BLUEBELL WOOD

"Bluebell Wood" is the first and only album from the crossover prog band Big Sleep (also known as Eyes of Blue, a 60s psychedelic band). This is quite the unique album, with it surprisingly only having 15 ratings at the time of making this review. Big Sleep manages to blend many different genres into this small record, with songs like Death of a Hope having a more classical crossover in its opening, When the Sun Was Out having more of a pop feel, and the title track having almost the exact definition of progressive rock. The reason I found out about this album was because John Weathers of Gentle Giant was the drummer for this band. The other men that played on the album were Phil Ryan on organ and piano, Ritchie Francis on bass and piano, Raymond Williams on guitar, and Gary Pickford-Hopkins on vocals and guitar. It was released under Pegasus Records in 1971 and was reissued on CD in 2001 and 2004. Other than all of this, I couldn't find that much more information on the album because of how unknown it is.  

The album opens with probably the most known song on the album (by known, I mean a couple thousand views on Spotify at most), titled Death of a Hope. It sounds more akin to an ending, seeing how the title points toward the death of something, despite it being the opening to the album. Most of the song is purely piano and string arrangements, with only slight spurts of rock instrumentation throughout most of the song up until the end, where the band joins in all together. Odd Song is next on the album, and it continues this soft, laid-back vibe that Death of Hope began. Most of it is only comprised of an acoustic and piano, with the main riff on electric guitar only coming in around the halfway point. I'm not sure if I'm right when saying this, but I think there has to be more than one singer. Throughout most of the album I've heard at least three different voices, so either their singing is just really good or they have another singer along with Hopkins. Free Life is probably my second favorite song off the album, only being rivaled by the title track (which I'll get to in a minute). It is almost entirely comprised of instrumental heavy psych, with unbridled organ and guitar solos along with incredible fills by Weathers on the drums. The vocals sound extremely unique, with these distorted and spacey edits to them similar to how Gentle Giant did the vocals in some of Acquiring the Taste. The track goes on for a pleasantly satisfying six and a half minutes, not dragging on yet now ending too short. Aunty James is probably the most classic rock sounding song on the album. It has a nice basic melody, short length, and simple lyrics. I must add that I do like the drumming and bass playing on this song, with these two adding enough complexity and musicianship to be labeled as progressive rock. You can hear influences from artists like The Moody Blues and The Beatles all throughout this song, and arguably some of the other points of this album. Saint And Septic is the last song on side one, being around the same length as Free Life. It has a great start with a somewhat neo-medieval feel to the music that gradually builds into a short vocal passage. This song also brings back the strings for the instrumental sections, which I greatly appreciated. The only problem is that I think the band could've been a bit better at the end. I was fine with the refrain of the vocals, but the playing feels a bit lifeless at that point. Overall, side one is astounding, with a remarkable length of nearly twenty-seven minutes. And while side two isn't as good, it has, in my opinion, one of the best songs ever made.  

Side two begins with the eleven minute long title track. It opens with a quiet bass line accompanied by some jazzy organ and slight symbol tapping before the band really begins the song, and Weathers does some descending drum parts along with Williams joining in on guitar. Big Sleep repeats the opening, this time led by some soft vocals. After some brief singing sections, the band goes into this beat with a flute appearing for the first time. The drum fills at just amazing at this point, and the rest of the band is shining their brightest so far. After another repeat of this section, they start this ascending melody with the song gaining more and more speed and power before Williams begins an alright guitar solo, soon to be overshadowed later in the song. Their songs are in the same edit as Free Life, but this time it's much more melodic and beautiful. The complimenting guitar parts after also add another layer to the already happy field the song has created. Now after this, the band breaks into these wild and unhinged solos on improvisation. This section is absolutely insane; every member is playing their absolute best, reaching peak after peak and inching closer and closer to a crescendo not seen on the album yet. And so between the nonstop organ, the incredible and emotionally charged guitar solos, happy and moving singing, and the constant tension between the drums, the title track of Bluebell Wood is surprisingly one of my favorite songs of all time. The one problem I have with this song is that the lyrics aren't that good in the beginning, but they get better over time. Watching Love Grow is a baroque pop ballad that utilizes mainly piano, acoustic guitar, and some drums. It's quite a boring song, being under three minutes long, and is a pretty big downgrade from the title track. For the most part, this song and the next song don't really have much to add to, apart from them being generally relaxing yet bland pop songs. Speaking of the next song, When the Sun Was Out is a simple pop rock song that, in my opinion, was a weak spot to leave the album at. The song takes a sound reminiscent of The Grateful Dead (which is a band I love), adds some lackluster performance and sound quality, creates a colorless atmosphere that is supposed to sound happy, and puts a complete stop to the power built on Bluebell Wood as if Watching Love Grow didn't already sort of ruffle the scene. I'm willing to brush past this, however, and focus on the highs on this album instead.  

In conclusion, Bluebell Wood is a bumpy masterpiece. It can have some of the greatest music ever written in one song and generic pop music in the next. I'm pretty sure I said this before, but it has something for everyone. While my rating of the album will go down a little for the fact that they couldn't find their unique sound and maybe didn't put enough force on one genre and instead delve into many, you could argue that is their uniqueness. Along with my heart being incredibly close to this album (this along with Pink Floyd and Nektar were the first three progressive rock bands I ever listened to), I think this album is deserving of a strong 4.5/5, but here I'll round it up to a 5/5.