TWICE AS MUCH

"Twice As Much" is a compilation album of Barclay James Harvest released in 1992. "Twice As Much" has tracks from their first four studio albums. So, it has two tracks from their eponymous debut studio album "Barclay James Harvest", six tracks from their second studio album "Once Again", nine tracks from their third studio album "...And Other Short Stories" and six tracks from their fourth studio album "Baby James Harvest". It has also plus six non-album's tracks.

"Twice As Much" has twenty-eight tracks. "Mocking Bird" is a great piece, one of their best compositions. It has a great melody and the presence of an orchestra. "Delph Town Morn" is very beautiful, one of the few songs to include horns. The inclusion of these instruments adds another different dimension to their music. "Song For Dying" is a powerful song with a strong anti-war message with morbid and dark lyrics. It's one of the best songs on "Once Again" featuring a great and powerful guitar work. "Ursula (The Swansea Song)" is a true simple song with a nice melody and a beautiful Mellotron work. It has a lovely poetry work, is well played and carefully arranged. "Someone There You Know" is a nice song with a catchy melody, good guitar and keyboard works and some inspired harmony. It's a pleasant and romantic ballad. "Crazy (Over You)" is a song without the usual orchestration replaced by the Mellotron work. It's an effective composition featuring some excellent guitar and keyboard works. "Song With No Meaning" is a typical English pastoral acoustic song where Les Holroyd plays almost all instruments. It's a simple and nice song, slightly laconic. "Brother Thrush" was released as the A side of the single with the same name. It's a beautiful song with falsetto vocals sounding to the 60's. "Medicine Man" is a great song with a nice vocal performance and a fantastic and memorable orchestral arrangement. "Little Lapwing" is an acoustic song in the vein of the songs on "Barclay James Harvest". It's a nice and simple song where Les Holroyd plays not only bass but almost all instruments. "I'm Over You" was the A side of the single with the same name. It's a nice song, one of my favourite bonus tracks on their album "Baby James Harvest" on my release. "Harry's Song" is a simple song sounding as a rocking number. It isn't very inspired and the final result isn't very convincing. "She Said" is an emotional love song with nice and interesting instrumental passages, especially the nice flute passage in the middle. "Child Of Man" was released as the B side of the single "I'm Over You". It's a short track but remains a fine song. "Mother Dear" is a pleasant song that features nice string arrangements. It sounds to the 60's but it doesn't matter because it's very beautiful. "Ball And Chain" is a powerful rock song with a good instrumental performance and a real curious and strange vocal performance by Woolly Wolstenholme. "Summer Soldier" is a classic band's track that begins as an acoustic song with the second part arranged by Woolly Wolstenholme. This is one of the highest moments on "Baby James Harvest". "Vanessa Simmons" is a simple soft acoustic ballad with only acoustic guitar and voice. It's a relaxing and pleasant song. "The Joker" was released as the B side of the single "Rock And Roll Woman". It's a short and simple song with short lyrics too. "The Iron Maiden" is a short, simple song with nice harmony and beautiful chorus. It's a quiet and celestial ballad, one of the highlights on "Barclay James Harvest". "One Hundred Thousand Smiles Out" is a calm and nice song, well arranged. This is another example of what would be the direction of their future music. "Rock And Roll Woman" was released as the A side of the single with the same name. It's a short calm rock piece a bit repetitive without great developments. "Galadriel" is a nice and simple song with good guitar work and a beautiful vocal performance. It has a superb orchestral arrangement. "Blue John's Blues" is a nice rock song with good guitar work, nice piano and John Lees' rocking vocals. It shows a side of the band not revealed until that moment. "Early Morning" was released as the A side of the single with the same name. It's a short melodic ballad with a romantic atmosphere dominated by Mellotron and a nice flute work. "The Poet" is a great mini-epic orchestral piece. It proves the skills of Woolly Wolstenholme as a brilliant composer and performer and the influences of the classical music on him. "After The Day" is a great song with a good guitar work and a majestic Mellotron performance. It has an irreproachable orchestral arrangement too. "Thank You" is a rocking number, a tribute to their road crew and many other people who influenced the band's life. This isn't a great song. It represents one of the weakest points on "Baby James Harvest".

Conclusion: "Twice As Much" is a good compilation album of the band that is exclusively focused on the first four studio albums of Barclay James Harvest in the beginning of their career, the Harvest years. Thus, it has only tracks that belong to those albums plus some tracks that never were released on any of their studio albums but only released as singles. All of this makes that "Twice As Much" is a nice and interesting compilation album of Barclay James Harvest with some of their best and most prog tracks that belong to some of their best and most prog studio works too, mainly "Once Again". So, "Twice As Much" is a good representative of the band and is a nice showcase of their earlier career.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)