TAKING SOME TIME ON / THE IRON MAIDEN

By the time of their first album (1970) BJH had released a few singles and their musical direction seemed a bit unfocused. The next year would see Once Again, which I consider as their best album. The debut certainly has its highlights but it has a slightly outdated proto-prog aura of the late sixties. It starts with 'Taking Some Time On' which was also released on single. It's a fast- paced rock song centering on John Lees' intensive electric guitar. It is actually far from the more recognizable style of BJH that I prefer, but as a *rock* song it's well done.

'The Iron Maiden' also comes from the debut album, and it's one of my favourites. The atmosphere of this relatively simple, brief song is magical in its melancholy. Very nice already as a composition itself, a melody-oriented ballad that proceeds confidently in mid-tempo. What I especially like is the delicate and deliberately "worn-out" sound of the Mellotron, similar as in Uriah Heep's 'Come Away Melinda'. A pretty good single showing two completely different sides of the band, both fully convincingly.