... AND OTHER SHORT STORIES

BJH and Other Short Stories is the third album from Barclay James Harvest. It´s a bit different compared to the two first albums which I found very enjoyable. Barclay James Harvest is a band that has a strange effect on me. On one hand I know this is cheesy pop music made up to look like semi-prog and that I should despise this attempt at dragging our beloved genre in a commercial direction, but on the other hand Barclay James Harvest are just so damn good songwriters that I can´t deny their qualities.

The music on BJH and Other Short Stories isn´t as impressive as it was on the first two albums IMO. Barclay James Harvest have moved towards an even more commercial pop form than what they played on the first two albums. The songs are still enjoyable but I think the orchestral parts have become a bit too pop cheesy on many of the songs. Songs like Medicine Man and Song With No Meaning ( with some psychadelic percussion) are still very good though. All songs are very smoothly constructed and with beautiful vocal harmonies to go along of course. Barclay James Harvest is still very influenced by The Beatles and The Moody Blues and it is clearly heard in many of the songs.

The musicianship is good and especially the vocals kill me every time. They are just so excellent.

The production is good but nothing special.

The cover art is typical for a pop album in 1971.

BJH and Other Short Stories is a disappointing album when compared to the first two albums from Barclay James Harvest but it´s still an enjoyable soft prog pop album and I´ll rate it 3 stars for the high quality song writing and beautiful singing. This is not my favorite style but quality can´t be denied.