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The Doors - Topic 2nd Jan 2020		Vinyl Album The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965)	Review The Byrds’ second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, in many ways exceeds the expectations of their debut, Mr. Tambourine Man. While the formula had been established with their 12-string, harmony-laden version of the Dylan tune, the band still had plenty of variations to work over. This time, the title track is a Pete Seeger adaptation of Biblical verse given the Byrds’ trademarked electricity, while the traditional folk song, “He Was A Friend Of Mine,” is updated by Roger McGuinn to be a tribute to the late President Kennedy. As with Dylan (represented here with covers of “Lay Down You Weary Tune,” “The Times They Are A-Changin’”), the Byrds manage to effortlessly make it pop music without sacrificing the song’s artistic merit. But it’s the group’s original compositions that lead the charge. McGuinn’s “It Won’t Be Wrong,” Gene Clark’s “The World Turns All Around Her” and “If You’re Gone” are among the band’s most enduring tracks. A cover of the Porter Wagoner hit “Satisfied Mind” points towards bassist Chris Hillman’s interest in country music that would eventually take the group into a new direction. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 1st Jan 2020		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Help! (1965)	Review (This review was originally published by Apple Music) -- https://music.apple.com/us/album/help/1441164524 If A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles For Sale sounded like a band chafing at the confines of their own success, Help! was more like a meditation: four people seeking solace from inside a storm they’d never seen gather. Lennon, in particular, was miserable: drinking a lot, numbed out, riding the tail of a crumbling marriage for which he had plenty to atone from a 17-room mansion adjacent to a golf course over which he’d never imagined living—a stretch he later called his “Fat Elvis” period. Where Beatles For Sale had captured the vitality of angry young men, the songs on Help!—Lennon’s “Help!” and “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” McCartney’s “Yesterday” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face”—felt naked to the point of abstraction, the heat of the feelings stripped away to reveal something pining, innocent, planted on the ground but strangely displaced: alienation without angst. Cannabis, which the band had been smoking with heroic regularity, probably didn’t hurt: You had the sense that they were singing not from themselves, but about themselves, even to themselves, pieces on a great existential chessboard observed from a place of melancholic remove. (McCartney said the drug made him feel like he was thinking for the first time; Ringo, recalling the filming of the movie that accompanied this album, said—in charming Ringo fashion—that the crew got used to the fact that the band didn’t get much done after lunch.) Even Ringo’s “Act Naturally”—a lighthearted, Kinks-y country song—seemed tinted by a new, more ruminative frame of mind: The guy in the song is an actor playing himself. And while you could still hear the sweaty club band lurking underneath (“Dizzy Miss Lizzy,” “Help!”), most of the album tilted toward classical austerity: “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was the band’s first fully acoustic arrangement (and featured the eternally un-rock sound of flutes); “Yesterday”—a song that seemed so comforting and eternal that McCartney was reportedly haunted by the feeling that it had somehow, somewhere already been written—had a string quartet (a move suggested to a hesitant McCartney by producer George Martin). Having spent their youth in extroversion, the Beatles were turning inward. About a week after the album came out, the band played a show to 56,000 screaming people at Shea Stadium, a scenario and scale so unprecedented that Vox had designed special amplifiers for the event. A week or so after that, they took a few much-needed days off at a rented house in Beverly Hills (featuring a moat and a drawbridge), only to be discovered by four teenage female fans. When security guards turned the girls away, they went home, opened the Yellow Pages, and rented a helicopter. Help!—that sounds right. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 1st Jan 2020		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Beatles For Sale (1964)	Review (This review was originally published by Apple Music) -- https://music.apple.com/us/album/beatles-for-sale/1441165005 By the end of 1964, The Beatles were exhausted. In June, they took their first world tour, traveling from Denmark to the Netherlands, then to Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, often playing two shows a day to make good on the trip. Between mid-August and late September, they played more than 30 shows in two dozen US cities, getting an introduction to pot from Bob Dylan in New York and, a couple of weeks later, drunkenly confessing their mutual love for each other while waiting out a hurricane in Key West—a night later recalled by Paul McCartney on 1982’s John Lennon remembrance “Here Today.” Their fame was inarguable; their pace, unsupportable. So while attributing any real cynicism to the title Beatles For Sale is probably a stretch, it’s not out of the ballpark—they were, on some level, a commodity, and finally feeling the squeeze of being trafficked like one. Here’s the first time you get to hear The Beatles really yell, not once (the snarling middle section of Lennon’s “No Reply”) but twice (McCartney’s “What You’re Doing”). Lennon’s songs in particular—“I’m a Loser,” “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” (“I’ve had a drink or two and I don’t care”), the bleakly jealous “No Reply”—showed a writer giving himself over to his least marketable moods. Unable to balance the demands of writing with touring and general fame, they fell back on covers: Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music,” Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love,” “Mr. Moonlight.” It was rock and R&B that stood in sharper contrast to their originals than on previous albums, but which—along with the album’s country inflections—helped extend the band's dialogue with distinctly American music. And they managed to brighten up enough to work in “Eight Days a Week.” 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 1st Jan 2020		Vinyl Album The Beatles - Beatles For Sale (1964)	Review (This review was originally published by Apple Music) -- https://music.apple.com/us/album/beatles-for-sale/1441165005 By the end of 1964, The Beatles were exhausted. In June, they took their first world tour, traveling from Denmark to the Netherlands, then to Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, often playing two shows a day to make good on the trip. Between mid-August and late September, they played more than 30 shows in two dozen US cities, getting an introduction to pot from Bob Dylan in New York and, a couple of weeks later, drunkenly confessing their mutual love for each other while waiting out a hurricane in Key West—a night later recalled by Paul McCartney on 1982’s John Lennon remembrance “Here Today.” Their fame was inarguable; their pace, unsupportable. So while attributing any real cynicism to the title Beatles For Sale is probably a stretch, it’s not out of the ballpark—they were, on some level, a commodity, and finally feeling the squeeze of being trafficked like one. Here’s the first time you get to hear The Beatles really yell, not once (the snarling middle section of Lennon’s “No Reply”) but twice (McCartney’s “What You’re Doing”). Lennon’s songs in particular—“I’m a Loser,” “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” (“I’ve had a drink or two and I don’t care”), the bleakly jealous “No Reply”—showed a writer giving himself over to his least marketable moods. Unable to balance the demands of writing with touring and general fame, they fell back on covers: Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music,” Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love,” “Mr. Moonlight.” It was rock and R&B that stood in sharper contrast to their originals than on previous albums, but which—along with the album’s country inflections—helped extend the band's dialogue with distinctly American music. And they managed to brighten up enough to work in “Eight Days a Week.” 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 22nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Monkees - More Of The Monkees (1967)	Review Anchored by the organ-driven giddiness of "I'm a Believer" and swaggering, punky "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," More of The Monkees shows off the band's growing confidence as more than just sitcom actors. Deep cuts like Mickey's dreamy folk-rocker "Sometime in the Morning," Mike's thumping country-rocker "The Kind of Girl I Could Love," and the angst-ridden harmonies of "She" showcase the band's vocal chops. Peter's comic rant "Your Auntie Grizelda" and Davy's spoken-word "The Day We Fall in Love" play off of their TV personas. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 22nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Monkees - More Of The Monkees (1967)	Review Anchored by the organ-driven giddiness of "I'm a Believer" and swaggering, punky "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," More of The Monkees shows off the band's growing confidence as more than just sitcom actors. Deep cuts like Mickey's dreamy folk-rocker "Sometime in the Morning," Mike's thumping country-rocker "The Kind of Girl I Could Love," and the angst-ridden harmonies of "She" showcase the band's vocal chops. Peter's comic rant "Your Auntie Grizelda" and Davy's spoken-word "The Day We Fall in Love" play off of their TV personas. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 22nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Monkees - The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1968)	Review The Monkees' fifth album is a brave mix of styles that not only includes the No. 1 hit "Daydream Believer," the group's last No. 1 single, but also many of the band's best deep tracks. Psychedelia, country, '20s pastiche, pop and a somewhat free-form freak-out all sit side by side in harmony. The album closes with the anti-war "Zor and Zam," one of the period's best. Highlights: “Dream World,” “Auntie’s Municipal Court,” “Tapoica Tundra,” “Daydream Believer,” “Writing Wrongs,” “I’ll Be Back Up On My Feet,” “Magnolia Simms,” “Valleri,” and “Zor And Zam.” 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 22nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Monkees - The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1968)	Review The Monkees' fifth album is a brave mix of styles that not only includes the No. 1 hit "Daydream Believer," the group's last No. 1 single, but also many of the band's best deep tracks. Psychedelia, country, '20s pastiche, pop and a somewhat free-form freak-out all sit side by side in harmony. The album closes with the anti-war "Zor and Zam," one of the period's best. Highlights: “Dream World,” “Auntie’s Municipal Court,” “Tapoica Tundra,” “Daydream Believer,” “Writing Wrongs,” “I’ll Be Back Up On My Feet,” “Magnolia Simms,” “Valleri,” and “Zor And Zam.” 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Beach Boys' Party! (1965)	Review Capitol wanted a quickie LP in time for Christmas, so the Boys trooped into the studio with some buddies and girlfriends and brewskis to slap out a bunch of covers (mostly Fifties oldies, plus the Beatles and Dylan) with acoustic guitars, hand claps, rowdy harmonies and a hell of a lot of bottles getting clinked. They even got a hit out of it: “Barbara Ann.” 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Beach Boys' Party! (1965)	Review Capitol wanted a quickie LP in time for Christmas, so the Boys trooped into the studio with some buddies and girlfriends and brewskis to slap out a bunch of covers (mostly Fifties oldies, plus the Beatles and Dylan) with acoustic guitars, hand claps, rowdy harmonies and a hell of a lot of bottles getting clinked. They even got a hit out of it: “Barbara Ann.” 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (1965)	Review The Beach Boys' second album of 1965 marries the melodic sophistication of its predecessor, The Beach Boys Today!, with the carefree spirit of their earlier singles. The results practically make for a greatest-hits album, featuring classic, upbeat pop tunes like "California Girls," "Help Me, Rhonda," and "Let Him Run Wild." The Beatlesesque rocker "Girl Don't Tell Me" and the lush, romantic ballad "Summer Means New Love" mark the poles of Brian Wilson's increasingly wide-ranging style, while the sardonic "I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man" showcases his humorous side. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (1965)	Review The Beach Boys' second album of 1965 marries the melodic sophistication of its predecessor, The Beach Boys Today!, with the carefree spirit of their earlier singles. The results practically make for a greatest-hits album, featuring classic, upbeat pop tunes like "California Girls," "Help Me, Rhonda," and "Let Him Run Wild." The Beatlesesque rocker "Girl Don't Tell Me" and the lush, romantic ballad "Summer Means New Love" mark the poles of Brian Wilson's increasingly wide-ranging style, while the sardonic "I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man" showcases his humorous side. 9 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - M.I.U. Album (1978)	Review Unfairly maligned by critics who likely never even gave this album a chance... This is a pretty good album, and it has way more contributions from Brian than reviews would often have you believe. There is a definite tendency for publications to hate on Mike more than actually look at who is writing the songs. I know it was Mike who talked the group into recording the album where they did, thus giving the album it's name, but that is not too important really. You've got some strong cuts on here. The 70's flavor is definitely interesting, and very strong, but it's not so 70's that it's jarring and the songs don't suffer for it. I'd personally prefer the album start with the absolutely majestic cover of Come Go With Me and can't fathom what they were thinking by having the album start up with She's Got Rhythm instead, but it's not a bad track by any means. Highlights in my opinion include about half the whole album (Come Go With Me, Wontcha Come Out Tonight, Sweet Sunday Kind Of Love, Pitter Patter, My Diane, Match Point Of Our Love). My favorite track, as with a lot of later 70's albums by the boys, has a devastating lead vocal from Dennis, on "My Diane" which is about the sister of Brian's long time wife. I can't believe the man released that song, although he claims he doesn't remember the time frame of recording the album. I don't know if I buy that, but it certainly might explain a few things. Anyway, don't hate on it before you give it a listen. It's much better than it's given credit for. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - M.I.U. Album (1978)	Review Unfairly maligned by critics who likely never even gave this album a chance... This is a pretty good album, and it has way more contributions from Brian than reviews would often have you believe. There is a definite tendency for publications to hate on Mike more than actually look at who is writing the songs. I know it was Mike who talked the group into recording the album where they did, thus giving the album it's name, but that is not too important really. You've got some strong cuts on here. The 70's flavor is definitely interesting, and very strong, but it's not so 70's that it's jarring and the songs don't suffer for it. I'd personally prefer the album start with the absolutely majestic cover of Come Go With Me and can't fathom what they were thinking by having the album start up with She's Got Rhythm instead, but it's not a bad track by any means. Highlights in my opinion include about half the whole album (Come Go With Me, Wontcha Come Out Tonight, Sweet Sunday Kind Of Love, Pitter Patter, My Diane, Match Point Of Our Love). My favorite track, as with a lot of later 70's albums by the boys, has a devastating lead vocal from Dennis, on "My Diane" which is about the sister of Brian's long time wife. I can't believe the man released that song, although he claims he doesn't remember the time frame of recording the album. I don't know if I buy that, but it certainly might explain a few things. Anyway, don't hate on it before you give it a listen. It's much better than it's given credit for. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Holland (1973)	Review Signature harmonies, the ‘70s rock scene, and Americana themes combine for a solid nine-song offering with virtually no assistance from Brian, thanks in part to the new addition of singer-guitarist Blondie Chapin and multi-instrumentalist Ricky Fataar. Frankly, long-time group members Carl Wilson (‘The Trader’) and Mike Love (‘California Saga’) have rarely been better. Highlights: “Sail on Sailor” “California Saga (Big Sur/Beaks of Eagles/California),” and “The Trader” 8 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile (1968)	Review Brian Wilson's work on Smile—the ambitious follow-up to Pet Sounds—had just been scrapped. (That legendary project has since been reconstructed, re-imagined and had its sessions extensively released and studied). Once Wilson came to grips with the fact that his masterwork wasn't coming together, he and The Beach Boys put together this truly weird and charming album at Wilson's home, where the equipment wasn't yet up to professional recording studio standards. The resulting set is low-key, even lo-fi in many spots. Smiley Smile disappointed fans and critics at the time, who were expecting a sort of answer record to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's. It did include "Good Vibrations", which had been a single the previous year. That song was a stroke of genius: a brilliantly inspired moment where Wilson's avant-garde experiments matched his commercial instincts. "Heroes and Villains" turned out decently. "Vegetables" and "With Me Tonight" capture the intricacies Wilson and his brothers could turn out in their sleep. "Wind Chimes" and "Wonderful" take things down to a near-whisper. Smiley Smile now has a cult following. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Sunflower (1970)	Review Though the Beach Boys are best-known for their classic summer-fun hits, the band's resident genius, Brian Wilson, sculpted several underrated albums of complex, inspired orchestrated pop. 1970's Sunflower represents a true group effort, with each member pitching in. Harmonies flourish, co-writings are strong, and Dennis Wilson and Bruce Johnston emerge with some of the album's most touching moments. Bruce Johnston's "Deirdre" evokes memories of the old days, while updating the sound and groove with a smart yet elaborate arrangement. His "Tears In the Morning" takes the Beach Boys' classic sound and gives it an early-70s feel. "At My Window" retains a psychedelic flavour. Dennis' "Got To Know The Woman" provides an upbeat, vintage rock 'n' roll sound, while "Forever" ranks among the group's finest ballads. Brian and Mike Love join forces for the vocal weave of "All I Wanna Do," while Carl Wilson and Brian are in fine spirits for "This Whole World." The U.K. press and fans have always recognised the band's achievements, while, ironically, their U.S. counterparts were slower to discover the brilliance in their own backyard. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - 20 / 20 (1969)	Review With Brian Wilson frequently absent battling addiction and other chronic psychiatric issues, the rest of the group were left to cobble together their 20th release, partially from old scraps. The results are better than you might expect. The album concludes with two Smile sessions leftovers, the breathtaking a cappella “Our Prayer” and “Cabinessence,” as well as Dennis Wilson’s rework of the Charles Manson -penned song “Cease to Exist” (as “Never Learn Not to Love”). Highlights: “Do It Again,” “I Can Hear Music,” “Bluebirds over the Mountain,” “Be With Me,” “Never Learn Not to Love,” “Our Prayer,” and “Cabinessence.” 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - All Summer Long (1964)	Review It’s no coincidence that the last album focused on beach culture was the first to exhibit Wilson’s sophisticated songwriting as the band ditched the traditional four-piece set-up and expanded the instrumentation to include organs and xylophones. All Summer Long is the last great album of The Beach Boys’ first phase, showing a balance of naïve optimism and dynamic evolution. Highlights: “All Summer Long,” “We’ll Run Away,” and “I Get Around” 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - All Summer Long (1964)	Review It’s no coincidence that the last album focused on beach culture was the first to exhibit Wilson’s sophisticated songwriting as the band ditched the traditional four-piece set-up and expanded the instrumentation to include organs and xylophones. All Summer Long is the last great album of The Beach Boys’ first phase, showing a balance of naïve optimism and dynamic evolution. Highlights: “All Summer Long,” “We’ll Run Away,” and “I Get Around” 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Surfin' U.S.A. (1963)	Review The title tune is their teen-spirit anthem, souping up the Chuck Berry riff from “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Despite a few too many tossed-off surf instrumentals, the LP shines on “Farmer’s Daughter” and the beach-goth ballad “Lonely Sea.” 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today! (1965)	Review Once Brian’s father Murray let go of managerial control, Brian spread his wings. He quit touring and concentrated on working in the studio. Wilson’s use of studio musicians allowed him to think beyond the limitations of his band-mates’ skillsets. The result? Arguably the most commercially appealing and consistent release in the Beach Boys canon. Highlights: “Do You Wanna Dance?,” “When I Grow Up (To Be a Man),” and “Please Let Me Wonder” 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (1964)	Review Opening with five Beach Boys originals (including "Christmas Day," with Al Jardine's first lead vocal), The Beach Boys' Christmas Album starts like any other Beach Boys album, with tight-knit harmonies and a pop-rock band providing the instrumental backing. The remaining seven standards, however, include The Four Freshmen's arranger, Dick Reynolds, handling the orchestral backing for tunes such as "Frosty the Snowman," "We Three Kings of Orient Are," and "White Christmas." The mix between the joyful and the solemn makes for a well-rounded collection for those who enjoy holiday fare. "Auld Lang Syne" is an interesting a cappella piece arranged by Brian Wilson, interrupted briefly by Denny Wilson wishing everyone a Merry Christmas on behalf of the band. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 18th Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Beach Boys - Surfer Girl (1963)	Review The Boys’ third album is their first that’s essential for non-completists. You get the hits “Catch a Wave” and “Little Deuce Coupe,” which are offset by ballads like the title track and the presciently introspective “In My Room.” Brian Wilson first took over production duties on Surfer Girl. It was also their first truly iconic Capitol sleeve. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 2nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Association - The Association (1969)	Review With cover art depicting a Stonehenge-like monument built on the moon using the band’s name carved in rock, it would seem as though The Association were moving into heavy space jams instead of the soft-focus country-rock that resonates throughout the band’s 1969 eponymous album. While The Association didn’t yield any hits, producer John Boylan (Linda Ronstadt, Pure Prairie League, the Dillards) helped give the band an organic and naturally twangy sound, while allowing them to craft a stellar album (rather than another chart focused money-maker). “Look At Me, Look At You” opens with an old-timey banjo and the unmistakable vocal harmonies, echoing what a pre-Gram Parsons Byrds were doing with 1968’s The Notorious Byrd Brothers. Even some psychedelic fuzz guitar found its way into the sunny and optimistic “Yes I Will.” The earthy “Dubuque Blues” suggests that the band were listening closely to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – so closely that the harmonies here trump CSN&Y’s. Jim Yester’s lead vocals on the ethereal “Under Branches” sing like he could have been a blood relative of David Crosby. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 2nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Association - Renaissance (1966)	Review Renaissance was a difficult album for the Association to record. Coming in the wake of a serious hit album (And Then...Along Comes the Association) and two huge hit singles ("Along Comes Mary," "Cherish") and at a time when the group was experiencing more bookings than its members had ever dreamed possible, Renaissance was rushed out under pressure from the band's label. Alas, Renaissance bore little resemblance to its predecessor. For starters, the Association had lost the services of producer Curt Boettcher, who was the architect of the earlier album's extraordinary sound. Additionally, Renaissance was comprised entirely of original material, much of which had been written while the group was touring. These songs were competent and showed some flashes of inspiration but, apart from "Come to Me," nothing here offered anything even remotely as catchy as either of the band's two previous singles. With Association rhythm guitarist Jim Yester's brother Jerry Yester producing, Renaissance has a more stripped-down, conventional folk-rock feel. Apart from lead guitarist Gary Alexander and wind player Terry Kirkman, none of the other members played on this album, but Alexander is a delight, mixing melodic folk-rock picking and strumming, throwing in a few high-energy licks on one or two numbers, and even using a koto for the album's single, "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies." The latter, despite having a grotesque title when following up a single like "Cherish," is a prize piece of pop psychedelia, all gorgeous harmonies and spaced-out sensibilities backed by a bracing beat. Renaissance wasn't a bad album, but was a more routine, predictable recording than its predecessor and, without a hit single to help push sales, it never reached audiences in remotely the same numbers. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
The Doors - Topic 2nd Dec 2019		Vinyl Album The Association - Renaissance (1966)	Review Renaissance was a difficult album for the Association to record. Coming in the wake of a serious hit album (And Then...Along Comes the Association) and two huge hit singles ("Along Comes Mary," "Cherish") and at a time when the group was experiencing more bookings than its members had ever dreamed possible, Renaissance was rushed out under pressure from the band's label. Alas, Renaissance bore little resemblance to its predecessor. For starters, the Association had lost the services of producer Curt Boettcher, who was the architect of the earlier album's extraordinary sound. Additionally, Renaissance was comprised entirely of original material, much of which had been written while the group was touring. These songs were competent and showed some flashes of inspiration but, apart from "Come to Me," nothing here offered anything even remotely as catchy as either of the band's two previous singles. With Association rhythm guitarist Jim Yester's brother Jerry Yester producing, Renaissance has a more stripped-down, conventional folk-rock feel. Apart from lead guitarist Gary Alexander and wind player Terry Kirkman, none of the other members played on this album, but Alexander is a delight, mixing melodic folk-rock picking and strumming, throwing in a few high-energy licks on one or two numbers, and even using a koto for the album's single, "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies." The latter, despite having a grotesque title when following up a single like "Cherish," is a prize piece of pop psychedelia, all gorgeous harmonies and spaced-out sensibilities backed by a bracing beat. Renaissance wasn't a bad album, but was a more routine, predictable recording than its predecessor and, without a hit single to help push sales, it never reached audiences in remotely the same numbers. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?