| Sandy Denny's second post-Fairport solo offering, produced by (then-future) 
        husband Trevor Lucas, is a beautiful blend of the traditional style with 
        which she is most often associated and a slightly more lavish sound that 
        would become more prevalent in her later work. Lucas does an excellent 
        job of balancing the two and creating an exquisite backdrop for Denny's 
        gorgeous songs and majestic voice. Nearly every track has the radiance 
        and timelessness of her best Fairport work, along with an accessibility 
        she had merely hinted at prior to this. "Listen, Listen," with 
        its soaring chorus and bed of strings and mandolin, the lovely "The 
        Lady," and the layered a cappella vocal arrangement of Richard Farina's 
        "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood" (featuring Dave Swarbrick's haunting 
        solo violin coda) are perfect examples of Denny's enormous talents, and 
        only a few of the many pleasures found here. Touches such as lush strings, 
        Allen Toussaint's horn arrangement on "For Nobody to Hear," 
        Sneaky Pete Kleinow's steel guitar and former Fairport partner Richard 
        Thompson's guitars and mandolin, bring out the many dimensions in Denny's 
        music without obscuring it. Sandy also boasts her best collection of original 
        material, as well as terrific covers of Dylan's "Tomorrow Is a Long 
        Time," featuring Linda (Thompson) Peters on backing vocals, and the 
        aforementioned "Quiet Joys of Brotherhood." If you're simply 
        looking for a quick introduction to a wonderful songwriter and one of 
        the finest voices in popular music, go for the single disc best-of collection, 
        but if you would like to hear Sandy Denny's definitive (solo) musical 
        statement, search out Sandy. (by Brett Hartenbach, AMG) |