Déjà Fou

1. Riviera Dei Fiori [Instrumental]

2. Under a Cloudless Sky

3. Face Down in the Well

4. On a Night Like This

5. If

6. Cold Steel

7. Sunday Morning

8. Barren Land

9. When the Lights Came On

10. Russian Front

11. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

12. NRG

Déjà Fou,The Strawbs,Audio Fidelity,British Folk-Rock,Pop,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop

Déjà Fou

Average customer rating:

The Strawbs are back with a true classic
Best Comeback of 2004
Please yourself
New Work from Classic Band
Interesting career overview

Déjà Fou
The Strawbs
Manufacturer: Audio Fidelity
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Hummingbird
Acoustic Strawbs: Baroque & Roll
Painted Sky
Live at NEARfest
From the Witchwood

ASIN: B0002JP1ZS
Release Date: 2004-07-20

Tracks:

Riviera Dei Fiori [Instrumental]
Under a Cloudless Sky
Face Down in the Well
On a Night Like This
If
Cold Steel
Sunday Morning
Barren Land
When the Lights Came On
Russian Front
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
NRG

Customer Reviews:

The Strawbs are back with a true classic.......2005-12-15

Not having been all that impressed with the modern production of their 1993 release of "Blue Angel", I must say that this album demonstrates a band that has aged like fine wine. All of the elements of the Strawb classics from the 1970's are here. Poetic lyrics, strong melodies, memorable ballads, lots of accoustics and harmonies. Personally, I like this album better than "Hero and the Heroine" but "Bursting at the Seams" will always be my favorite.

This album is bonafide proof that the band (and especially the songwritting talents of Cousins') is ANYTHING BUT WASHED up!!! An essential part of any Strawb fans collection. There's enough strong material on here to offset the one or two "so-so" tracks.

Best Comeback of 2004.......2004-12-17

I was never a huge Strawbs fan when they were in their heyday but I did buy a few of their albums and saw them in concert a couple of times. My favorite album of theirs from back then was and is Hero and Heroine. I have a couple of LPs still, but hadn't really thought about the band in years until one of the regulars on the Procol Harum chatroom "The Beanstalk" mentioned seeing them in Los Angeles recently touring a new album. Comments on the show and new songs were very positive so I jumped on amazon and ordered it immediately.
Man, its almost like 30 years have never gone by! Dave Cousins sounds almost exactly as he did in his prime and the quality of the songs on Deja Fou show that his muse is still strong. As a lyricist, Cousins is certainly in a league with Al Stewart, Nick Cave, and Keith Reid and as a musician, his melodies share the sophisticated world-wisdom of Stewart, the fathomless melancholy of Cave, and the introspective soul of Gary Brooker. If Deja Fou is not the best CD of 2004, its easily the year's best comeback effort.
The opening instrumental segues into a gorgeous Al Stewart-like ballad with Under A Cloudless Sky. That is followed by what I consider to be the CD's masterwork, as Cousins and company plumb the depths of despair on Face Down In The Well. But Cousins, like Cave, is also a masterful romantic writer as shown by On A Night Like This and If. Cold Steel is more uptempo with a vaguely Latin feel to it and is in my opinion the second best song here.
I actually like all of the album with the exception of the final cut N R G. On the rest of the CD, the band offers a variety of moods. The best of the rest are Sunday Morning, the pointedly anti-communist rocker Russian Front, and another great piece of sad-rock poetry with Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.
In my opinion, Deja Fou stands up there with the best of anything else the Strawbs have done. Its been a couple of years since an album of this magnitude has come from a band thought by many to have peaked long ago. So, if you were EVER a Strawbs fan, you owe it to yourself and your music loving friends to add this to your collection and to listen with an open mind. You'll be ever glad you did!

Please yourself .......2004-12-01

Beware of any review written after only two listenings, especially when the music being reviewed is as complex and off the mainstream as Strawbs' music tends to be.

This disc is a definite gem, whether you come to this CD as a Strawbs fan or not. The songs are varied, the subject matter complex, the musicianship first rate, and the vocals absolutely stunning. There's a surprise at every turn, from the instrumental lead-in to the disc (riviori del fiori) to the middle-eastern dance number which closes it (NRG). Standouts include

New Work from Classic Band.......2004-09-02

Deja Fou is the first album of all new material by Strawbs in a decade, and it's nice to see that the boys haven't lost their edge.

Fans of Stawbs will undoubtedly know that the band had undergone many personnel changes over the years. Deja Fou sees a reunion of the 1974-75 line up that recorded "Hero and Heroine" and "Ghosts". This is also the line-up that recently toured the US and Canada.

The album itself is a combination of style with some several songs being largely acoustic, and other songs more electric and rocking. Overall, the album works well. However, the album lacks the characteristically strong keyboard work that Strawbs were known for. (Hawken doesn't appear on several of the acoustic tracks, and on the others, I found the keyboard work more subdued than what we've heard in the past from this band.).

While many "classic" bands are content with rehashing past successes, this has never been the case with Strawbs. Stylistically, the album represents a definate development of David Cousins' and Strawbs' style. Several songs paint a picture and create a mood with music and lyrics and are amongst their strongest pieces. Other songs songs are in the style that fans have seen in the recent Acosutic album ("Baroque and Roll") as well as David Cousins' recent collaberation with Rick Wakeman ("Hummingbird")

The first two tracks on the album, Riviera Del Flori (Cousins/Lambert) and Under A Cloudless Sky (Cousins) are classic Strawbs Prog music. They are really one work (a la 'Remembering/That Was You and I (When we were Young) from Ghosts). The song has a feel that makes one feel as if one were floating through the sky on an afternoon. Similarly, Sunday Morning (Cousins/Lambert) also has this dreamy quality, and painting a perfect picture with the words and music giving you a feel of a lazy Sunday Morning. A third song where the music and words paint a picture is this Barren Land (Cousins/Lambert), which starts out acoustically, then builds to a crescendo powerfully punctuating the point of the song. This song has a lot of power, and after listening to the album a few times is my personal favorite song on the album.

Face Down in the Well is a David Cousins composition that the Acoustic Strawbs have been playing in concert for the last year. This version adds some strings, and fills out the melody, this track is the kind of ballad that we've come to expect from David Cousins. On a Night Like This (also played by the Acoustic band in concert, written by David Cousins) is a jaunty tune with a latin beat and reminiscent of La Bamba in the beginning -- (who'd have thought it!!). If there's a single from the album, this may be it. On listining to this and others, I detect a spanish/latin influence on Cousin's songwriting that was not present in his earlier work.

If and Here Today Gone Tomorrow (both Cousins) are further acoustic numbers. Both are romantic ballads.

Cold Steel, a David Lambert song takes the album in a different direction -- this a Rock song, pure and simple -- if the band had more popularity, I could see this song receiving a lot of air play. Apart from This Barren Land, it's my second favorite song on the album. When the Lights Came On, is a second David Lambert song, which starts acoustically (with a riff that seems to be inspired by Stairway to Heaven), building throughout.

Russian Front, credited to Cousins, Lambert, Cronk and Hawken, gives each member of the band the opportunity to show their musical prowess, as accompanied by bittersweet lyrics telling a story of life in communist Russia.

The final song NRG, is a melange of middle eastern sounding music, chanting lyrics and recorded street noises. In many ways this song is the most provocative on the album, marking a complete divergance from any Strawbs song that comes to memory. I suspect many die-hard fans will consider this song to be the worst on the album. I confess, I can't get the music out of my head, which I suppose says something.

Overall, Deja Fou is a strong album, with enough familiar for Strawbs fans to be able to welcome back old friends. However, the album also shows the evolution in style and innovation necessary to make it a consistently interesting.

Interesting career overview.......2004-08-07

Despite the fact that this lineup is the same as the classic prog "Hero and Heroine" days, only the intro track and "Under a Cloudless Sky" really echo those times (and although I like the song a great deal, it's a little too close in structure to "Ghosts" for my tastes). As other listeners have mentioned there's a bit of all the different eras of the band here, from Dragonfly to Burning for You. Overall it's a pleasant nostalgic stroll, and a huge improvement over the "Blue Angel" CD from a few years ago. It definitely proves the Strawbs are still a viable band, capable of making music that captures the mind and moves the heart. Just don't let the legendary stature of the "Hero and Heroine" combination of musicians inflate your expectations too much.

Average customer rating:

Deja Fou
Strawbs
Manufacturer: Witchwood Media
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002IE9I4
Release Date: 2004-08-30

Tracks:

Rivera Dei Fiori
Under A Cloudless Sky
Face Down In The Well
On A Night Like This
If
Cold Steel
Sunday Morning
This Barren Land
When The Lights Came On
Russian Front
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Nrg

Album Description

The 'Hero & Heroine' (1974) line-up back in the studio for this 2004 album.

Album Details

2004 Release of the First New Material from the Legendary English Folk Rock Band in Over 25 Years! It's Release Follows on the Heels of the Reunified Group's North American Tour, which was Met with Rave Reviews in Each City that They Played. Spearheaded by Dave Cousins, Joining Him Are Dave Lambert and Chas Cronk, Both of Whom were in the Front Line of the Original Band.

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