At the time of its release, Fables was considered a slight letdown from the band’s previous output and the band helped emphasize this point by sounding less than enthusiastic about their experiences with legendary folk-rock producer Joe Boyd. However, time has been extremely kind to this album and over the years it has become one of their strongest and most enduring ones. “Can’t Get There From Here” and “Driver 8” gave them modest hits, but it’s the delicate tensions of “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” and “Auctioneer” and the somber graces of “Green Grow the Rushes” and “Wendell Gee” that give this album its remarkable depth. This Deluxe Edition includes a generous 14 bonus cuts of demos cut back in Athens before they headed to England to have Boyd work his production magic. The spare quality of the demos gives the listener an insight into Boyd’s importance to these songs and the resulting album. The demos are charming, but the band’s identity isn’t much beyond that of a solid and likable garage band. With Boyd adding the extra textures, the band crafted a classic.