ONCE AGAIN

The version of the album that I am basing this review off of is the 2002 remastered version, how this differs from the original in terms of production quality I do not know, but being unable to get my hands on the original the remastered version will have to suffice. Once Again is one of BJH's best albums in my (and it seems many others) opinion. This is helped in no small part to the mammoth opener to the album, She Said. Although the album does dip for a bit, it does reach this height once again with the wonderful Mockingbird.

Other songs on the album are good for the most part, Song For Dying and Lady Loves feel sub-par, while Happy Old World feels, well, sub-sub-par. The rest of the music however is extremely enjoyable with a couple of real highlights scattered here and there.

Nevertheless, this album suffers from the same thing that every BJH album suffers from, they pay great homage to all of their influences but, most of the time, wind up sounding like merely a pale image of them, and switch styles so readily that they don't seem to have any continuous flow, or a recognizable sound.

Nevertheless this is definitely one of their stronger efforts here with a couple of real winners. Still a mixed bag. Still Barclay James Harvest.

3/5 stars.