Average User Rating: 80% (23 Reviews)
5 / 5	Folking great ho down! Read Me (West Midlands, UK) - 28 June 2008 If you're already the proud owner of Seth's previous albums then the best way I can describe this is as like Kitty Jay and Lady of the Sea - its fast, loud and foot stomping. There's a couple of slow songs but the pace doesn't stop. If you're new to Seth then hello. Maybe you like folk music with a bit of a kick or if you're a fan of people like Clannad or The Levellers then this is certainly up your street. The inspiration for the album is the Cornish coast including the Penlee lifeboat tragedy, shipwrecks, old Cornish legends about standing stones and a race to catch whales. All of this may sound a little odd but its the way its delivered - with a striking drum and a frantic fiddle. I can't praise this album enough - it was played full blast several times on a 4 hour drive if thats a good recommendation! If you get the chance to see any of these songs performed live then you're in for a treat. ... Read Full Review »
4 / 5	A future superstar? Mr. S. R. Jackson "ssocialdrummer" (Huddersfield) - 30 June 2008 I have been a fan of Seth since the release of the 'Punch Bowl'back in '02, and each album has seen a slight shift but with increasing confidence in his abilities as a songwriter. My 16 year old daughter thinks he's a 'bit of alright', but more saliently she likes quite a few tracks on this. Now the inverted snob in me would immediately think 'hang on somethings not right here'. Well everything is right here, right from the beginning of the first track which invades your ears with a fabulous pulsing drum beat. Into the second track and I could invoke folk purist aloofness,but it rocks, has a groove and is ...well marvellous. He is still deeply drawn to his part of the world lyrically, feather in a storm being a tale of wreckers luring ships to doom .I am not going to do one of those drawling song by song breakdown. It's quite simple really , if you like Seth already you can't fail to be impressed, if you don't well dip your toe in some of the finest music available,passion,skill,tradition,great instrument playing and very polished but firmly rooted in the folk idiom. The tingle factor is quite high with this album, and I suspect we are listening to a potential future superstar. ... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	The Best album for 10 years? M. Mccann "Mattsicles" (Marlborough) - 2 July 2008 Right. Lets get a couple of things straight. I do NOT have a beard. I do NOT attend beer festivals with my own wooden tankard clipped onto my vintage Harley-Davidson belt. I have NEVER worn socks with sandles while listening to someone sing hey-nonny-nonny with a finger wedged firmly in their ear. I do NOT like folk music. Until now. After Seth was nominated for the Mercury prize for Kitty Jay, I and plenty of others went out and bought it. Quite liked it. Then Freedom Fields came along where Seth rocked up the traditional folk sounds with some great rythym led songs. Many beards spluttered their warm brown "Badgers Stomach Rumbler" all over their sandled feet. Then along came PMH. I was expecting to be disappointed, as surely he couldn't keep up the standard of FF, his career high tide? He bloody can you know, and not only has he equalled it in musical terms, he's given it a damn good hiding. This is an exceptional album. The joyous, dramatic and emotional craft that has gone into this album is just wondrous. Solomon Browne made me cry. The Hurlers made me shout and stomp. This is everything that folk music should be about, and will give Seth the recognition he deserves as one of the finest singer/songwriters in the country of any genre. This is the best album I have heard for many many years. Has he sold out folk? No, he's just moved it where he wanted it to go.... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Folk-curious or in denial? Simon Higgens (Wiltshire, UK) - 12 July 2008 Ok ok, so I like folk music - there I said it. Nic Jones, Martin Simpson and now Seth Lakeman, it would appear that someone, somewhere is slowly indoctrinating me (Radio 2's Stuart Maconie I suspect). I wouldn't, however, declare myself a full-blown folkie; I do enjoy the more mainstream stuff and would never join the sandal wearing, beard touting, real-ale swigging, finger-in-the ear brigade. Right, this album is absolutely fantastic. Having bought it ten days ago I have had it playing throughout the house, in the car and even at work at every opportunity. The tunes, whilst telling tales of traditional folk themes (why are there so many folk songs about whales?), are very well crafted and excellently delivered. They are even better played live; I saw him play in Frome last week and he had the whole place buzzing - there was even a trad folkie (early 60s, bald, beard, CAMRA member etc) head-banging to one of his songs! Try to get to one of Seth's gigs; you will not be disappointed. If you are folk-curious and want to see what it is all about, buy this album. You will be pleasantly surprised and will have the tunes banging around your head for days. Come out of the closet and join the rest of us neo-folkies; you know you want to!... Read Full Review »
2 / 5	oh dear M. Julian (uk) - 10 July 2008 i keep listening, but istill keep hearing the same old song several times over. each song is just too like the other, with some few exceptions. i fear it is also rather over-produced and aimed at a sort of folk-pop fusion market. i do however expect that its a great bunch of songs to listen to live, but as an album sorry it falls down.