Fairport Convention

Although there's nothing on Rising for the Moon as overpowering as "Sailor's Life" or "Sloth," this record is still a choice release, as it marks Sandy Denny's official return to Fairport. She wrote or co-wrote seven of the 11 songs on the original album, 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, although it's hard to imagine that group 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 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, and their last (apart from 1987's In Real Time) release on a major label. Beyond this point, they became part of the folk revival circuit, albeit with a huge audience. [This expanded German edition offers superior sound, which puts the multi-layered guitars (and Swarbrick's fiddle) practically in your lap, and enhances the richness of the singing, as well as offering four bonus tracks. "Tears," an unanthologized B-side from the single "White Dress," is of a piece with the rest of the album, produced with the same mixture of virtuosity and lyricism. The other three bonus tracks are Sandy Denny demos of "Rising for the Moon," "Stranger to Himself," and "One More Chance," featuring the singer in beautifully lean, stripped-down musical settings with solo piano or acoustic guitar -- and this take of "One More Chance" offers one of the most hauntingly beautiful performances of Denny's career, just outdoing her work on the released version. And they're all well worth the price of the upgrade.] ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide