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Mother Lode by Loggins and Messina (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Mother Lode
  • Group name: Loggins and Messina
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Top right corner of album is clipped
    • Sticker on front of album: track list with “Columbia Records / Demonstration / Not For Sale”
    • Printed on both sides of LP: “DEMONSTRATION / NOT FOR SALE”
  • Buy it on Amazon: $95.55

Mother Lode by Loggins and Messina

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but I’ve previously reviewed three from Loggins and Messina:

What I expected

Country, rock, maybe blues.

What it was actually like

This was pretty bad!

Growin’ was country, with a tiny bit of disco, but also horns.

Be Free had kind of a folk or traditional sound, with flute, and some jingle bells, and country fiddle.

Changes was a solid country rock song, and probably the best on the record, but the verses were far better than the chorus.

Brighter Days and Fever Dream were both easy listening, with the latter squeezing in all kinds of other genres and instruments.

Time to Space had a terrible saxophone part, and actually I almost stopped listening right at that moment, but then it started with the funk bass and bongo drums, which was so weird.

Lately My Love sounded like it had steel drums and was trying to evoke a Caribbean sound, but did a really awful job at it. By the way, what was it with lots of bands all trying to do that around the mid 1970s? Were they just responding to the popularity of reggae?

Move On had a horrible saxophone solo.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

Fulfillingness’ First Finale by Stevie Wonder (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Fulfillingness’ First Finale
  • Artist name: Stevie Wonder
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Tamla Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $12.79

Fulfillingness' First Finale by Stevie Wonder

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but I listened to Innervisions a month ago and did not like it.

What I expected

I won’t judge an album by its cover, but the album art for Fulfillingness’ First Finale reminds me a lot of Innervisions. I’m still optimistic that I’ll find something on it to like, though.

What it was actually like

This actually was a lot like the previous Stevie Wonder record, and I didn’t like it very much.

Boogie On Reggae Woman was a pretty good techno-funk song, and I thought the harmonica in it was great, though I’m not sure what was supposed to be reggae about it. I considered it the best song on the record.

You Haven’t Done Nothin’ was also a funk song, but nowhere near as good.

Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away was somewhat recognizable as a soul song in the traditional sense, largely because of its vocal style.

Too Shy to Say was elevator music.

Most of the rest of this record was boring and forgettable.

Grade

2/5: weak, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits by Three Dog Night (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits
  • Group name: Three Dog Night
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Dunhill Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker: PROMOTIONAL RECORD FOR / BROADCAST & REVIEW / NOT FOR SALE
  • Buy it on Amazon: $62.99

Joy to the World: Their Greatest Hits by Three Dog Night

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I definitely know the song Joy to the World and consider it one of the most obnoxious songs ever recorded, and if I’m not mistaken, Three Dog Night may have been one of the washed up has-been bands that performed at my hometown Rockville, Maryland’s “Hometown Holidays” when I was a teenager.

What I expected

It’s a record with Joy to the World, so my expectations aren’t exactly high, but I do think it’s likely that Three Dog Night had some better songs and that I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

What it was actually like

With the exception of the first and last songs, this record wasn’t that bad at all. The first was the aforementioned Joy to the World, and the last was an awful Oompa-Loompa song called The Show Must Go On, with an actual carnival music intro and outro.

Besides that, I thought the arrangements of most of the songs were quite strong, with multiple guitars, lively percussion and various vocalists doing harmonies that were solid, but not too ambitious.

One was a song that I recognized and I had no idea that it was a Three Dog Night. It was kind of gimmicky, but it’s unique and memorable. I also recognized An Old Fashioned Love Song and felt similarly about it, but pondered how to described its style: it was kind of R&B, but hardly sounded like 1971.

A bunch of their songs could be described as rock with a strong soul influence, like Shambala, The Family of Man and Never Been to Spain, the latter of which I thought was the best on the record.

Black and White was a cover of a bad Pete Seeger song that they somehow made far worse by recording it in a reggae style. I was almost embarrassed to be listening to it.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

Light Shine by Jesse Colin Young (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Light Shine
  • Artist name: Jesse Colin Young
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $2.99

Light Shine by Jesse Colin Young

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have never heard of this.

What I expected

Folk rock.

What it was actually like

This was not a good record. Most of it was soft rock, and there was a lot of flute and saxophone.

Certain parts of the title track Light Shine sounded like they could be a Kenny G. cover.

Barbardos was goofily done in a sort of calypso style.

Motorcycle Blues definitely needed to lose the saxophone, but if it had, then it could have been a decent blues song.

The Cuckoo was kind of an attempt at soul, but by the mid 1970s, the soul sound was already pretty bad and not worth emulating.

Grade

2/5

Snowflakes Are Dancing by Tomita (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Snowflakes Are Dancing
  • Artist name: Tomita
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: RCA Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Buy it on Amazon: $8.99

Snowflakes Are Dancing by Tomita

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have no familiarity with this.

What I expected

The album cover describes this as:

THE NEWEST SOUND OF DEBUSSY

and:

Virtuoso electronic performances of Debussy’s beautiful tone paintings by TOMITA

So if I understand correctly, a Japanese fellow named Tomita recorded some of Debussy’s works as techno music with a synthesizer.

What it was actually like

I thought there was a chance that this might be good, but it was sort of space agey sound effects crap, weird for the sake of being weird.

Arabesque No. 1 was the worst track, with sound effects that sounded like the adults speaking in a Charlie Brown cartoon.

Golliwog’s Cakewalk was also particularly cartoonish.

Why not just listen to Debussy?

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing