BABY JAMES HARVEST

Wanting to try out an album by BJH, I found this one, (remastered btw). And it looks as tho I choose the wrong one. It starts out fine with a decent rocker, "Crazy Over (You)". The guitar sounds a bit subdued but I do like the Mellotron right under the surface during the singing sections. Like I said, a decent rocker but not prog at all, in fact there's hardly ANY prog on this album. "Summer Soldier" is the only exception, with sounds of war and a repeated yell of "KILL!" reverberating until we get a marching band drum beat. There's a very Jefferson Airplane ala Haight Ashbury sound throughout this song. The best section is at the 5 and a half minute mark when there's a church bell competing with a guitar riff then John Lee begins to sing with a reverb warble as the Mellotron stays just below the song. It's a fine song and the highlight of the album. "Thank You" is a honky tonk type song. Enough said! "One Hundred Thousand Smiles" is flat out boring. Last up is "Moonwater" a flat-out orcehstral song, very classical. Too classical! I don't see how the band was involved at all other then the hippy dippy lyrics sung so high pitched and delicately it undermines the seriousness of certain sections of the song. In fact, the music swells in parts drowning out the singing. I guess for some this is another highlight, but for me it's another boring track. My edition of the disc is the re-mastered version with 10 bonus tracks. The only song I like is "Medicine Man" which for me is the best song on the disc! I don't know if I'd compare these guys to the Moddy Blues like some, but again, this is the only album I have and it may be the only one I will have. 2 stars in my book.