The last great BJH studio album
It was unusual in its day, and would be unthinkable today, but this 12th BJH album, give or take, released 12 years after group formation, give or take, features the same lineup as their first. Unfortunately, it was the last to include Woolly Wolstenholme, but what a finale! XII does BJH proud, featuring a great collection of songs and individual and team efforts. Lees' contributions are each written as an exploration of a particular genre of literature or experience - fantasy, classics, fact, science fiction, and fiction, and they are all exemplary, with the possible exception of Classics (A Tale of Two Sixties). In particular, "Fact:The Closed Shop" and "Science Fiction:Nova Lepidoptera" were among the best ever BJH tunes, while "Fiction:the Streets of San Francisco" showed the group could still strike out in a newish direction thanks to some light bluesy harmonica. Holroyd's entries were above average for himself too, strong melodies with typically simple lyrics and superior arrangements, running the gamut from the gorgeous "Berlin", perhaps the best known piece on the album, to the infectious "Sip of Wine", ignoring "Turning in Circles", probably the weakest cut on the album and the one that keeps me from a 5 star rating. Wolstenholme's accompaniment to all songs and his two compositions elevate the disc. "In Search of England" revisits a style he started years back and sharpens it as never before, that of the great epic awash in mellotron and synths depicting mighty explorations. "Harbour", while harkening back to early BJH, is as fresh as a soft country rain, as tasteful a work as I have ever heard, featuring wonderful harmonies for which the band should be better remembered, pedal steel guitar if I'm not mistaken, a succinct lead guitar solo, and an enduring melody that I keep thinking I've heard before, but where? XII was a great way for BJH to end the 70s, but I don't think they have come close to equalling its heights in the decades since.
Great Album, Lousy Mastering!
In exception to the above review, this is simply a lousy remastering job to Compact Disc. It needs to be redone! In fact because of the wonderful sound of BJH, all of their discs should be 24-Bit digitally remastered. If you buy the album, you'll see that the sound is excellent compared to the CD. Most of the early BJH CD's are OK soundwise. XII just stinks in this regard, and it is sad because it really is a beautiful album. I would reccommend "Gone To Earth" as a nicer sounding representation of their early Polydor period.
Not so bad after all...
After giving this album some listening time, and getting past the poor recording quality, it is actually a pretty good performance. I especially like Berlin and Science Fiction - Nova Lepidoptera. Ignore my previous review !
Worst BJH yet...
I am a great fan of BJH and have most of their albums. I added XII last week & it sucks ! The recording is very poor and the vocals seem off key. Their earlier offerings, such as Mocking Bird were far better recording quality.My recommendation for the best BJH album: Live Tapes - this has the most amazing performances on it.
My Favorite Barclay James Harvest CD
The BJH fan club has this one rated 5th best overall yet I'm convinced it's their strongest performance. They shift gears effortlessly throughout these tracks without losing the listener. My favorite songs are "Harbour", "Berlin" and "The Streets of San Francisco".
