Barclay James Harvest debut album

The debut album from the unsung heroes of prog rock, Barclay James Harvest, is a melancholic affair and one that signposts at an early stage the reflective, sometimes darkly desolate ambience that would become a common motif during their recording years (‘Suicide?’ from Octoberon, anyone?).

Released in 1970 at the tail-end of the psychedelic boom, the self-titled Barclay James Harvest is one of those early prog albums that sits on the cusp of what had gone before and what was about to come.

The psychedelic comedown hangs heavy throughout, but this is by no means a psychedelic album. It captures the beginnings of a band that would go on to release ten studio albums in their original four-piece guise between 1970 and 1979, but were notably denied the mainstream success enjoyed by some of their contemporaries on the progressive rock scene.

Nevertheless, Barclay James Harvest is a mellotron-informed minor masterpiece that scoops up a handful a folk-rock, a little of the pastoral and a sizeable helping of the symphonic, before flinging them into the progressive rock blender and drinking heavily from the resulting nectar.

The opener, ‘Taking Some Time On’, bursts forth with a confidence that grabs the listener by the ears and refuses to let go until they’ve handed over their pocket money. It’s a thumping good tune that belies the more sombre nature of the rest of the album, with its duel guitars punctuated by an energetic hey-nonny-no riff wrenched from the still-beating heart of the Sidmouth Folk Festival.

With the exception of ‘Good Love Child’, which follows in a similarly energetic vein to ‘Taking Some Time On’, the remainder of the album seeks to paint cinematic soundscapes on both a grand and intimate scale, with the Barclay James Harvest Symphony Orchestra put to good use throughout, particularly on the sobering ‘When the World Was Woken’ and the epic 12 minute closer, ‘Dark Now My Sky’, both of which demonstrate the band’s knack for a dark lyric and bleak atmosphere.

A poor man’s Moody Blues?* Hell no. Overblown? Maybe, a little. But only in the same way that makes Procol Harum so good.

Barclay James Harvest is the opening salvo from a band renowned for their majestic compositions, and as such is both a stunning example of the early days of prog rock and a great introduction to Messrs. Lees, Holroyd, Woolstenholme and (the late) Pritchard.

The 2002 Harvest reissue of Barclay James Harvest features a wealth of bonuses. 13 extra tracks to be precise, which include the band’s pre-album 1968 and 1969 singles, as well as seven John Peel BBC session tracks.

Barclay James Harvest is available to buy and download from Amazon.co.uk

*As the critics once described Barclay James Harvest

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album reviews, prog rock