fire On The Line
Somewhere Along The Road
Autumn To Spring Medley: Marigold/Harvest Home/The Spring Will Bring Us Together
Betsy Bell And Mary Gray
Stookey
The Royal Forester
All Round My Hat

Album Description

75 minutes worth of rare & previously unreleased performances by this hit British folk rock group & its lead vocalist Maddy Prior. 20 tracks, including unique single edits only issued in Australia and live performances taken from Adelaide in 1982 & Perth in 1995. The highlight of the concert recordings is the previously unreleased breathtaking eight & a half minute 'Autumn To Spring Medley'. All tracks have been mastered using Super Bit Mapping (SBM) technology. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews:

Good all around, but best for the specials.......2004-12-24

The best thing about this CD are the songs that are difficult or impossible to find eslewhere. I actually bought it for the Boar's Head Carol. It is a holiday favorite that was previously only available by hearing it on the radio once per year.

Not the very best, but definitely in the top five........2003-08-13

This is an extremely eclectic recording, but IMHO, Maddie's gorgeous song "I Live Not Where I Love" alone is worth the price of admission. My other favorites on the CD are the full length version of "Thomas the Rhymer," the two Christmas carols and "Somewhere Along the Road."

I agree with another reviewer--the butchered version of "Montrose" should not have been included. "Stookie, a theme from a British children's TV show, is a nice touch. Even Steeleye Span can be annoying. (Does TV corrupt everything it touches?)

hotch-potch.......2002-05-10

On a more sober note, and from the point of view of someone who has all of the band`s albums on CD, this particular collection does not have much to get excited about. Several of the tracks are already available on other(original)album CDs and they sound more or less the same. There is a horribly `edited`(more like butchered!)version of Montrose which is basically a waste of space to anyone familiar with the excellent full length original.
`I have a Wish` is surely a filler, if ever there was one. `Fire on the Line`?..isn`t that taken from a Prior/Kemp CD which is not `rare`.
This CD is for completists. Even though it`s good to have those singles, such as Boar`s Head Carol, Holly and the Ivy, on CD, I personally would prefer them as bonus tracks on the appropriate album CD reisssues - Boar`s Head Carol on Storm Force Ten, for example - instead of having them all thrown together in a disjointed compilation. Still, better than not having them at all, I guess. There are some great live tracks here, but again, I think Raven should have saved them for their recently released *live* CD. Royal Forester is a standout track here, much livelier and rockier than the studio version, thanks to Pegrum`s energetic drumming(the original didn`t have a drummer), and Knight`s wild fiddle playing!
Yeah...but....the real LOW point of this compilation is the last, and definitely least, track - it`s Status Quo performing a cover of All Around My Hat, live, with Maddy Prior purportedly `guesting`. Hmm..no disrespect but, what`s Status Quo got to do with Steeleye Span/Maddy Prior! Haven`t we heard enough versions of this song already, anyway, without being subjected to a Status Quo interpretation(especially if you don`t like Status Quo)....
Oh yeah, one more moan - The exact same version of `Rave On` being peddled here as unavailable elsewhere is, and has been since 1991, a bonus track on Please To See the King(Mooncrest). Not so rare...
All in all, a disjointed collection comprising some genuinely rare and unique singles, some tracks that are not unique and sound very much the same as their album versions, one superfluous single that is completely eclipsed by the un-edited album original, a couple of tracks already on other CDs, some great live tracks, some fillers(I Have a Wish, Stookie)....and of course the Status Quo thing.
Nice pictures, too.
A first timer would be better advised to take his/her chances with the original albums, or one of the better compilations such as Original Masters or Spanning the Years.

Good Summary collection of this eclectic group.......2001-10-22

This CD is a good selection for those who have not collected the extensive works of Steeleye Span. For those not familiar with this group, they are the ongoing (throughout the last thirty years) pivotal group of British Folk Rock. Their repertoire includes everything from contemporary rock through classical Child's Ballads with a detour through the "naughty bits" of historical British Folk Music. As Maddy Prior once said, "We're your typical medieval rock and roll band". If you like the old ballads and you like rock, get this CD.

Rare Collection.......2000-03-06

This CD is stunning; I bought it for the Christmas cuts and am still playing it in March. There are no clunkers or fillers; just great songs between truly superb standouts. The harmony of "Holly and Ivy" is in a class of its own; I had never heard "Harvest Home" before, and it is ineffably pretty. Madeline sounds like an angel. If you are a fan but don't have this, get it. If you are not a fan, this CD will introduce to the incedible range and depth of these people.

Music Review:

Music Review

music review

Recommended Music:

Latin House Party Vida Loca

Suk: Epilogue, Fairy Tale / Pesek, Orgonasova, Kusnjer, et al

The Champion of Hot Peppers

Quartet and Quintet, Complete 1951-1952 Verve Studio Recording [Import]

The Good, The Bad , The 4 Skins Tribute [Explicit Lyrics]

Theorems and Anthems

Speechless

Tchaikovsky: Les Saisons; Sonate

Tender Loving Care

Somos Mas Que Amigos

Tales from Turnpike House [Import]

Spielberg

This Is the Best of Old Skool [Box set] [Import]

Sor: Fantaisies / Progressive Studies

The Voice