Search - Common People :: Of the People By the People for the People

What could have been...

Alexander Mills | 01/13/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This one-off outing from the pop-psych outfit Common People is a strange, strange creation.



The pieces herein were produced and arranged in part by David Axelrod, and his contributions to the album are quite stunning. But, not long into the recording sessions, the band ran out of money, and could not afford to keep him on any longer. Thus, we are left with quite a peculiar beast; the first three tracks feature gorgeous, soaring string arrangements from Axelrod, each piece a mini-masterpiece in its own right (with a particular nod to Those Who Love). But at the end of track three, you can practically hear the sound of the last penny falling into the jar.



What remains is a fairly generic, uninteresting and derivative venture into sixties rock / pop. Tracks 4 through 11 aren't offensive in any way, but they're entirely inoffensive too.. And fairly expendable.



I find myself listening to the first three tracks on this album quite regularly, and thinking about what could have been. Axelrod never produced anything else quite like this, and we're much the worse for it. His arrangements here are among some of the best he's ever put his name to. But the remainder of the album tends to just rub in what a masterpiece this could've been had he stayed on.



In short - five stars for the first three tracks, and a fairly indifferent two stars for everything that follows."