TIME HONOURED GHOSTS

BJH went weaker after their magnificent second album Once Again (1971), without radical changes in style. 1974's Everyone Is Everybody Else marked a bigger stylistic change, from symphonic to tighter and cleaner sounding sophisticated rock, and was an improvement over the preceding albums. This next one with such a beautiful cover art is still better, and very well produced. Some songs sound a bit like they were American (soft) rock of the time, but there's still a certain pastoral Englishness to BJH. For the vocals - sometimes a bad spot with BJH - this is average, not great but not the worst either.

All of the nine songs are at least listenable in their simple accessibility. Lyrics of 'Titles' is built on Beatles songs; the powerful chorus ("Lady Madonna, let it be...") easily sticks to mind. Les Holroyd's 'Jonathan' is a highlight and a tribute to Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Wolstenholme sings his touching and majestic 'Beyond The Grave'. Slow and dreamy 'Moongirl' is very nice too, and 'One Night' ends the album finely in faster tempo, with a mood of urban loneliness. This album may be a bit lame and unproggy for many of us, but if you enjoy also softer melodic rock of the seventies, this will please you.