^^ The Eye of Wendor also features the Experience’s Noel Redding, Justin Hayward, and Sad Café’s Ian Wilson and Paul Young.  Great prog concept album although the story is a bit clichéd.

Barclay James Harvest....
I fell in love with this band when I was 14 years old, and today (after 30+ years) is still one of my most beloved bands.
 I read in some of your comments here, that BJH wasn't much into Prog, right? I will have to agree and disagree at the same time. It totally depends on what do you mean by "Prog". If for you 'Prog' means something like King Crimson, Yes, ELP etc, then yes, BJH isn't a Prog band. But if you are fond of bands like Procol Harum, Renaissance, Illusion, The Moody Blues and so on, then BJH should be a "must" for you.
As for the albums you mentioned...
Their first and more "Symphonic" period, (including Robert John Godfrey as a musical conductor), is a wonderful one. It ends with the release of 'Baby James Harvest' which is a not so good album. (But it includes the brilliant 'Summer Soldier' and especially 'Moonwater' in it).
 The "must listen to" album from this first period, is without a doubt 'Barclay James Harvest Live' (1974). It includes most of their best songs, in wonderful versions. (Also, BJH & other short stories is a very good choice).
 Next, they moved to another record label, and tried to become famous. Well, they did it!
Here's a few more albums I would recommend to you as well: Everyone is Everybody else (1974), Octoberon (1976) and Live Tapes (1978).
I hope I helped you somehow...
greetings!

Ah ..... got to the end of Octoberon and now I know why I liked the thing back in the day.

Suicide.

If they ever wrote/recorded a better tune I'd like to know what it was.

"Heard a voice shouting "Don't jump, please for God's sake let me move my car"!"

Green Shield Stamp wrote: I agree that the 1974 live album is probably the best album to get overall.  I find the band a little frustrating because they are obviously hugely talented and have produced some great songs but their overall sound is just a little too limp and tepid.  A little more drama (especially in the vocals) could have propelled BJH into the big league.

I would like to revise this opinion. Prompted by this thread, I have been listening to a number of BJH albums lately, especially Time Honoured Ghosts, Octoberon, Gone to Earth, and XII. Repeated listens have made me realise that there is drama and power in the music. There is a tastefulness to the arrangements rather than a limpness. My initial evaluation was lazy and uninformed.

I agree that the live 1974 album is probably their best album. The studio albums sometimes sound to me a bit too "overproduced", too many strings and such, while in the live recording you get the "pure" compositions, which are simply great, and greatly performed!

They’ve been a favorite of mine for going on four decades now, though I do agree that they can be a bit on the less-than-dynamic side (“limp” is a little harsh, IMO).  The more progressive tracks, by and large, were provided by the late great Woolly Wolstenholme, who for better or worse was the George Harrison of the group, usually contributing one or two songs per album: In Search of England, Ra, Beyond the Grave, Sea of Tranquility, Moonwater.

 

Poor Man’s Moody Blues, was done as a joke of sorts, answering a critic’s label of them, but it’s now rightly recognized as one of their classics.

 

John Lees: definitely an underrated guitarist.  He absolutely smokes on the live Medicine Man.

 

EMI did a bang-up job with the reissues of their first four albums, with tons of bonus tracks, mostly singles tracks and BBC recordings, some of songs that don’t have studio counterparts.  The first especially is like a treasure hunt.

 

The first one I ever bought was Octoberon, which is still my favorite (though perhaps tied with Once Again). 

chopper wrote: Sagichim wrote: I love Once Again very much and it was my introduction to the band, I've never really got into Time-Honoured Ghosts and never listened to Baby James Harvest, but the ones I do like are BJH & Other Short Stories, Everyone Is Everybody Else and Octoberon. First of all BJH were never that progressive but their arrangements were always rich and interesting plus they did have their more progressive songs. BJH & Other Short Stories is my favourite although I've seen many mediocre reviews for it, anyway for me it's kind of a magical album with such a cool atmosphere, beautiful, sad and disturbing, It's their most orchestrated album too, filled with beautiful orchestrated arrangements and some heartfelt melodies, check out the songs Medicine Man and The Poet, those are stunning. Everyone Is Everybody Else is probably their strongest with some of their best material, also contains some of their progiest moments, I'd suggest start with this one. Octoberon is also good and worth checking out if you'll like the others. Thanks for the advice, I'll try those ones.

Tried them, liked them but still not a patch on "Once Again".

moshkito wrote: Moogtron III wrote: For me, Everyone Is Everybody Else is the best album. No real classic tracks, but all the songs are quite good and the album has grown on me through the years. It's good from beginning to end. ...   Actually, the LIVE album is the best ... absolutely fantastic versions of Summer Soldier and Medicine Man.   Everyone is Everbody Else is a magnificent album and non stop pleasure.

defectinggrey wrote: I'm surprised that , no-one has mentioned that they have a song 'Poor Man's Moody Blues'.

Moogtron III wrote: For me, Everyone Is Everybody Else is the best album. No real classic tracks, but all the songs are quite good and the album has grown on me through the years. It's good from beginning to end. ...

Edited by moshkito - June 25 2015 at 09:28