As much as I love the more mainstream and perhaps slightly less serious items in Joe's discography, I genuinely wish he'd stuck at the album Barnstorm sound a little more. At age 24 he penned the likes of Birdcall Morning, One and One and the superb Midnight Visitor singlehandedly and the whole album has some wonderful moments: Giant Bohemoth is an absolute monster (
) and I love the use of Morse Code and flute (hats of to Mr. Vitale for that), and the harmonica at the end of Comin' Down kills me every time I hear it. Add to that Turn to Stone and you've got pretty much the perfect album. Whilst TTS was probably a heads up of that was to come in later years I just wish he'd explored the vast array of styles he portrayed here instead of heading into more generic rock and roll so soon. As I said I love Rocky Mountain Way, Life's Been Good and the more delicate likes of Help Me Thru the Night, but I still always wonder what might have been had he stuck on the Barnstorm road...