What does it sound like?:
It’s the turn of this 1972 effort, the band’s fourth album, to be given the deluxe reissue treatment, in this case an all encompassing four cds plus a bluray. To be honest, this isn’t an album I listen to very much, and it wouldn’t make my top five from their catalogue. Nonetheless, what we get is a remaster of the original album, including the bonus tracks from the 2002 reissue, plus a new stereo mix that adds an early demo of Moonwater plus one further previously unreleased song. For me, this is the sound of a band still very much finding its feet and looking for a clear direction in which to move forward, and so producing such an extensive set for what is really quite a nondescript album is perhaps rather stretching things a bit. Many of the songs are quite bland and haven’t aged that well on the whole, although a couple – the orchestral epic Moonwater and Delph Town Morn – stand out from the crowd and are head and shoulders above the rest, as are the non album singles Child of Man and Medicine Man. Discs 3 and 4 comprise a performance from November 1972, to mark the album’s release, for Radio One’s ‘In Concert’ programme, the band being accompanied by a full symphony orchestra for the occasion. We get both the mono and stereo versions of this broadcast on separate cds, which seems a little excessive, but there you go. Having said that, this segment is actually the highlight of the whole box – a fine performance mixing songs from the new album with crowd favourites such as Galadriel and Mockingbird. The bluray provides a 5.1 mix of all the material on the second cd, plus a video of Thank You from the OGWT in January 1973. A decent informative and illustrated booklet rounds off the set. Definitely one for the BJH completist, but with 55 tracks it very nicely rounds off the band’s time on the Harvest label.
What does it all *mean*?
Their best years still lay ahead of them, with the likes of Time Honoured Ghosts, Octoberon and Gone To Earth.
Goes well with…
Remembering those days and this somewhat unfashionable and now largely forgotten band that never quite made it to the top table, here in the UK at least, and who these days are really just a footnote in the grand history of rock – was it all really over 50 years ago!
Release Date:
22 September
Might suit people who like…
Other BJH albums, gentle vaguely prog influenced sounds.
This Saturday in Huddersfield. JFI.
Sounds an interesting night out.
Though I shan’t be going.
(Murmurs of “shame, shame”…)
I believe I’ve said I saw BJH back in the seventies, the support was Chris de burk.
Plus I’ve another concert the next night.
Must be popular they’ve put another concert on the next day.
A vital historical record for the fans, so thanks Bargepole!
I don’t have this album so I ordered this set a while ago. After your underwhelming review*** no disrespect meant you Bargie, you paint an accurate picture of the band at the time, I will listen without any high expectations.
***I enjoyed your review Bargie as usual.
Perhaps I’ve been overly harsh…it’s not a bad album by any means, I just found it a bit underwhelming.
@Bargepole no need to apologise. To my ears ‘underwhelming’ is being kind to them.
To the ears and brain that think Wetleg created a masterpiece.
Enough said.
I liked “You Ain’t Seen Nothing yet”, but later realised it was Bachman-Turner-Overdrive …
@dai I can tell you that if BJH covered it they would turn it to shit
Given that our tastes largely seem to overlap a lot of the time, I struggle to understand your animosity towards this lot @SteveT.
I was an early follower of theirs, starting with their second album, and this one, for me, is possibly the one I like best from the Harvest years (though I won’t be splurging forty-odd quid for this boxed set).
Do you have a chronic, deep-seated and severe phobia of velvet loons perhaps?
BJH support Aston Villa Stevie the world’s oldest football hooligan supports Birmingham City.
@Vulpes-Vulpes I agree our tastes overlap more than most others on this site.
I don’t know what it is with BJH – I had a compilation of theirs but just thought it was bland. At the time I was listening to Greenslade, Camel, Genesis and Yes who all sounded more dynamic.
BJH seemed more pastoral which is not what floated my boat at that time.
I did have green loon pants, a tie dyed Grandad vest and and Afghan coat soaked in spiritual sky – unfortunately the loon pants were not velvet. That was beyond my paygrade.
Me too, mine were thin cotton, had 28in flares, cost £2.50 a pair and came from a shop called Mr. Bee’s Fun Factory. My greatcoat had ARP buttons and cost a fiver from Goulds the Army surplus shop in Ebringdon Street. I’d guess that my fondness for The Moody Blues meant I was better inclined to the moorland prog of BJH.
Interesting. I was always more inclined to BJH, mainly because I became familiar with it – one of my friends was a huge fan, so hearing their albums was unavoidable. Never could stand those Moodies, tho’…
As for sartorial elegance – I used to dress out of the Army & Navy Store, so dark indigo straight leg jeans with a stupidly big turn-up (and a pocket for your ruler), combat jacket, oiled fisherman’s jumpers and desert boots…I was never a loon-panted ‘ippy – with all that VdGG and KC in my head, there wasn’t much room for peace and love
That’s the odd thing – I loved the Moody Blues because although they too were pastoral I liked their psychedelic side.
My Greatcoat was actually from the wrens and was bottle green and buttoned on the ladies side. I loved it because it was different to everyone else’s.
Rather fitting for a Big Girls Blouse
They were the ‘Go Tos’ of the college circuit, along with Caravan, if a band failed to turn up.
Surely second album Once Again was their masterpiece. So I fail to agree with those who say they were looking for a direction or that their best days lay ahead – only in commercial terms, when they packed in flogging round the Old Refectories and set their sights on Deutschland…
You’re entitled to your opinion Mickey but albums like ‘Time Honoured Ghosts’, ‘Octoberon’ & ‘Gone To Earth’ are classics IMHO.
I think Caravan were a much better band and certainly more accomplished musicians.
Fair do’s. I’d pobably take Caravan or Camel as the best of their ilk; one band slightly tongue in cheek about its own existence, the other willing and able to make more serious musical statements. The Snow Goose in particular is a genuine marvel – a full symphony of beautifully cinematic music. BJH got close a few times, but came nowhere near reaching that level.
Yeah I still think The Snow Goose is a great album and fantastic musicality from a rock band who my old man would insist ‘come the revolution they would be the first buggers to be put up against the wall and shot’