wolfman309's Full Review: The Complete Greatest Hits by America (Rock)
America is a tale of two bands. There is the real group that brought us thrilling music that was so different from the standard radio fare when they first hit the horizon, then there is the commercialized fluff hit makers that seemed to leave their integrity at the back door.
They are a hard band to categorize. Not folk, not rock, not country but they did have elements of all three. They are the band to listen to as the evening is winding down and you are sitting with your latte or chai. Not too heavy by any stretch of the imagination, they did manage to capture the rock and roll spirit at least early in their careers.
For instance, the first song off this collection is a great piece of folkish rock called "A Horse With No Name," from their self titled debut album. This piece caught the attention of many rock and rollers, me included. Acoustic guitars and a hollow vocal put you out in the middle of the lonely desert. But it is the terrific percussion that drives this song. The fills add a dimension that for some reason makes the song sound dry and arid just like the landscape that the band is singing about. This is a bleak piece of work that works well because of the sparse instrumentation. It is off their first album and though they might achieve greater financial success with other songs, they would never reach the artistic equivalent.
But, the next song might be close to the first one in its craftsmanship. It is a fabulous number called "Sandman." Like the previous song, it is the stark music that makes it work so well. Nothing fancy here, it is a haunting song that crawls under you skin and makes those nerves twitch. This is the music that drew me to the band but they could not sustain the attack. It also is from the debut album by the band.
The third song from the first album is a beautiful Beatlesque song called "I Need You." A more refined tune with a lavish, but not overplayed keyboard that floats through this love song. It is a very good ballad that makes it in on their greatest hits for good reason.
From their second album Homecoming, comes the song "California Revisited (Everyone I Meet Is From California.) Taking a ride down Beach Boys avenue to give us this almost, but not quite, surfing song. It is a light bit of pop but they still manage to keep the wit and charm they showed on the first album. About this time you are probably reaching for that latte as the sun sets on the coast. "California Revisited" is that type of song.
They stay out west with their finely crafted "Ventura Highway." This piece sounds a lot like the music of the first disc. It has some really good guitar fills that give this song the light feeling of tearing along the coast in a convertible with the top down. The harmonies are great and very much like that of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Another likable song that fits well on the weekend cruisin' mix tape.
The next song from the second LP is the country flavored "Don't Cross The River." It is a sweet little piece that sounds so much like The Eagles I had to look twice to see who was singing it. I like to have a little of that southern tinge once in awhile and this one is better than most.
"Only In Your Heart," is the last song from the second album. It is a lighthearted piece that sounds like it came from one of the harmonizing 60's groups like The Associations. A droning piano continues to plunk throughout the piece and as you think it is about to end they toss on a refrain that will make you think of The Beatles, A Day In The Life. The only thing I can say about this one is that it is non-threatening. Not good enough to remember for very long and not bad enough to toss out.
We move on to their third album aptly titled Hat Trick." I don't think it has anything to do with hockey though. The first song is one that became a big hit but for the pair of Captain & Tennille. It is the syrupy "Muskrat Love." It sounds to me more like a funeral dirge than a love song and I believe that the remake at least put a little more life into it thanks to the vocals of Toni Tennille. Either way it might put you to sleep before the chai gets cold.
From the album Holiday comes their attempt to grab the bubblegum market a few years too late with the head bobbing Simon & Garfunkel clone "Another Try." Although not a bad song by a long shot but it does seem out of place for the time period. It is one of those songs that you can give or take. It also has a little more production than previous efforts with its string section backing. This adds a nice little touch, almost like ELO.
Off this same album comes the slick "Tin Man." It captures the early spark of the band mostly due to the lead singing of Dewey Bunnell. He raises the specter of A Horse With No Name once again with his tone and delivery. The overall song has much more production to it than their earlier work but is still one of the best songs on this collection. The band reclaimed themselves here.
If you close your eyes, it would be very likely that you would come up with Crosby Stills & Nash once again as the band playing "Lonely People." In this case it is not a bad thing as the harmonies and the backing vocals add a haunting quality along with a brief harmonica that really makes this sound like a song for someone who is all by himself. They are on the mark again here with this song from Holiday. A good quality tune that lets me enjoy another sip of my latte.(Low fat milk of course!)
If George Harrison could get sued and lose over his song My Sweet Lord, I don't know how he couldn't have done the same thing with the opening of the song "Sister Golden Hair." The guitar parts sound an awful lot like George's classic song. From that point onward, America gives a strong performance and one of their best songs. It is a bit more rock and roll than most of their stuff but that is a good thing. This is just a feel good song all the way around, that came off the album Hearts. I might have to switch to chai as I am starting to drain that latte now.
Also taken from the Hearts album is a song where I think they are trying to capture the market that fell in love with the previous effort Muskrat Love. The sugary "Daisy Jane" reminds me of another group from just about the same era, England Dan & John Ford Coley. They would have a hit the following year that sound very much like this song called I'd Really Love To See You Tonight.
From the same album comes a song that exemplifies what I called the second career of America. "Woman Tonight" is a song where the band goes for the full blown overproduced type of song that really was out of character for them. This one, having a tinge of reggae feel with tons of instrumentation of all kinds thrown in, sounds like something that they put together as a marketing ploy rather than as a labor of love. Some might like it, but these guys had way too much talent to resort to this kind of stuff.
The disc moves on to the album Hideaway and the rather sappy, "Today's The Day." I just can't help but think that they were caught in a time warp at certain periods as this song is about 10 years too late. This one belongs back with the harmonizing vocal bands of the 60's as well. Either that or America is looking to capture the elevator music market, I don't know which.
Once again from Hideaway is the creative piece called "Amber Cascades." This is a very good bit of writing where the band flexes out in a good way. The orchestration on here is a welcome to this light spirited breezy tune. Although it is not a grabber, it does hold up pretty well throughout. And I am having to switch to the chai!
This disc now jumps ahead to the album "View From The Ground." Founding member Dan Peek had left the group a few albums prior and America continued on as a duo. It took until this album for them to reach the charts with the song "You Can Do Magic." This song penned by Russ Ballard of Argent fame, features him playing most of the instruments as the duo adds the vocals to this song that was wrote for them. This one falls into the second category of music by them as it is strictly nothing more that a piece of generic fluff designed for the top 40 radio market. It has nothing in common with the band that I heard quite a few years prior.
From the same album comes their effort to be Seals & Croft. The song Right Before Your Eyes." Which is also known as Rudolph Valentio is another of those songs that is slick and not in a good way. Plodding along and sung with no feeling at all, this one is why I hadn't picked up any America music in many a year. Sorry boys but this is not where you should be at this point in your career.
The last song on the collection comes from the bands 11th studio release called Your Move. This song once again has that time warp factor as they missed the mark by about 5 years with the disco feeling "The Border." This one makes me cringe when I hear it and think that it is the same band who did such good work a few years prior. As an album closer this is perfect because you will want to shut it off, most likely before the song is done.
America was a very good band. They seem to have lost their way just like some other groups. Electric Light Orchestra and David Bowie comes to mind. Let's just hope that like Bowie they can regain what is lost. This greatest hits package is a mixed bag. It is a good sampler of their career, but like their career, it has its ups and downs.
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