Search - Association :: Insight

Branching out

Marc Kloszewski | Indiana, PA United States | 03/02/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Just listened to this again today--this is the Association's third album, and it includes the hits "Windy" ("Everyone Knows It's...") and "Never My Love", which are great and most certainly everyone of a certain age knows them by heart. Despite the expected datedness of the disc, this is a very unassuming, pleasant listen. Here the group stretches out a bit, not composing as much for the harmonies of the whole group as much as they did on their first two records; there's more unison singing and solo backed up by group. The only clunky one, I think, is the opener "Wasn't It a Bit Like Now (Parallel '23)", which goes back and forth between modern rock and music hall style--must have seemed odd even then (why 1923?). Two really nice Jim Yester songs: one of his best ballads, "On a Quiet Night" (lovely instrumental coda and fade-out) and the uptempo "When Love Comes to Me". The music carries the songs that tend toward the overly treacly or dramatic, such as "Happiness Is", which I scoffed at early on, only to be hooked by the really catchy melody later, and "Requiem for the Masses", unless you really get into bullfight tragedies (plus, those words: "Mama, Mama, forget your pies/have faith they won't get cold"). There's Brian singing the bluesy "Reputation" (I can see the go-go girls dancing in the cages now), and "Sometime" is one of my favorite songs on the album; again, scoff, but I think Ted's cascading drum fill throughout is really distinctive for the song, and makes it all the more memorable. Again, it's good that this stuff is available SOMEWHERE on CD. Surprising how many really popular groups of the time are now so pitifully underrepresented."