Remastering ancient albums is like window cleaning: you don’t notice how grubby the view was until afterwards. And if you can get hold of the original multitrack masters, you can tweak the original mix that was invariably done in haste.
Everyone Is Everybody Else marked a new dawn for Barclay James Harvest in 1974 as their songwriting went through the gears. This three-disc set gives you the remastered original mix, a remix and a surround-sound 5.1 mix. At which point you’re hearing it better than the band did back then.
The only problem is that the multitracks for the epic final song, For No One, have vanished so it’s missing from the remixed versions. This leaves you with a feeling of coitus interruptus, especially when you know it’s coming (so to speak). The consolation is that they’ve found a re-recorded, harder version of Child Of The Universe, released as a single in the US.
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