Label: EMI Records (Japan), TOCP-70348
Style: Art Rock, Symphonic Rock
Country: Oldham, England
Time: 70:50
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 415 Mb
Like
the work of Buffalo Springfield or the Moody Blues in the first go
'round, you'll need to take it on faith that the Baroque touches on
Barclay James Harvest and Other Stories were effective for their time.
The fuzzed guitars, Mellotron, bongos, heavy orchestration and dreamy
arrangements may sound stilted today, but strip them away (or simply
acquiesce to enjoy them) and a very good collection of songs reveals
itself. There are obvious nods to the Beatles ("Blue John Blues,"
"Medicine Man") and the Moodies (the lovely "Ursula"), but that's a fait
accompli on any Barclay James Harvest album. Although the album doesn't
really tell any stories (an optimistic acceptance of mortality comes
into play on a couple of tracks), the band does aspire to bigger things
on the aptly titled "The Poet." The only knock on this album (and it
pertains to Barclay James Harvest in general) is that you wish they
aspired to more. The classical arrangements are stunning, and when the
band musters a big orchestral ending for a song like "Little Lapwing,"
you can't help but wonder how much better it would have been if they'd
invoked it sooner. Musically the band is solid; Mel Pritchard's
Ringo-isms on the drums are especially neat, while John Lees gets in
some nice distorted guitar parts and Stewart Wooly Wolstenholme steals
the show when the Mellotron comes into play. The epic "After the Day"
closes things on a high note, ending with an explosion that announces
all bets are off. Barclay James Harvest and Other Stories is itself a
high note in the band's early catalog and worth a flyer for anyone
interested in the band's oeuvre. [The 2002 EMI CD reissue included six
bonus tracks, five of which were previously unreleased.]
(allmusic.com/album/barclay-james-harvest-and-other-short-stories-mw0000755147)
01. Medicine Man (03:58)
02. Someone There You Know (03:48)
03. Harry's Song (03:54)
04. Ursula (The Swansea Song) (02:54)
05. Little Lapwing (04:59)
06. Song With No Meaning (04:22)
07. Blue John's Blues (06:50)
08. The Poet (04:55)
09. After The Day (04:48)
10. Brave New World (demo) (bonus) (03:59)
11. She Said (BBC session) (bonus) (08:42)
12. Galadriel (BBC session) (bonus) (03:06)
13. Ursula (The Swansea Song) (BBC session) (bonus) (02:54)
14. Someone There You Know (BBC session) (bonus) (03:47)
15. Medicine Man (BBC session) (bonus) (07:48)
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