THE BEST OF BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST - VOLUME 2

This is the second compilation distilled from the band's first four albums, and those familiar with long division will know that four albums divided by a pair of "best of" compilations equals too much filler. (If you're good with fractions, check out the third in this overextended series.) To attract fans, EMI adds some hard-to-find music: two sides of a single released as the pseudonymous Bombadil, a handful of tracks from the catch-all compilation Early Morning Onwards, and the single version of "Medicine Man". What listeners get is a pretty good package, including essentials like "Taking Some Time On", "One Hundred Thousand Smiles Out", "Crazy (Over You)" and "Mother Dear".

In fact, I'd give this the nod over the first Best of BJH volume, since the selection is more multidimensional than the mawkish Moodies tunes found on the first collection. So if the similarity between "Vanessa Simmons" and "Puff the Magic Dragon" makes you groan, at least "She Said" balances the lizard's scales with its CRIMSON charge. The Bombadil single is also a nice change of pace: "Breathless" is an instrumental that allows the group to glam it up a bit, and the flip side ("When the City Sleeps") features a refreshingly succinct sound. Add into the mix their first single, "Early Morning," and a noticeably tighter version of "Medicine Man", and you've got another solid sample of early album nuggets and album-worthy arcana.