BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST

"Barclay James Harvest" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Barclay James Harvest. The album was released through Harvest Records in June 1970. Barclay James Harvest was founded in Oldham, in September 1966 and released the 1968 "Early Morning / Mr. Sunshine" single through the Parlophone Records label, before signing to the Harvest Records label for the release of the 1969 "Brother Thrush / Poor Wages" single and subsequently the release of this debut album.

Stylistically the material on the 7 track, 39:06 minutes long album is progressive rock, but in the more accessible end of the scale, featuring a combination of Beatlesque melodies and The Moody Blues influenced classical orchestra instrumentation on top of guitars, bass, organ/piano/mellotron, and drums. The classical orchestra parts are most audible on "When The World Was Woken" and on the 11:54 minutes long closing track "Dark Now My Sky", and both are among the most progressive tracks on the album. The former featuring an obvious Procol Harum influence and the latter featuring an early King Crimson influence. "Taking Some Time On" and "Good Love Child" are the most hard rocking tracks on the album, while "Mother Dear" and "The Iron Maiden" are both mellow beautiful songs. The latter features a strong Moody Blues influence, but that influence is even more audible on "The Sun Will Never Shine", which could easily be mistaken for a contemporary Moody Blues song.

The band is a tight and organic playing unit and there is no doubt that they can handle their instruments and that they are also clever composers and arrangers. The vocals are pleasant and the music features loads of harmonies and choirs to compliment the lead vocal melodies. The album also features a well sounding, organic, and detailed production, which suits the material well. While it´s probably obvious from reading my above description of the music and me mentioning the influences, that Barclay James Harvest weren´t the most unique sounding act on the early 70s progresive rock scene, they were still a very well playing band, writing some memorable music. I´ve heard the band called poor man´s Moody Blues many times, but personally I think this album features more great music than the full discography of their influences left behind. So while it may not be a perfect release, it´s still a strong and memorable debut album by Barclay James Harvest, and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.