Search - America :: Hat Trick

In spite of "Muskat Love"....

ol'guy | 10/08/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In spite of "Muskrat Love" this is a great album. Hat Trick provides a continuous flow from one song to the other on side one of the original album and immediately picks up again with "Hat Trick". It is an inventive, melodic, mood-flowing creation that is a joy to listen to. For what it's worth, I even think "Muskrat Love" works in context of the album's entirety!"

Rediscovered Classic

J. Rawlings | Cincinnati, OH USA | 04/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You know those records that you heard when you were too young to place who the band was, but you remember the songs fondly and once you hear them again there's a memory shockwave that hits you? For some of us, Hat Trick was one of those.



For those of us young enough to ignore critics, we simply enjoyed the music.



Now for specifics: the album comes off a bit more polished than America's previous two efforts, and as their third album it is evident they started to hit a stride. The original three are all here on this one, no breakup had occurred yet.



Some don't like their version of Muskrat Love -- I much prefer theirs over the 'hit' version that came later from C&T. If you've never owned this record, there are classic songs here that you haven't heard on the radio, songs that America still plays in concert because they're that good. This is a classic album from a time when albums, not singles, were the way a band made their art."

Great America album, if relatively obscure

Denis | 01/21/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While none of the biggest hits are on Hat Trick, there are many really great songs. If you are not familiar with this one, and enjoy America's vintage music, it is definitely worth owning. Muskrat Love is an anomaly on the album - lyrically silly and musically very spare, with none of the signature America layered guitar/banjo/etc instrumentation. Considering that it's a cover song, I've never undrstood why it was included (perhaps a favor). Most of the rest - Wind Wave, Rainbow Song, Submarine Ladies, It's Life, Hat Trick, Molten Love, Green Monkey - are really great. As a guitar player, I thnk they are worth learning. This album has more orchestration than others and, at times, I wonder what it would have sounded like with more of their regular stringed instruments, instead. Still very enjoyable. On the original vinyl album, a couple of the songs transition from one to the next without any gap. This is true for the transition from Rainbow Song to Submarine Ladies, and it is preserved in the CD transfer. It was also true for the end of Molten Love into Green Monkey, but on the CD there is a break/time gap which is disappointing. I presume this is some engineering mistake, not a transfer limitation, since the prior transition is maintained smoothly. Still, great to finally have on CD."