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Critic's Review
Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
Eleven extra tracks make this quite a vital treat for the Pentangle fan, and it's actually worth purchasing another copy of the band's truly classic second album (which was originally a double LP on its release in 1968, now expanded to a 36-cut CD). The best part is that the additional material has been thoughtfully added to offer a more complete picture of where the group stood at the time. And so tracks like "Waltz," "Bells," and "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme," which all appeared on their debut, show up again in live versions, far more freewheeling and developed than their studio incarnations. By this time the group had become used to each other, and the flexible foundation of bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox offers a perfect bed for the guitar peregrinations of John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, when they weren't working behind vocalist Jacqui McShee. They had the skill and the bond to take the music into many areas -- from traditional folk to jazz, early music, and beyond -- and often did, especially in concert. The other additional tracks, most of them from a 1968 concert -- the year Sweet Child was released -- are versions of pieces from the album that simply serve to buoy up the band's reputation as improvisers extraordinaire, making what was their masterpiece into something even greater. This is a rare feat, and one which deserves every bit of praise.
