What does it sound like?:
Originally released back in October 1976, Octoberon is the latest in the series of BJH albums to be given the deluxe reissue treatment as a two cd plus dvd set.
The original seven track album appears in both remastered form and as a new stereo mix and is supplemented by a handful of bonus tracks. This is one of the band’s more prog sounding efforts, particularly the first three songs, although overall it has quite a dark, almost melancholy, feel. The stand outs though are Rock n Roll Star and The World Goes On, which went on to become regulars in their live shows for years to come. The six bonus tracks are a slight disappointment, mostly just being early mixes, interesting to hear once but not something that you would make too much effort to return to. As usual, the dvd in the set carries the surround sound mix and the 96/24 versions of the original album and its new stereo mix. An unexpected bonus is the inclusion of videos of two songs originally broadcast on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977. As with previous albums in this series, the original artwork has been restored in a decent booklet with some interesting writing on the creation of the album.
What does it all *mean*?
This is the band at their creative peak, and was the one that really broke them in the mainland European market.
Goes well with…
A quiet solitary night in.
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
Gentlish prog influenced sounds, a la The Moody Blues.
bricameron says
Little tip from a little tit.
If anyone else posts another of these reviews and fails to include a relevant clip I’m not going to comment.
😜
Bargepole says
There are plenty of clips available on youtube 😉
bricameron says
You want me to work? Thems Fightin’ words!
😂
Freddy Steady says
Blinking flip.
My brother, 5 years older, introduced this to me in the late 70’s while I was grooving to Black and White, the Buzzcocks, PIL.
And yet I still like it. Couldn’t tell you why to be honest but there we go. It’s a bit bloated, definitely Prog Lite and not cool, oh no but blinking flip I still like it.
Baron Harkonnen says
I saw BJH at the Prog Fest in NW Wales in March, they good.