Although there's nothing here as overpowering as "Sailor's Life" or "Sloth," this record is still a choice release, as
Sandy Denny's official return to
Fairport. She wrote or co-wrote seven of its 11 songs, and dominates most of the others with her voice. This lineup (
Denny,
Dave Swarbrick,
Dave Pegg,
Jerry Donahue,
Trevor Lucas, and Bruce Rowland, with
Dave Mattacks -- who quit partway through -- drumming on some of the tracks) went for the gold with rock veteran
Glyn Johns in the producer's spot. The result was the only
Fairport album done after the departure of
Richard Thompson that doesn't sound anemic in the electric guitar department. Some of the songs, especially the title track and "Restless," have the feel of compact, breezy pop/country-rock, reminiscent of
the Eagles or
Firefall, although it's hard to imagine either of those groups turning in anything with the ethereal beauty of
Denny's performance on "White Dress" or "Dawn." Those songs and "Stranger to Himself" could easily have been on one of her solo albums. Others, like
Trevor Lucas' "Iron Lion," sound almost like
Fairport's version of
the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers." Only the
Swarbrick/
Pegg "Night-Time Girl" resembles
Fairport's established work from their earlier history. This was the last album and the last incarnation of
Fairport Convention to present itself to the public as a contemporary rock group. Beyond this point, they became part of the folk revival circuit, albeit with a huge audience. ~ Bruce Eder