OCTOBERON

Octoberon is and amazing album and the first Barclay James Harvest album i have heard. It is more emotioanally charged than many prog bands that perhaps concentrate so much on virtuosity that they lose some of the impact. It is beautiful and uses instrumentation to great effect. For example on Ra which makes particularly good use of strings. The first three mini epics on this cd are incredible each with poignant lyrics and situations perfectly accompanied by amazingly melodic strings. It is because of the next three tracks that i haven't given this album five stars. Rock and Roll star although good feels weak in relation to the first three although it is still a good song. It is Polk Street Rag that really lets the album down with its quite annoyingly repetetive guitar riff. Its also too long for its limited ideas. Believe in me like Rock and roll star is very good its just in comparison to the first half it is slightly weak. Suicide? the final track on the album is probably my favourite song on the album. It is heart wrenching, beautiful and humourous at the same time. Its gradual build from just the voice and a guitar to majestic strings really builds the story and gives it a real sense of progression which is lacking in Polk Street Rag. The ending of the song is quite nasty with the sound of the person jumping or being pushed off the edge. This is particularly surprising after the quiet fading of the strings. All in all this is a really fantastic emotionally charged album that i reccomend to everyone.