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String Driven Thing - The Machine That Cried (1973)

Track listing:
  1. Heartfeeder 6:39
  2. To See You 3:58
  3. Night Club 5:05
  4. Sold Down The River 4:29
  5. Two Timin' Rama 3:10
  6. Travelling 2:55
  7. People On The Street 6:03
  8. The House 2:37
  9. The Machine That Cried 5:17
  10. Going Down 2:33
  11. River Of Sleep [Bonus] 11:05
  12. If Only The Good [Bonus] 4:19
  13. It's A Game [Bonus] 3:38
  14. Part Of The City [Bonus] 3:33

Notes

Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Fondly remembered, if only by a select few, String Driven Thing were Scottish progressive rockers whose appeal rested largely on the scrapings of their classically trained violinist, Grahame Smith. Nothing jaunty or celtic, mind, his style was almost Mogadon morose. With leader Chris Adams supplying the suitably dark and troubled musings, their crowning moment came in 1973 with "The Machine that Cried". Charisma, their label at the time, considered it a little too grim for public consumption and forced a few key changes. This, though, is the band's own restored version and a fine, creepy period piece it is too, never more so than on Heartfeeder and the epic, if flawed, River of Sleep, which was cut to ribbons first time around.

EVERY ROCK REVIEWER has a clutch of bands that he likes a little and he waits and waits until the day they might just produce something very good from their increasing professionalism and the bleak suffering that comes from being a barely successful rock band. It is all the more pleasing when a band one has almost written off as permanently second-rate, suddenly issues an album that is a classic. Where String Driven Thing has nurtured this brilliance, I know not.

But it must be acknowledged that "The Machine That Cried" is a staggering achievement. For the first time, Grahame Smith's electric violin does not seem affected, but strokes and coaxes rhythms from the rest of the band that soar in power and invention. At last, this band is using a rich combination of voices and instruments with sureness and with flexibility. Perhaps it is the time it has now been together, perhaps the sudden flowering of Adam's song-writing talents, but this band now has a force and passion which makes it a very bright beacon in a somewhat glum musical scene.