Despite a few chart-friendly singles, Steeleye Span rarely feature in attempts to reappraise 1970s British folk-rock, lacking the dramatic allure of the early Fairport Convention story and the air of mystery attached to Trees. With 25 bonus tracks, 1971's Please to See the King, their second album, is the most substantially augmented of a trio of Steeleye reissues, and is as strident, sinister and compelling as anything by their contemporaries. The future Pogue Terry Woods had been replaced by the veteran folk guitarist Martin Carthy, playing plugged in for the first time, while Maddy Prior's spoon-playing has rarely been equalled.
Castle