Maddy Prior Albums (18)
'An Evening of Carols & Capers'
Release Date 12/5/2005
Tracks 22
Label Park
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What The Critics Say
Maddy Prior has challenged herself -- and her fans -- continuously throughout her illustrious career. While many of her solo releases since Steeleye Span's mid-'70s heydays have been spotty, they've never been boring. That troubadour spirit continues on "Arthur the King," a ten-part song cycle concerning the historical King Arthur, augmented by five tracks that revisit her early work both bold and brittle. Teaming up once again with longtime collaborator/producer Troy Donockley, Arthur the King channels the Steeleye Span art rock glory of records like Storm Force Ten and Commoner's Crown, while maintaining the contemporary sound of more recent endeavors. Nick Holland's solid and imaginative keyboards, Terl Bryant on drums and percussion, and the aforementioned Donockley utilizing his multi-instrumental skills on electric and acoustic guitars, whistles, and cittern provide a lucid canvas for Prior's (still breathtaking) vocals. Memorable cuts include "Veturae Remembering," a call-and-response ballad that finds the legendary King reminiscing about his childhood in Rome, and "Tribal Warriors," a balls-out rocker that finds Prior channeling angry youth with a vigor that would make women half her age envious. The five tracks that make up Arthur's second half are more inconsistent. While the rousing Prior/Donockley-penned "Hail the Ball" is one of her finest in years, her reworking of "Lark in the Morning" and "Reynardine" are pretty but unnecessary. Arthur the King is a slow grower, but at this stage in her career Prior has no need to "give the people what they want," and that more than anything makes what she has accomplished here more than worthy of placement in her remarkable canon. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
'Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh'
Release Date 11/26/2001
Tracks 14
Label Park
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What The Critics Say
On Ravenchild, Maddy Prior teamed up again with keyboard player Nick Holland and multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, whose arsenal included Uilleann pipes and low whistle, as she had on her previous album, Flesh & Blood. The centerpiece of the album was a six song suite dubbed "In the Company of Ravens" (also the title of the first song), a series of Prior originals concerning the carrion birds who give the word "ravenous" its meaning. This was sometimes gritty stuff, as Prior described the birds' eating habits, though their mating habits were far more inspiring. The album also contained a three song suite, "With Napoleon in Russia," tracing that famous historical defeat. Then there was "Rigs of the Time," a condemnation of contemporary media culture set to a traditional melody, and the album concluded with what Prior herself described as the eerie traditional song "Great Silkie of Sules Skerry." The music and Prior's singing could be haunting, but Ravenchild was an album of disquieting material, whether the subject was aviary, historical, or contemporary. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Not as derivative as some of her earlier recordings, this Maddy Prior album hinted at a direction change for the longtime British folk singer. If ever a voice begged for pipes and whistle backing, it's Prior's. She never received that type of support with Steeleye Span, so it was promising to discover that Troy Donockley would co-produce and play on Flesh and Blood. He's a multi-instrumentalist who specializes in uilleann pipes and is a fine low whistler as well. Too bad that union didn't fully pan out here. Donockley had one pipe solo ("Finlandia") and played the intro and closing fade on "Heart of Stone," so unfortunately the two ne'er did meet. The best cuts are the traditional pieces, "Sheath and Knife" and "Bitter Withy" -- the former dealing with such dubious predicaments as incest and murder, and the latter a tale describing the abuse of power wielded by a young, impish Jesus. The last seven selections, subtitled "Dramatis Personae," are melancholy and personal originals penned by Prior and Rick Kemp that favor the keyboards of the other co-producer, Nick Holland. ~ Dave Sleger, All Music Guide
