Sunday 6 September 2015

Steve Tilston - Songs from the Dress Rehearsal, album review



Ditto

I have yet to complete a full review of Steve Tilston’s superb latest Truth, having referred to it very briefly here when reviewing his wonderful live gig at Otterton Mill, but I want to now refer again to his third album Songs from the Dress Rehearsal, originally released in 1977, and reviewed here with great affection.

I have recently acquired a later cd version of this, released in 2004, and it is significant in that it includes six extra tracks recorded as demos for a possible other album/project. They are all excellent and further evidence of his songwriting talent, a favourite of these extras the first In Limbo with its Jansch-esque guitar work, whilst Love’s an Illusion displays further guitar versatility as he dances up and down the fret board in a rather jolly romp across a lyrically dark rejection of love.

My main recommendation for this edition is the description and anecdote that prefaces the lyrics to each song in the inner sleeve notes: these are naturally engaging and interesting backgrounds, especially for songs to which I have become so closely attached.

But above all, the recommendation is, as it was in 2011 when first reviewed on this blog, the absolute brilliance of the core album.

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