HAPPY THE MAN

"Mr. Mirror's Reflection on Dreams" is a fine, varied instrumental that, for me, makes buying the album worthwhile. There are a few other tracks that are good. I think the band thought that forced quirkiness equals unique personality, but the studio sheen that permeates the album deadens the effect. Maybe it was the fact that Supertramp was so successful around the same time, and Happy The Man strove to duplicate their production values. By the way, bands that can't come up with an original name (I've noticed a ton of them on this site with names lifted from Genesis songs, King Crimson songs, Jethro Tull songs, et al) get no respect from me. When I bought this in 1977, I had never heard of the song by Genesis, or I wouldn't have considered buying it "sight unseen". Kit Watkins seems to have come away from the band with the most talent; some of his solo (electronic) albums have been good.