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LIFE BEYOND L.A.

Ambrosia

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Ambrosia Life Beyond L.A. album cover
2.76 | 50 ratings | 4 reviews | 10% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 1978

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Life Beyond L.A. (4:47)
2. Art Beware (2:15)
3. Apothecary (4:53)
4. If Heaven Could Find Me (4:28)
5. How Much I Feel (4:44)
6. Dancin' By Myself (4:42)
7. Angola (3:52)
8. Heart to Heaven (2:49)
9. Not as You Were (3:52)
10. Ready for Camarillo (4:55)

Total Time: 41:17

Bonus CD from 2013 remaster - Live In Cincinnatti, Ohio 11/15/1978 (Warner Bros. Music Show):
1. Life Beyond L.A. (6:55)
2. If Heaven Could Find Me (4:47)
3. Not As You Were (4:26)
4. How Much I Feel (6:00)
5. Somewhere I've Never Travelled (5:24)
6. Nice, Nice, Very Nice (6:08)
7. The Brunt (5:46)
8. Holdin' On To Yesterday (5:49)
9. Can't Let A Woman (6:26)
10. I Wanna Know (7:44)

Total time 59:25

Line-up / Musicians

- David Pack / guitars, keyboards, lead vocals (1,5,6,8,9), orchestration (5)
- Joe Puerta / bass, guitar (8), lead vocals (2-4,7-10)
- Burleigh Drummond / drums, percussion, vocals

With:
- Christopher North / organ (4,10), piano (10)
- Joe Sample / piano (3,4)
- David Cutler Lewis / piano (2), Rhodes & clavinet (6), mini-solo ? (9)
- Cliff Woolley / harmonica (2)
- Marty Krystall / sax (6)
- Daniel Kobialka / violin (8)
- Jimmie Haskell / orchestration (5)

Releases information

Artwork: Ed Caraeff Studio

LP 20th Century Records ‎- K 56525 (1978, US)

CD Warner Bros. Records ‎- 9 26870-2 (2000, US)
2xCD Relayer Records ‎- RLY 3135 (2013, US) Remastered (?), bonus CD w/ Live recording from 1978

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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AMBROSIA Life Beyond L.A. ratings distribution


2.76
(50 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of rock music(10%)
10%
Excellent addition to any rock music collection(32%)
32%
Good, but non-essential (34%)
34%
Collectors/fans only (16%)
16%
Poor. Only for completionists (8%)
8%

AMBROSIA Life Beyond L.A. reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
2 stars With this third album, I now recognize the Ambrosia, as I always knew they were. Some sort of well made soft-rock that populated the charts at the end of the 70's but was never my cup of tea. I was never fascinated by this cross of America (the group) , Fleetwood Mac (Rumors era), Steely Dan and Doobie Bros (the later period with Michael McDonald) and so many more.

Gone are the Steely Dan-sounding proggy tunes of the first two albums, and here we fall in a really tedious run-of-the-mill FM rock where every song feels like the previous one and the next one. I could simply not be bothered to listen to the album as a whole because this type of music is simply irritating me, and once in the middle of the songs, I skipped to the next one (but I did force myself to try the album twice).

If you are interested in investigating Ambrosia, check-out the first two albums but avoid this at all cost as well as the following albums.

Review by TCat
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
4 stars This was Ambrosia's 3rd release, and even though it didn't come close to their amazing debut album, I think it was stronger and better than the 2nd release "Somewhere I've Never Travelled" which I feel was too forced. I know that seems to be opposite of what others think, but LBL.A. just seems so much more natural and is so much more enjoyable to me. The title track is a strong opener and puts the listener in the mood for the rest of the album. "Art Beware" has some good prog elements and a really good harmonica solo and this short song leads into the next track "Apothecary" which is a really nice jazz-tinged song. The next three tracks, Ambrosia gives into commericialism, and even though they might be nice songs and better than a lot of commercial aritists, they are bland compared to Ambrosia's better works. Angola is an interesting song with a lot of humor to keep it interesting and an intentional "over the top" instrumental in the middle. "Heart to Heart" is a beautiful ballad which I feel would have been a great radio track, but I don't believe it was ever released as a single. "Not as You Were" is a stupid throw-away track. "Ready of Camarillo" ranks up there as one of their best ever tracks which shows that they still were inspired by love of music more than money. If all the songs were of this caliber on this album, then it definately would have been considered essential, but because of the inconsistency of excellent tracks and bland tracks intermixed on this album, it only gets 4 stars.
Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
1 stars I never really appreciated « Ambrosia », and it was a surprise to discover them on PA.

Prog related. Hummm. Well, I am still looking for the relation to be honest. American FM music fits much better to the description of their output (even their first two albums were really borderline IMO). But this effort tops them with no doubt.

Funky moods during the title track, jazzy mixture for "Apothecary", I have to say that this album is far from the idea I have of prog related music. Syrupy stuff there is. Too much. I really can't stand such a basic pop affair ("If Heaven Could Find Me") but the worst of all is "How Much I Feel". Some sort of Motown track. Press next as soon as you can to avoid it.

Unfortunately, what's next is just the same poor stuff with the same characteristics. Not even basic US rock music. It is just a collage of weak songs all the way through. Ouch! It hurts! I think I was wrong when I thought that "How Much I Feel" was the worst song of all: "Angola" definitely deserves this title. It is another press next type of song.

But there are hardly anything positive to retain out here. Just pass your way and don't spend any time, or any euro for this very poor album. One star, what else?

Latest members reviews

3 stars Completing the trilogy of worthwhile albums from Ambrosia is this. It also represents the beginning of the band's decline, although how low they would go is only slightly hinted at here. The album starts out strong with the title track (straight-ahead rock with synthesizers) and the subtle "Art Be ... (read more)

Report this review (#129589) | Posted by rsmoore | Saturday, July 21, 2007 | Review Permanlink

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