''Time'' is the fourteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

. The album was released in 1996, after a seven-year hiatus, and was their first on the Park Records label. The impetus for the album was a 25th anniversary reunion tour the year before, during which most of the former members of the band performed together.

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

was experiencing voice problems so she spoke to Gay Woods, a founding member who had left the band after the first album, to rejoin. Woods initially resisted this move, since she had not performed publicly for some time, but Prior eventually prevailed and Woods returned to the band. The result was only the second Steeleye Span album to feature two female singers, which was used to very good effect on the ironic "Old Maid in the Garrett" and to a lesser extent on "The Prickly Bush" and "The Cutty Wren". Both, Prior and Woods, provide lead vocals on different songs. Priors' voice troubles are reflected in her musical choices on this album; she generally sings less powerfully and in a lower range, but still effectively. Woods also introduced a few Irish elements to the bands' repertoire, including the "Old Maid in the Garrett/Tam Lin reel" and her Bodhran. This album was to be Priors' last album with Steeleye Span until 2002's ''

Present The present (or here'' and ''now) is the time that is associated with the events perception, perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is ...

''. In some ways, the album represents a revival of

. After a 16-year period, during which the band released only three albums, the band entered a more productive phase that continues down the present; producing an album once every two years, including two in 2004. The song "Corbies" is a remake of "

Twa Corbies "The Three Ravens" () is an English folk ballad, printed in the song book ''Melismata'' compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but it is perhaps older than that. Newer versions (with different music) were recorded right up through ...

", which appears on ''

Hark! The Village Wait ''Hark! The Village Wait'' is the debut album by the British folk rock band Steeleye Span, first released in 1970. It is the only album to feature the original lineup of the band as they broke up and reformed with an altered membership immediat ...

''. The theme of "The Cutty Wren" had also been explored before, in the song "The King" on ''

Please to See the King ''Please to See the King'' is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A major personnel change following their previous effort, '' Hark! The Village Wait'', brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lac ...

'', as well in "Hunting the Wren" on '' Live at Last''. In this version, the band experimented with a complex scheme of vocal and instrumental placement, which is best appreciated with headphones. Overall, this version is much darker than "The King" and somewhat menacing. The album's sound is rather fuller and more lush than their earlier albums, thanks in part to the addition of Harries' keyboards on several sounds, most notably "Corbies" and "The Elf Knight".

Track listing

# "

The Prickly Bush "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child in the late ...

" # "Old Maid in the Garrett/Tam Lin reel" # "Harvest of the Moon" # "Underneath Her Apron" # "The

Cutty Wren "The Cutty Wren" and its variants such as "The Hunting of the Wren" are traditional English folk songs. It is also the territorial song for the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha. The origins and meaning of the song are disputed. It i ...

" # " Go from My Window" # "

The Elf Knight "Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight" ( Child #4; Roud #21) is the English common name representative of a very large class of European ballads. The most frequently collected variant, The Outlandish Knight or ''May Colvin'' tells the tale of a young ...

" # " The Water is Wide" # "You Will Burn" # " Corbies" # "The Song Will Remain"

Personnel

;Steeleye Span *

- vocals *

Gay Woods Gay Woods (18 September 1948) is an Irish singer. She was one of the original members of Steeleye Span. Early years Gabriel Corcoran was born in Dublin, a neighbour of her future husband Terry Woods. Her elder brothers shared Woods' love of ...

- vocals, bodhran * Bob Johnson - vocals, electric guitar * Peter Knight - vocals, violin *

Tim Harries Tim Harries (born 1959) is a British bass player, who has played with various folk rock and jazz bands in his career. Biography Harries studied music at the University of York, graduating in 1981 before going on to study double bass with Tom ...

- bass, keyboards, vocals *

Liam Genockey Liam Genockey (born 12 August 1948) is an Irish musician, who is the drummer with British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Biography Genockey was born in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1960s he lived in Plymouth, Devon, U.K, playing in local semi-p ...

- drums, percussion

References

{{Authority control Steeleye Span albums 1996 albums