OCTOBERON

Barclay James Harvest made something of a habit out of putting at least one real stinker on each album. This time it is Believe in Me, but Polk Street Rag is closely behind it. The rest, however, is pretty good this time around! The first three tracks might not seem very impressive on a first listen, but (like some older Barclay James Harvest songs) they have a tendency to grow on you. Rock 'n' Roll Star is similar in style to Child Of The Universe, and even if not quite as good as that song, it is still a decent song. Suicide? too is a good song.

The lyrics stand out this time as being the best I've heard from Barclay James Harvest - no songs here with 'Jesus' in the lyrics (like Sweet Jesus from the previous album and Hymn from the follow up); also no songs with references to other bands (like Titles from the previous album and Poor Man's Moody Blues from the follow up). But, of course, they just couldn't avoid writing another song about prostitutes, but you can't have everything can you?

From the lyrical point of view, May Day stands out as the best of all Barclay James Harvest songs in my opinion. I usually don't put a lot of focus on the lyrics in my reviews, but some of Barclay James Harvest's lyrics (on other albums) really put me off, they don't so much on this album.

Musically, Octoberon is more interesting than Time Honoured Ghosts or Gone To Earth. For example, they use an orchestra on one track, a choir on another. Certainly, one of the best from the Polydor years and one of my favourite from Barclay James Harvest overall.

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