THE FAMILY THAT PLAYS TOGETHER

The band's sophomore album shows their tremendous growth (remember: they'd only been together as a quintet for about a year), displaying a greater commitment to rock and less to their previous jazz tendencies (which I loved: the skills and discipline that jazz training gave them are definitely serving them well), but the growth and exuberance shown on Side One of this album sadly wanes significantly with the hurried, under-developed feel of all of Side Two's songs. The result of the bane of a career in music? That is: partitioning one's time and energy between touring versus time dedicated to creating new material and spending the appropriate time (and money) to record it properly.

1. "I Got A Line On You" (2:37) a very catchy song that helped the band break into the radio/pop scene and charts. I feel quite a British influence here: less jazz tendencies, more blues-rock. John Locke's hard-pounding beer-hall piano drives the song giving full license to guitarist Randy "California" to (9.125/10)

2. "It Shall Be" (3:25) opens like a mellowed out, orchestral version and continuation of the previous song but then becomes its own thing when the vocals kick in. I love the multiple voices finally NOT singing in choral harmony but separating (even in different channels in the soundscape). It's amazing how Jay Ferbuson's sticks can. And I love the bass sound and playing. Randy's guitar alone feels a little out of place being here a bit too aggressive for the rest of the mix. (8.875/10)

3. "Poor Richard" (2:29) a great rock song with great California choral vocals within which Randy gives one of his first truly great guitar performances. (Remember: he's only 16-years old with the release of this material). Such great melodies over the fairly simple chord progression. The band is learning how to make more with less; they're really progressing! (9.5/10)

4. "Silky Sam" (4:06) more great melodies and wonderful orchestral integration and support (thanks, Marty--and Lou!) is nearly undermined by the sparse bluesy rock instrumentation. (8.875/10)

5. "Drunkard" (2:38) a step up from the nursery rhyme that was "Water Woman" from their debut album, here the band seeming to seek out an adult audience on the multiple levels of something like The Wizard of Oz. Another very interesting idea and arrangement. (4.5/5)

6. "Darlin' If" (3:38) electric guitar and piano seem to vie for dominance on the opening of this one before strummed electric guitar wins out, providing the support and guidance to the plaintive BAND and CSN&Y (and Loggins & Messina) -like Americana vocal and style. (8.7/10)

7. "It's All The Same" (4:40) opening with an "alien spaceship landing"-like sound generated from Randy's electric guitar, the fully-formed blues-rock song that then pops out of the vehicle is quite stereotypic of the bands that would soon be coming out like Grand Funk Railroad, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and The Guess Who. While I really like these bands, I am not particularly a fan of this blues-rock side of their output. Plus, drummer Ed Cassidy's playing feels a little off (weak). (Was he sick?) (8.7/10)

8. "Jewish" (2:48) An odd song for its vocals sung in Yiddish over some fast-shifting multiple-motif music. A little too weird for me--more like a novelty song--despite some nice guitar play (4.25/5)

9. "Dream Within A Dream" (3:01) piano pounding to support The Association-like group vocals with dynamically shifting sections while Randy's soloing electric guitar plays rather continuously, rising to the fore whenever the vocal choir pause or takes breaks. Interesting but not feeling fully developed. (8.75/10)

10. "She Smiles" (2:30) a nice song idea with great melodies and construction that, again, feels unfinished or cut short. (4.5/5)

11. "Aren't You Glad" (5:31) Another song with some absolutely great ideas and sounds that feels sadly under-served and not properly developed though Randy's guitar play and the horn and orchestral support in the final minute are amazing. (More of this, please!) Was the record company/producer in a hurry to get this stuff recorded and published? Was the band too busy touring to give their studio time the attention it deserved? Were the ideas really so fresh and undeveloped and studio time so dear that they couldn't take the time to fully realize these rather bare and stark bones? This song, like many on Side Two, could've easily been so much better! (8.875/10)

Total time 37:23

While the album starts out quite strongly, I get the feeling as it goes along as if some of the songs on Side Two were rushed: they feel incomplete or not-fully- or under-developed. Also, I feel that drummer Ed Cassidy's contributions here are either under-developed or even negated and that keyboard player John Locke's tendency to present as a saloon-performing piano pounder has been indulged too much. Some of the vocal arrangements also feel rather rushed or under-developed--which I find particularly disappointing since this was one of the band's remarkable strengths and features on the first album.

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent addition to any proto-prog lover's music collection. While the highs are higher than the band's debut album (recorded less than six months before this one) but the lows of so much under-developed material definitely weigh The Family That Plays Together down.