In a sense, this debut album -- originally released by Bell Records' U.K. arm as Amazing Blondel -- relates to the group's subsequent work in the same manner that This Was does to
Jethro Tull's later albums. The group was a duo of John David Gladwin and Terry Wincott, fresh out of the rock band Methuselah and interested in making acoustic music, but not certain which direction to go in. A few cuts, such as "Season of the Year," "Shepherd's Song," and "Love Sonnet," display the Elizabethan character that the group would later develop across three LPs, but there's also a definite '60s feel to much of this album, including a sitar and tabla noodling in the background of songs such as "Saxon Lady," which also utilizes a flute part that would later turn up on "Lament to the Earl of Bottesford Beck" on the England album. Other tracks, such as "Bethel Town Mission" and "You Don't Want My Love," have a big band blues quality, while "Spanish Lace" could pass for a folk-rock track by the Humblebums. Not all of it worked, even with the presence of top-flight session musicians, including guitar virtuoso Big Jim Sullivan (who also directed the band and co-wrote the arrangements) and ex-Tornados drummer Clem Cattini. The Elizabethan-style songs came off best out of the different sounds here, and gave shape to what followed for the group, although none of their subsequent material displayed the ebullient, light-hearted sing-along quality found on this album's final cut, the folky "Bastard Love." The presence of horns in some of the arrangements will prove jarring to some fans, but this is a surprisingly solid record for its time. ~ Bruce Eder