Back in Line

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Back in Line
Studio album by
Steeleye Span
Released1986
Recorded1986
GenreBritish folk rock
Length44:00
LabelShanachie
ProducerJohn Acock
Steeleye Span chronology
Sails of Silver
(1980) 		Back in Line
(1986) 		Tempted and Tried
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
[1]

Back in Line is the twelfth

They Called Her Babylon
; Kemp suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to stop playing for a long time.

Like the previous album, Sails of Silver, this album was not well received by fans, and reviews tend to see the album as being slickly packaged but erratic in quality.[citation needed] Jon Herman of the Boston Phoenix wrote that both the album and the band's 20 June 1987 performance at the Berklee Performance Center "confirmed their status as a has-been quintet still stabbing at artiness."

A single was released from this album - "Somewhere in London/ Lanercost". This suggests that "Somewhere in London" was recorded on the same sessions as the album. When Park Records re-released the album in 1991, this lost track appeared at the end, together with two live tracks - "Spotted Cow" (the first track on '’Below the Salt'’) and "One Misty Moisty Morning" (the first track on Parcel of Rogues).

The album's highlights include the energetic funk version of "Blackleg Miner", a similarly funky "White Man", which features as complicated a vocal arrangement as Steeleye has ever offered, and "Isabel", a strong piece sung by Prior, about the Countess of Buchan who helped crown Robert the Bruce. In general, the pieces have a strong rock feel.

Song Highlights

Like Sails of Silver, Back in Line contains many songs written by the band. All of the songs on the album are placed in an historical context. "Isabel", "Lanercost" and "Take My Heart" all deal with the Scottish Wars of Independence and Robert the Bruce. "White Man" is a critique of European colonialism, and "Peace on the Border" concern the 18th century rebellions and deportations. "Scarecrow" was about the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, a Royalist victory during the English Civil War.

Isabel

The band claims "Isabel" is about Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, whom they allege was a paramour of Robert the Bruce.[2] She did crown him King of Scotland in 1306. After he was defeated at the Battle of Methven in June 1306, she was captured by the English and imprisoned in an outdoor cage at Berwick-upon-Tweed for four years. The song is a fictionalized first person perspective of her time on public display.

Lady Diamond

"

Child ballad 269, a version of which also appeared on The Tannahill Weavers
' album Passage (1984). Nigel Pegrum and Rick Kemp helped produce several of the Tannahill's albums.

A Canon by Telemann

This selection enables Peter Knight to show off his classical training by performing both violin parts. A canon is essentially a melody played by two or more instruments in a follow-the-leader or looping technique.

Blackleg Miner

"

the strike of 1984-5, but it has also been controversial for inciting violence against strikebreakers.[3] It was recorded directly to audio cassette at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in November 1985, with the strike having ended in March of that year.[2]

Lanercost

Kyrie eleison
, presumably suggesting that this would have been sung by the canons themselves.

Take My Heart

The band asserts, "Before Robert the Bruce died, he asked his close friend and comrade

Sepulchre in the Holy Land."[2]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Personnel notesLength
1."Edward"Bob Johnson* Bob Johnson lead vocal
  • Vince Cross DX7
6:20
2."Isabel" * Maddy Prior lead vocal
  • Peter Knight piano
    		• 5:22
    3."Lady Diamond"Bob Johnson* Bob Johnson lead vocal on verses
  • Maddy Prior lead vocal on chorus
    		• 4:41
    4."
    Cannon by Telemann"
    		Georg Philipp Telemann* Instrumental
  • Peter Knight all instruments (violins)
    		• 1:44
    5."Peace on the Border"Rick Kemp* Rick Kemp lead vocals, bass, guitar
  • Vince Cross DX7
    		• 4:23
    6."Blackleg Miner"Traditional* Maddy Prior lead vocals4:06
    7."White Man"Peter Knight* Peter Knight lead vocals, percussion, violin, bass guitar, piano4:39
    8."Lanercost"Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp* Maddy Prior lead vocals
  • Rick Kemp bass, guitar, vocals
  • Vince Cross DX7
    		• 4:32
    9."Scarecrow" (The Battle of Cropredy Bridge)Bob Johnson* Bob Johnson lead vocals, guitar
  • Vince Cross DX7
    		• 4:13
    10."Take My Heart"Rick Kemp* Maddy Prior lead vocals
  • Rick Kemp bass, guitar, vocals
    		• 3:58

    Personnel

    Steeleye Span

    Guest musician

    • Vince Cross – DX7

    References

    1. AllMusic
    2. ^ a b c Steeleye Span (1991), "Liner notes", Back in Line, Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey: Shanachie Records Corp., Shanachie 79063
    3. ^ Amos, David (December 2011). "THE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE MINERS', THE UNION OF DEMOCRATIC MINEWORKERS AND THE 1984-85 MINERS STRIKE: SCABS OR SCAPEGOATS?" (PDF). University of Nottingham. p. 291. Retrieved 19 July 2015. The song 'Blackleg Miner' was revamped by the folk-rock group Steeleye Span in 1970, and became part of their repertoire in live performances during the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1984-85 miners' strike the song was used by striking miners in some coalfields to intimidate those who continued to work. The song became a political statement for supporters of the strike.
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