GONE TO EARTH

Damn, this is a spooky one. Despite having lyrics still mired in wide-eyed hippy naivity (as though the 1970s had never happened) and some of the most syrupy music BJH would ever muster, somehow Gone to Earth rises above all that to communicate a bleak melancholy that doesn't quite feel reflected in either the compositions or the lyrics but somehow comes across loud and clear anyway. Take the world-weariness of Child of the Universe from Everyone is Everybody Else, crank it up to 11, and you've got it here, in what has to be BJH's most emotionally effective albums. Poor Man's Moody Blues? Maybe, but the Moodies were never quite this moody, nor this blue. Musically speaking, there really isn't much advancement over their previous few albums, but some fans may find the more cynical direction interesting.