Still waiting for my 'pre-ordered' copy to arrive and wondering how long to leave it before I contact the office!

S&G arrived yesterday and after giving it a pair of spins I must say it's quite a strong album. Not as good as M&H, their strongest album since the early 70s IMHO (as are all my comments), but there are some good stuff here. And, as with most albums, things that don't do much for me  but nothing that you just want to skip (like The Crowd f o). "Don't Reveal My Name" is a strong opener  and "Cider Rain" is like a jingle jangly hit from the 60s. "Moses Waits", "The Byfield Steeplechase", "Moondust and Solitude" and "Jolly Springtime" are other strong tracks. Maybe not great but solid good. The title track is one of the weakest, not my kind of song at all. The closing instrumental "Precious Time" most be one of Ric's finest. Beautiful playing, just listen to Simon's guitar. In my ranking it comes between M&H and "The Festival Bell" and above the other albums from the "Chris Leslie-era".
I have seen the word "bland" mentioned in a couple of posts. I can't see how the music here is more so than on albums like "Rosie", "RFTM", "R&G" or "The Five Seasons". I think that we shall cherish the fact that the band is still creating new music after so many years, that they are not content to just playing music from their past.

If you did like Dodgy Bastards then you 'should' like EST'd 1969 just the same - unless Rick Kemps influence was a big draw for the two you mention. EST'd only suffers from being a little too short and a little rushed for getting ready for the tour. But to my mind there are a couple of tracks tracks better than anything on Dodgy Bastards , but the overall experience is probably not as good as the previous two.
But it does have Ian Anderson on flute on one track so that's always going to be good!

I'm looking forward to hearing to hearing S&G once its streamed. Myths and Heroes has been my favourite from the last 20 years so judging by comments I am not overly optimistic for this one!

Not according to him! I either read it or saw it in a documentary on guitarists, Mark Knopfler on the other hand says he sees his job is to exactly recreate each tune!

Apologies if this is elsewhere and already discussed but I am so enjoying this...

2017 documentary on the band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGWstVDbQoY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2VPnOzp88D-Ws0V4YUfu_Cij2CRUJPxXUkpR3bNJyO8fw7HA0ySGD2FNM

We all hear differently, IMO Next Hill / Sense of Occasion period was a real low-point, with Festival Bell / Myths & Heroes a clear improvement. So I'll have to see about buying S & G ...one day.  And you don't have to go as far away as The Who for a late-period classic - most of us agree that Steeleye's Wintersmith & Dodgy Bastards were just that (haven't heard Est'd '69 yet, although opinion seems not to be so enthusiastic).

Yes, some left-field stuff on Myths, well left - field as FC get, Weightless / Gravity Reel and Man In The Water, Jonah's Oak a standout. Festival Bell is probably as consistent as this line up's got, post Over The Next Hill, which is a personal fave bar one track.

The odd thing is that I have tended to take to recentish Fairport albums better than I've taken to this so far. I thought Myths and Heroes had some blinders on it, for instance. And I know it's going back a while now, but I really liked most of Festival Bell, too.

I have the new Who album, it was being talked up in the press as being their best since Quadrophenia, which is possibly my favourite Who album. As for S&G, I'll maintain it does have a quite melancholy feel and is possibly their best in a while, but that might just be because I'm flogging it to death trying to find some redemption in there?  You might have a point about 1,000 Bars, After all,  didn't The Stylistics manage it in 16 (Bars)?  

I'll be online on Feb 3rd to buy my Saturday ticket. I was going to do Friday and Saturday, but that would work out £100 more (incl camping), and I'm not convinced my back can take 2 nights on an airbed any more...