Dost thou wanteth to see the main Association page? Then clicketh this link thou shall... Worchester Sauce Overall Album Score: 7.4 out of 10 The Association were never ones to be great songwriters. Melodically, all of their songs are average at best. Their biggest strength, it seems, is their arranging and instrumental skills. Let's take their hit track, "Cherish," from their previous album. If you ask me, that melody isn't the catchiest thing to ever grace the Land of Pop Rock. The strength of the track is its atmosphere and the refined and glorious arrangments. They spent a lot of time developing that song, and the result was something that still gets airplay today. Well, it was a big hit at the time, and the producers wanted to get these guys back to the studio ASAP. And, well ... these songs just aren't as delightful as the previous album, and their mediocre songwriting skills seem to have merely stagnated. It's neither better nor worse than the mediocrity that persisted in their previous effort. I would hesistate to even recommend that album to anyone, wihch makes their follow-up completely inessential. But to be fair, it does have its bright moments. "Angeline" is my favorite moment of the album. It's a completely goofy psychedelic love song that's more funny than it is melodic ... but it is funny. Who knows if they were being serious or not, but those baritone operatic vocals deliver something quite amusing. Plus the melody is pretty good with that one. "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" is another product of the time, and it manages to hold together very well. This was the highest charting single of the album even though it only managed to hit #35 as opposed to #1 hit "Cherish." Unfortunately, many of the other tracks just turned out to be a huge mess. "Come to Me" sounds like their melody/harmony department wasn't quite communicating with their rhythm section. "You May Think" sounds completely wrong. Like nobody was communicationg. The Association certainly had their brilliant moments in their debut, but I guess they just didn't give that time to develop properly in this disappointing follow-up. Oh well. This album is only worth recommending to die hard '60s pop aficionados who won't be happy until they own everything from that decade. Overall Album Score: 7.4 out of 10 (A bland disappointment, but don't feel too badly. This is likable above all else --- and you know these guys were never ones to put together memorable melodies.) Average Song Score: 7.7 (The songwriting isn't horrible except they don't have many nice melodic ideas.) Album Tilt: 7.0 (Critically spotty.) Artist Rating: 7.5 (They do take care in their songwriting, but they didn't take as much care here as they usually do. That might not be their fault.) Track Reviews I'm the One 8.5/10 And they start the fun effort with a solid rocker. It's a mid-tempoed rocker that utilizes some Beach Boys esque vocal effects in the background as someone delivers some serious lead vocals singing something about being 'the one.' I do hope he's not referring to that horrible Jet Li movie! These guys manage to prove that they are solid songwriters although I do wish they had better melodic talent. I suppose that's why they aren't among the more recognized artists of their day. Well, this is enjoyable, but the lack of catchy hooks puts it at a disadvantage as does most of these guys' work. Memories of You 7/10 This isn't so great. They try to work on building up the atmosphere with this one (recognizing their melodic short-comings) but it comes off as an utterly bland affair. Their harmonic vocal work is OK, but they would have had to be more beautiful to pull this off. That flute they bring in tries to give it some life, but it just doesn't do much. I'm sorry. All is Mine 8/10 This track comes off as pretty clunky. It not only has another rather dull melody, but the instrumentation is just sloppy. On the other hand, maybe sloppiness is all this group needed! Hm, I'll think about that one. They seem to try to cover it up by layering on those harmonizing vocals. The result is a mess, but a glorious and melodically barren mess. Pandora's Golden Heebie Geebies 9/10 Much better this time, although I take issue with the song title! It sounds too dang self-conscious! ... OK, it's the '60s so they can do whatever the hell they want to. This is intrinsically the most interesting song of the effort so far. It's a crazy psychedelic rocker that actually manages to work. The spaced out melody is convincing enough and I also like their instrumentation ... very flooded but actually constructive to the effort. It holds together well, and their vocal harmonies do something generally constructive in the background. Mmm! Angeline 9.5/10 Well, they certainly know how to put their best songs in the middle of the frikin' album. This is a goofy psychedelic love ballad. Funny for such a dated product, but still enjoyable in its own way. The lead singer gives a goofy, baritone, operatic performance singing about some girl! The vocal harmonies still could have been more, oh, harmonic, but that's no matter. This is a goofy ballad for the ages. Songs in the Wind 7.5/10 This works again in that goofy psychedelic way, but this one just doesn't seem to hold together as well. The melody surfaces too well as a mediocre thing, and they don't manage to come up with some sort of novelty to make up for it. The record company shouldn't have rushed these guys so ... surely they could have come up with something silly to do with it. As it stands, it's just a regular psychedelic rocker with a lot of back-up vocals, and it goes nowhere. You May Think 5/10 This is a real mess this time. It seems like it's played too fast ... it wouldn't have worked that well as a ballad if it were played slower. Talk about rushing out an album! They're rushing out the songs! Oh, those bland harmonies!! Yikes!! Looking Glass 8.5/10 MUCH better... It's a nice little ballad this time and the melody manages to grab a few hooks. It's still utterly cheap if you compare it to the Beatles, but this one works on their terms quite well. The instrumentation is straitlaced again ... that's so disappointing since they were so creative much of the time in their debut! Come to Me 5/10 Yikes!!! This sounds like they were singing a calm vocal ballad, but the rhythm section thinks its a regular British Invasion rock tune. It's very awkward ... Tack that onto the song's usual lack of melody and you get a pretty bad mess. It's not even a *glorious* mess. No Fair At All 8/10 This is much more solid. They are singing a ballad, and the rhythm is slow like it's supposed to be! The flute melody they have at the beginning and in the middle was a nice idea that comes off well. Their layered vocal work isn't as such... They really made that idea work in "Cherish," but they're just doing it without feeling here. You Hear Me Call Your Name 8/10 Hey, look! This isn't anything so radically different from the other songs, but they do manage to pull off one or two good hooks. The furious rhythm section seems right on target here up until the final third in which I have no freaking idea what crazy drugs that guy was on. But up until then, this has been an enjoyable number! Another Time, Another Place 8.5/10 Well, at least they do a nice job in closing the album. This is a happy and upbeat number that rings of The Lovin' Spoonful (except the group's usual "Aaahs" in the background). The melody is strictly OK and it has a few hooks scattered here and there. The thing that'll get to you is the happy mood, and they do a great job there. They should try this sort of thing more often! Do you like this review like a good commercial jingle? Just the same, send me your thoughts here.

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