Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3rd album in !!, 26 Aug 2005
By A Customer
As my title suggest this was the bands 3rd record. After the glorious ' Once Again' they deilver an album almost as good. Medicine Man, Someone there you know, Ursula, Harry's Song are all wonderful examples of where quality comes together. This was the first BJH album not to be produced by Norman Smith ( of Beatles fame ) and the sleeve with all the guys looking very seventites is very much of it's time but it's the music that this album is remembered for and what joy that is. The album was partly recorded at Abbey Road studios. Do buy it !
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A neglected classic!, 15 Aug 2008
"Other Short Stories", Barclay James Harvest's third album, has had the misfortune of having to live in the shadow of its predecessor, the brilliant "Once Again". A great pity, because the album is an excellent example of classical and folk influenced English progressive rock and contains what is, for me at least, one of THE great moments of rock ever.
The album contains quite a mix of stylistic approaches and feels less coherent as an album than "Once Again", which is perhaps why it has suffered in relation to its more popular neighbour. However, one of the great attractions of this band has always been the fact that there has been more than one songwriter (at the time this album was made, 1971, three of the four members of the band were writing songs) and that led to the music always being varied, exciting and never dull, certainly during their first ten years when the ideas were literally bursting from them.
So it is then that "Other Short Stories" is an incredibly inventive and exciting album, combining, rock, folk, classical textures and using an innovative approach to instrumentation, featuring the occasional use of an orchestra as well as a mellotron keyboard.
Here are some of the highlights as I see them:-
"Medicine Man" opens the album, this version being the orchestral one. This song, of course, became a firm BJH live favourite played as a blistering 15-minute hard-rock number! On this album, you can appreciate the beautiful melody in the sung verses.
"Ursula (The Swansea Song" is just a gorgeous love song written by Woolly Wolstenholme.
Les Holroyd's "Little Lapwing" is one of those really inventive songs that BJH should have gained huge credit for but didn't: starting as an almost folky acoustic guitar ballad, its second section opens up into a long orchestral coda. It wasn't the first time that such two-part songs had been written of course, the Derek & The Dominoes's "Layla" is probably the earliest and most famous, but texturally and compositionally this song is much closer to the later Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr Blue Sky", which was a big hit.
I also have a soft spot for John Lees's "Blue John's Blues", staring at a very slow tempo but building up to a cracking finale!
The highlight of the album are the final two tracks, intended to be listened to together. Starting almost pastorally with Woolly's "The Poet", its lyrics and orchestral arrangement reminding one of The Beatles's "Fool On The Hill", the music then explodes in a burst of guitars, drums and mellotron at the start of the apocalyptic "After the Day", an absolutely stunning song that has beautifully contrasting passages and another explosive end. The conjunction of these two songs is one of THE moments of 70s English rock, without a doubt, loved by those who know of it. It's a great pity it's not better known.
The sound quality on the remastered disc is first-class. The bonus tracks do little to enhance the quality of the excellent original album and are best not played at the same sitting: pick of the bunch is the single version of "Medicine Man" which begins to give a flavour of what the live version would be like.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Genius!, 4 Sep 2009
Yes, I like this album.. a lot!!
There's no doubt, for me, that BJH were at their creative best in the seventies and could out-tune and out-lyric any other band on the planet. They were just expertly understated with everything they did. Never showy, never brash but always bold and massively competent.
Most of the original songs on this album are exquisitely beautiful and are a must for anyone who appreciates melody and harmony with an ethereal ambience. There isn't a bad track and each brings something new to the table. The bonus tracks give you a taste of other works you will certainly want to dig out, or invest in, as well as some remixes.
Anyone who has NOT heard "The Poet" followed by "After The Day" should do so before they consider swimming with dolphins. Like Ying and Yang, strawberries and cream, Morecombe and Wise - these two were always meant to be together.
Buy this album, lie back in the sun, close your eyes and let it wash over you and caress you senses. You'll be glad you did!
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~ Barclay James Harvest
~ Barclay James Harvest
~ Barclay James Harvest
~ Barclay James Harvest
~ Barclay James Harvest
