Gone to Earth [Import]

Barclay James Harvest | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Polygram Int'l
• ASIN: B000006SPY
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,870 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hymn

2. Love Is Like A Violin

3. Friend Of Mine

4. Poor Man's Moody Blues

5. Hard Hearted Woman

6. Sea Of Tranquility

7. Spirit On The Water

8. Leper's Song

9. Taking Me Higher

Editorial Reviews

Import exclusive mid-price reissue of 1977 album.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mellotron Musings from the World's Best Unknown Band, June 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gone to Earth (Audio CD)

Barclay James Harvest, to all you folks who have never heard of them, are a progressive rock band from England. They have been around since the late 1960's, and have been recording albums since 1971. Their style is very "Moody Blues-Procul Harem" like, featuring a lot of Mellotron music. (A Mellotron is a kind of primitive synthasizer, or tape sampling device) They also use conventional instruments, guitars, bass, drums, and some of their earlier work featured a full orchestra. Gone To Earth is one of their finest early albums, featuring the hits Hymn, Poor Man's Moody Blues, and Love is Like a Violin. This is a majestic, soaring, spiritual album which features the band at their very peak of energy and excellence. I highly recomend it to anyone who enjoys progressive rock, particularly Moody Blues fans. Barclay James Harvest has a home page on the WWW, and a fan club based in England that carries a lot of their out of print material. Check them out, you will be glad that you took the time.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BJH flies high on Gone To Earth., September 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Gone to Earth (Audio CD)

A stunningly gorgeous album, Gone To Earth displays mid-period BJH at their absolute peak. The band stumbled on Time Honored Ghosts, regained their footing on the previous Octoberon, and sound downright brilliant on this '77 release. Crank up the headphones and totally immerse yourself in the beauty and lushness of this album: Hymn, the unforgettable, mellotron-drenched leadoff track, Poor Man's Moody Blues (a sly tweak at those who accused the band of mimmicking the Moodies), the haunting Spirit On The Water, or keyboardist Woolie Wolstenholme's epic Sea Of Tranquility. If you're into '70s progressive rock and want to own one album by this long-standing British band, let it be Gone To Earth.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Harvest, November 28, 2000

By 

Mons "Mons" (Norrpan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gone to Earth (Audio CD)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with your rock history, Barclay James Harvest were one of a long line of symphonic rock bands that were swept away in 1976 when the storm broke. Once laughably unhip, it has taken 20 years or more before their name can be mentioned in polite society without being attacked with a pair of rusty scissors. A shame, because they were not half bad. Favouring grandiose orchestral arrangements they were often compared with the Moody Blues, but whereas the Moodies' lyrics often consisted of meaningless twaddle, BJH's beautiful melodies often fronted black social comment and realism. Beneath the lushness, there was a simple, unpretentious approach to songwriting best showcased on their 70s output and before the departure of their keyboard player and one-man symphony orchestra, Woolly Wolstenholme. Gone to Earth is the last of these. OK, the production sounds a tad dated, but the fact still remains that the Barclay James Harvest was a band whose 4 members complemented each other to produce a well-balanced, homogenous sound. The material on Gone to Earth is strong, and the highlights - Hymn, Sea of Tranquillity and Higher and Higher - are beautiful, inspiring and crying out for rediscovery