EVERYONE IS EVERYBODY ELSE

The first Polydor album of the boys was quite a surprise. They left the classical influences behind them, focused somewhat more on progrock songs (although that term didnot exist by that time) and gave some room to their folk roots in two beautiful short songs, extremely nicely coupled by a simple chord. This is BJH at their absolute best! The album starts off very strongly with 'Child of the universe', an emotional and personal song by John Lees protesting against the bad things that grown-ups impend on children while arguing, making war of staying intolerant. The next two songs are by Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard together, a combination that had never and would never exist again. Too bad for those two songs, Negative earth and Paper wings, are simply great. John Lees 'The great 1974 mining disaster does indeed reflect the BeeGees but he gives it a more rock-like spell, ending in a splendid guitar-driven coda. Crazy city is a rather straightforward rock song, yet being sung very well. See me see you has always been a favourite; it realy is too bad they never came to play it live! After the two folkish short songs that are so well combined the original album closes with what I reckon as being the best song that BJH has ever recorded in their more than 30-years career: 'For no one'. Actually it has been my all time favourite ever since I first heard in on Radio Caroline, fading in and out because of the weather conditions (those were the days!) The guitar is everywhere, John sings at his best (and then it is really good!), the lyrics grab you by the throat. The only criticism: it is way too short, it should have run for another 3 of 4 minutes, just soloing around the marvellous theme. What an album!! This is absolutely a classic, although it never became their biggest success which is, in my hunble opinion, one of the very very big puzzles in pop history!