Customer Reviews

Rings of Changes

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album is my best earing from year 1983. "Paraiso dos cavalos" and "Waiting for the right time" are certainly great songs and the others are very high too... If you needs Supertramp (Hodgson period), Moody Blues, Genesis or Procol Harum, Barclay James Harvest is a kind of brillant synthesis of them all. With a full music emotion on every track. Like a fine bottle of French wine, they are better in ages. And I know it well, cause I'm living in France !... I realy hope to you a long enjoyment with the flying and beautiful sound of Barclay James Harvest, one of the finest band I ever know. Ring Of Changes is one of their best. Please, excuse my poor language. I'll do better in french. But indeed, I love this music !

BJH were a long established act in the UK and Europe prior to this release in 1983 and this is by no means representative of what went before. Their peak period, in the UK, was 1973 to around 1977 but in Germany they became a Stadium act and sold millions of albums. Little appreciation in their own backyard.

Ring Of Changes has 3 stand out tracks; FIFTIES CHILD, PARAISO DOS CAVALOS and RING OF CHANGES. The rest fell short of the high standard on previous BJH releases and lacked the proggy edge, which was diminishing since the 1978 departure of Woolly Woolstenholme. It's a pleasant listen throughout but a little reliant on synth instead of John Lees' soaring guitar.

If you are curious about BJH then try EVERYONE IS EVERYBODY ELSE, LIVE {Double 1974} or BJH AND OTHER SHORT STORIES from their early releases or CAUGHT IN THE LIGHT or FACE TO FACE from their latter period.

A very under-rated band and one unfairly tagged Moody Blues copyists, a fact they had fun with by sending themselves up on the song POOR MAN'S MOODY BLUES from GONE TO EARTH. A great compilation is COMPACT STORY.

Enjoy the BJH experience but don't start here.

A really melodic album, full of accessible tracks. They are all really pleasent and ear catching. I love all the tracks. 'waiting for the right time' is quite possibly my fave. I love the last track 'ring of changes', however, the 'turn the pages...' section, is just like 'all and all, your just another brick in the wall' and this slightly diminishes the value of this track. Furthermore, the ending of this song is a bit like 'let's sing the chorus for the sake of world peace', but apart from this, no complaints.

I had never heard of Barclay james Harvest. In 1983 I listened to a radioshow where they reviewed new albums. They played three tracks of Ring Of Changes. The album was a digital recording (something special at that time!), so I figured these guys must be good and I've never heard of them. I really liked the three songs and the good review, so I bought the record. Later I listened to other albums of BJH, but this is still (by far) my favorite album.