Wednesday, December 22, 2021

The 1981 Listening Post - Barclay James Harvest - Turn of the Tide

Barclay James Harvest - Turn of the Tide 



#191

May 1981

Barclay James Harvest

Turn of the Tide

Genre: MOR

3.75 out of 5



Highlights:

Back to the Wall

Highway for Fools

In Memory of the Martyrs




I’ll admit it. I have never heard of these guys. But they were putting out records for more than a decade at this point.

The best way to put this is: This album sounds like Middle of the Road music made by a band named Barclay James Harvest. 

If you ran a program to determine your earnest album oriented mid-tempo anthemic 70s-turning into the 80s with synths band name, there is a 74% chance the computer spits out “Barclay James Harvest”.

The fact that it is NOT southern rock only proves my point but “Highway for Fools” & “Death of the City” come damned close. In fact, it proves the nexus of Southern Rock and Prog. I mean that in a good way.


But, Allen, how is it? 

It’s exactly what you expect from this kind of band. The easy near-California groove of the “Back to the Wall” suggest Weak Tea Eagles. 

What came first, Toto or these guys? They are playing in the same sandbox here. And you know what? There’s room in this sandbox.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Especially the more proggy GeneStyx stuff. 




https://music.apple.com/us/album/turn-of-the-tide-bonus-track-edition/1442806030

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