Present: The Very Best of Steeleye Span

"Present – The Very Best of Steeleye Span" is the 17th studio album by Steeleye Span, released in 2002. Because of its title, the album may be mistaken for one of the band's many compilation albums, but although recordings of all but one of the songs had been previously released, it is a set of new studio versions of the songs involved, some arranged markedly differently from the originals. The project began with a poll on Peter Knight's website, asking fans about which of the band's songs they would most like to see new versions of. At the time the poll was taken, the band was in a state of near collapse. Personal tensions during the recording of Bedlam Born had led to the departure of Gay Woods and Tim Harries, and health problems had forced Bob Johnson into retirement. When the poll was completed, Knight persuaded several past members of the band, Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, and Liam Genockey to return to the studio, and he coaxed Johnson out of retirement as well. The newly reformed line-up, close to the band's famous mid-70's membership, released the results as a two disc set in 2002. The album includes one song the band had never recorded before, "Lyke-Wake Dirge". The song selection very heavily leans toward the band's mid-70's heyday, with one song from Hark! The Village Wait, one from Ten Man Mop, four from Below the Salt, one from Commoner's Crown, three from All Around My Hat, and Parcel of Rogues, two from Now We Are Six, and one each from Rocket Cottage, and Sails of Silver (although arguably this version of "Blackleg Miner" owes more to the Back in Line version than the Hark! version). The band's later work, from Tempted and Tried, Time, Horkstow Grange and Bedlam Born are entirely passed over. Assuming that the contents of the album substantially represent fan opinion from the poll, this would suggest that the band's fans have a strong preference for the band's mid-70s material. According to the liner notes, the album's title is a three-sided pun, playing on the different meanings of 'present', including 'a gift', 'now', and 'here'.