BJH FEATURING LES HOLROYD: REVOLUTION DAYS

Like Wishbone Ash and Asia and some others, Barclay James Harvest too split into two separate bands existing simultaneously. John Lees and Woolly Wolstenholme (the latter sadly no longer with us) toured and recorded under the (somewhat pretentious) moniker of Barclay James Harvest Through The Eyes Of John Lees while Les Holroyd and Mel Pritchard did the same under the more conventional name Barclay James Harvest Featuring Les Holroyd. The present album is by the latter incarnation of the band and this is clearly the inferior one, at least from a Prog perspective. While Lees and Wolstenholme kept the progressive spirit alive, at least in the live setting, Holroyd and Pritchard focused on the more commercial aspirations that had increasingly dominated the band from the 80's onwards.

The present album is the latest studio release to date (by any of the two versions of the band). Revolution Days is about as far away from revolutionary as you can get. Filled with lightweight Soft Rock and Pop, this album is a dull experience. There is nothing offensive here, but also nothing exciting. There are several longer tracks, but anyone looking for anything progressive or even slightly unconventional will draw a blank. If 80's and 90's Barclay James Harvest was a watered down version of 70's Barclay James Harvest, Revolution Days is a watered down version of 80's and 90's Barclay James Harvest! Most of the songs have a tempo so slow that it feels like listening in slow motion, and when they raise the tempo somewhat and try to "Rock out" they fall flat like of the very repetitive That Was Then... This Is Now. Holroyd's voice is also too weak to carry the band for a whole album, and you get tired of it long before the end.

This is only for completionists

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