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Grave New World

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For the Discharge album, see Grave New World (Discharge album). For the episode of Pretty Little Liars, see Grave New World (Pretty Little Liars).

Grave New World
Studio album by
Strawbs
ReleasedFebruary 1972
RecordedNovember 1971
Genre
Length36:31
LabelA&M (UK)
ProducerStrawbs
Strawbs chronology
From the Witchwood
(1971) 		Grave New World
(1972) 		Bursting at the Seams
(1973)
Singles from Grave New World
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Christgau's Record GuideD[3]

Grave New World is the fourth studio album by English band Strawbs, their fifth overall. It was the first album to be released after the departure of Rick Wakeman, who was replaced by Blue Weaver, late of Amen Corner.

Background

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Tony Visconti influenced Dave Cousins to buy an I Ching book; Cousins used the book to decide what he should do after Wakeman had left the band. The answer was used in the lyrics for the first track on the album, "Benedictus".[4] The songs themselves show the continuation of the movement away from Strawbs' original folk leanings.[according to whom?] Founding member Tony Hooper was increasingly uncomfortable with this[according to whom?] and left after the recording sessions of this album.

The original vinyl album had lavish artwork and included a pamphlet showing the lyrics of each track together with details of instrumentation. The front cover is a reproduction of William Blake's Glad Day.

The album reached number 11 in the UK Albums Chart.[5][6]

Track listing

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Side one

  1. "Benedictus" (Dave Cousins) – 4:24
  2. "Hey Little Man ... Thursday's Child" (Cousins) – 1:06
  3. "Queen of Dreams" (Cousins) – 5:32
  4. "Heavy Disguise" (John Ford) – 2:53
  5. "New World" (Cousins) – 4:11
  6. "Hey Little Man ... Wednesday's Child" (Cousins) – 1:06

Side two

  1. "The Flower and the Young Man" (Cousins) – 4:17
  2. "Tomorrow" (Cousins, Tony Hooper, Ford, Blue Weaver, Richard Hudson) – 4:49
  3. "On Growing Older" (Cousins) – 1:56
  4. "Ah Me, Ah My" (Hooper) – 1:24
  5. "Is It Today, Lord?" (Hudson) – 3:07
  6. "The Journey's End" (Cousins, Weaver) – 1:46

Bonus tracks – A&M 1998 reissue CD

  1. "Here it Comes" (Cousins) – 2:42
  2. "I'm Going Home" (Cousins) – 3:14

"I'm Going Home" originally appeared on Dave Cousins's solo album Two Weeks Last Summer. This track is the first occasion on which Dave Lambert recorded with the band. He had occasionally been appearing on stage for encores, but after this album and the departure of Tony Hooper, Lambert joined the band full-time.

Personnel

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Strawbs
Additional personnel

The track "Ah Me, Ah, My" credits "The Gentlemen of the Chorus" with vocals and "Tony Visconti's Old Tyme Dance Orchestra" (actually the Ted Heath Orchestra) as musicians.

Recording

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Recorded mainly at Morgan Studios, London with additional work at Island Studios and Landsdowne Studios.

Produced by Dave Cousins, Richard Hudson, John Ford, Blue Weaver and Tony Hooper

  • Tom Allom – engineer at Morgan Studios
  • Martin Levan – assistant engineer
  • Frank Owen – engineer at Island Studios
  • John Mackswith – engineer at Landsdowne Studios
  • Tony Visconti – producer, "Benedictus"
  • Gus Dudgeon – original producer, "Ah Me, Ah My"

Charts

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Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 49
UK Albums (OCC)[8] 11
US Billboard 200[9] 191

Release history

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Region Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom February 1972 (1972-02) A&M stereo LP AMLH 66078
United States February 1972 (1972-02) A&M stereo LP SP 4344
Japan 1987 (1987) A&M/Canyon CD D32Y3578
South Korea 1997 (1997) Si-Wan CD SRMC 0075
Worldwide 1998 (1998) A&M remastered CD 540,934-2

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Grave New World at AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 13 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Dick Greener (2022). "Simple Perfection". strawbsweb.
  5. ^ UK Top 40 database Archived 17 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine. everyHit.com retrieved on 16 December 2008
  6. ^ "STRAWBS | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 296. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Strawbs Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 July 2024.


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