Barclay James Harvest
Gone To Earth

Among the historic formations of early '70s English progressive music, the Barclay James Harvest from Manchester definitely deserves recognition. This quartet managed to write significant chapters in the music evolution of that era. I'm talking about a band that built a solid reputation working in the shadows of legendary groups like Genesis, King Crimson, and Yes. They may not have had the technical or compositional talents or the necessary fame to break into the mainstream, but they calmly continued their journey with consistency, ignoring the trends and musical fads that were emerging.

Their main style is a delightful symphonic pop, almost pastoral music at times, evoking relaxing and poetic atmospheres. In their compositions, one can recognize melodic arrangements reminiscent of early Beatles and symphonies similar to Moody Blues. The four-member lineup featured John Lees as a guitarist and singer, Les Holroyd on bass, Stuart Wolstenholme on keyboards, and Mel Pritchard on drums.

Formed in 1968 under the EMI label, they released three albums that went unnoticed by the public. This allowed the band to forge a unique sound characterized by majestic orchestral arrangements accompanied by rock and jazz elements, away from criticism and with the opportunity to work in peace.

Then, in 1974, they signed with the Polydor label, and their production improved significantly. For the next three years, they managed to carve out the spaces they deserved even earlier. From this period, I choose the album "Gone To Earth", released in 1977, when progressive was already on the decline.

The group's style in this album remains the same, with guitar, mellotron, and synthesizers taking center stage, all blended with slow and profound harmonies that have great emotional impact. The nine songs on the studio album are all of excellent workmanship, but the ones that stand out the most are the opener "Hymn", a very sweet song with Lees's voice blending beautifully with the keyboard and guitar lines. It moves on to the intermediate tracks "Love Is Like A Violin" and "Friend Of Mine", and in my opinion, reaches the best pieces of the work, "Hard Hearted Woman", where the guitar impresses with a melody hard to forget, and "Poor Man's Moody Blues", a song of great elegance and irony, worthy of the group's response to being labeled as the poor cousins of the Moody Blues.

After the release of "Gone To Earth", Barclay James Harvest continued on their path, maintaining their production up to the present day. They always remained faithful and consistent with their musical roots.
Recently, they have also come to Italy for a series of concerts, performing without drummer Mel Pritchard, who passed away in 2004.

For those who wish to discover this group, Eclectic Discs has recently released five reissues filled with bonuses and previously unseen photos.