FACE THE MUSIC

This album begins with the song that I surprisingly enough identify the band with more than any other tune. Watching sports with my father during my days as a guppie would be the main reason, since it was utilized by CBS for their sports programming back then. The opening is certainly quite ominous, with backwards messages proclaiming that "music is reversable but time is not"...as opposed to "destroy your family and worship The Old Ones" that hysterical mothers and preachers were concerned with due to the subliminal message furor being in full swing. The song is very progressive, reaching majestic heights and then reverting to one of the most famous speedy acoustic guitar strummings since The Moody Blues "The Question". This part of the song, of course, is timeless, as symphonic elements join in with the chord progression adding strong melodies to the mix. "High On Fire" is a fantastic opener that in no way exemplifies what the rest of the album sounds like whatsoever.

The rest of the album is somewhat of a mixed bag, with most of these mixed nuggets being rather tasty, if not insanely delicious. The big hits off this album, "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic" are actually pretty cool and memorable slices of AOR soft rock before disco reared its polyester skull to the world. Another track I consider rather pleasant is the final number, "One Summer Dream", which is without a doubt a dreamy track with a touch of Beatlesque flair and spaced out female back up vocals that add some ethereal qualities. These songs have little if any 'prog' qualities, but they are worthy of merit for their catchy sensibilities. The reason I mark this album as a mixed bag, is that not everything works concerning Face The Music, with by far the biggest degradation of this album's greatness being "Down Home Town", a song so unbearable and odious I felt like burning and destroying a quiet village while subjecting myself to this excruciating wave of musical nausea. By the time Dixie lyrics were tossed in I think I remember vomiting forth a small shoggoth the first time I heard this brown steaming mass of music.

Overall it's a good album that could have been great with a couple of song extractions and possibly replaced by a song or two that emit a similar vibe to the album's memorable and progressive opener. It's a good album, and a must for fans of the band, and those nostalgic for 70s era sports programming.