Barclay James Harvest Everyone

The group's first album for Polydor is several steps above their EMI work. Most of the psychedelic-era influences are softened here and broadened, and transmuted into something heavier and more serious, even as the Beatlesque harmonies remain intact…

The group's first album for Polydor is several steps above their EMI work. Most of the psychedelic-era influences are softened here and broadened, and transmuted into something heavier and more serious, even as the Beatlesque harmonies remain intact. The guitars sound real heavy, almost larger than life here, while the swelling Mellotron and synthesizer sounds give the music the feel of an orchestra. By this time, the group had also mastered the Pink Floyd technique of playing pretty tunes really slowly, which made them sound incredibly profound (it's actually a technique that goes back, in different forms, to Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner). John Lees gives superb, virtuoso performances on lead guitar on "Paper Wings" and "For No One."

This is compilation of BJH starting from when they left EMI's Harvest label in the mid 1970's. It therefore covers the period from their first Polydor album, "Everyone is everybody else". Unlike most stories, this one begins somewhere in the middle with a single edit of the title track from the "Ring of changes" album. The Harvest years are represented only by a later live version of the perennial "Mocking bird" taken from their famous Berlin concert. The overriding concern here is that the compilation purports to tell the "Story" of BJH.

About 'Barclay James Harvest,' I can safely say they've 2 works to the best progressive rock I have ever heard and are the following: I am presenting today 'Everyone Is Everybody Else' and the double live LP called 'Barclay James Harvest - Live ', both published in 1974, a key date for me.

"Baby James Harvest" is felt by many to be the weakest of their first four albums which were all released on the Harvest Label. This would be their last album for that label. This album is more of an acquired taste than their previous, more accessible releases…

Essential: A masterpiece of progressive rock music
This live from "Barclay James Harvest" (BJH) is a cornerstone in regard to progressive rock, this concert is for promotion their 5th album "Everyone is everybody else" (their best with any doubt.) All songs are a little masterpieces.