THE COMPACT STORY OF BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST

This, the first BJH compilation on CD, was a trawl through BJH's Polydor back catalogue at a time in the mid 1980s when the CD format was beginning to assume precedence over vinyl. It is an attempt at representing some of their best material up to the Victims Of Circumstance album but not necessarily in the most familiar guises. Thus we have inferior single edits [ie shorter] of Ring Of Changes and Victims Of Circumstance, a 12" version of I've Got A Feeling, live versions [from the 'Berlin' album] of Mocking Bird and Hymn, and a rare live version [from Wembley] of Poor Man's Moody Blues. The remainder are all familiar album tracks including 1970s classics Child Of The Universe, Jonathan, Suicide? and Berlin.

Together, these songs span the period of BJH's involvement with Polydor up to 1985, though the inclusion of a live version of Mocking Bird is a ploy to get this older classic onto the album. As always, the inclusion of alternative versions was designed to attract collectors, and 20 years ago The Compact Story might not have seemed a bad investment. Collectors apart, today there is little incentive for an average listener to seek out this album, as nearly all these songs are now readily available elsewhere, mostly in a better re-mastered condition.