EVERYONE IS EVERYBODY ELSE

What a difference a change of label makes. In retrospect being deprived of their precious orchestra was the best thing to happen to BJH. Being effectively forced to toughen up their sound to make up for it made them a far more commercially viable group Gone were the bloated arrangements and tentative melodies and in came some genuinely powerhouse playing and arrangements. Individually, the songs on "Everyone is Everybody Else" stand up extremely well but collectively they make up a song cycle that is frankly stunning- a real case of an album being so much more than a sum of its parts. The legendary English radio presenter and producer, John Peel famously gave a tick next to every track when deciding which tracks he would play on his show- not something he would normally do and it is easy to see why. Every song is an absolute cracker and as a result it is hard to pick out any highlights. There are some obvious standout moments such as the brilliant drum heavy second half of "Paper Wings" and the superb guitar solo in the closing track "For No One" but the playing and arrangements throughout are just about faultless. Interestingly the re-arranged version of "Child Of The Universe" (originally planned as a US single) but apparently never released is actually more dramatic and effective than the original version and is closer to the live version which appears on "Live Tapes"This version is included as a bonus track on the Remastered CD.u Another bonus track is Wolstenholme's mini epic "Maestoso"Even though it is another brilliant, very proggy contribution which was notoriously left off the original album I am not sure where it would have fitted in-something which the producer Roger Bain apparently decided at the last minute. Nevertheless, even without any solo contributions from the keyboard player the album remains an absolute classic which never seems to age.

My rating-5 stars