Barclay James Harvest - Everyone Is Everybody Else

Polydor Records

"Everyone is Everybody Else" opens with a very ELO-like, dramatic piano and bass pairing on "Child of the Universe". Fitting, sense ELO and Barclay James Harvest are in the same vein of music. Even with the addition of some piercing synths, the instrumentation becomes rather repetitive and not very interesting--what "Child of the Universe" lacks music wise, it makes up for lyrically, dealing with the effects the Vietnam war and The Troubles in Ireland have done to the children of those nations and how it has all been broadcast for everybody to see. A rather decent protest song and a rather decent opener. 

Following that we have the musically similar "Negative Earth"--more of a cautionary tale then a piece of protest. It's much more blues-infused then the previous, almost lethargic. The song is mainly driven by keys and drums, with only touches of guitar here and there dappling the song. Even when the guitar is being played, it is quite restrained compared to the kinds of guitar playing we're all used to with more typical rock albums. The vocals on the chorus are peachy and overall it's very consistent. 

Continuing with the drama is "Paper Wings", which has a much more Steve Howe-ish guitar part then any other song on the record. The throws of the acoustic are nice though the singing on the verses is a little muddy. During the solo they decide to pull out all the stops, the drums galloping and the guitar racy, getting a much harder edge then you'd expect out of these four. 

Not to be confused with a similarly titled Bee Gees song, "The Great 1974 Mining Disaster" is fluous through and through. It opens with bittersweet piano accompanied by solemn guitar strumming, and slightly after a one-off cascade of chimes it gets into the real meat of the thing. The guitar is blues-tinged and steely, and I wish it made a bigger appearance with that sound. The song is very relaxing, and the vocals are layered wonderfully. It's just beautiful and definitely a highlight of the album. 

"Crazy City" is much more jagged then "Mining Disaster", and is the most guitar driven of all the songs on the album. Acoustic interludes follow on the verses and choruses, which are book-ended in between solos that put the edge back on. As expected, the song is about how terrible the city is and how much the singer wishes he could get away from it all, using the countryside as his escape as opposed to the typical drug abuse. 

Back with the blues influence on guitar is "See Me See You", which also tends to get a little fuzzed out in places. The layered vocals are uplifting, which goes against the bit of a downer that the instrumentation is in right now, and at points the song almost sounds downright religious. The bass part is good as usual, though. 

"Poor Boy Blues" kicks things off with acapella vocals that gradually build with the addition of an acoustic, giving it a real down home town feel. This and the next two songs are much folkier then the previous, and the vocals sound frail and vulnerable, almost scared. I guess that fits with the subject matter of wanting to leave for greener pastures. The song ends with some syrupy slide steel guitar before phasing into the next. 

More steel and acoustic come in on "Mill Boys" making it much duskier then before while still retaining most of the same basic story line. Despite being rather simple, the song has an air of enjoyable foreboding and even gives a nice little call back to "Poor Boy" before bleeding into the next song. 

"For No One" is much in the same vein as the songs from the first half of the record, taking a hard turn out of folk and into heavier territory with a striking guitar part. Other then that and some nice swells from the keys, it isn't really anything new. It might be a little protesty if you squint. 

While this album isn't some widely varied feat of experimentation and genre-hopping, not every album needs to be. The only real problem with that is some of the songs begin to sound quite similar, but other than that it's a perfectly fine, relaxing piece of music from the lighter side of prog. 

Rating: 4/5