The solo career of this great rock artist took awhile to gather some steam; his 1976 album,
Cardiff Rose, showed that with at least some consistent production and a tight backing ensemble, he could put across a powerful musical vision without having to rely totally on re-creating the sound of
the Byrds. For this 1974 album his focus is as wandering as a glaucoma patient who has just gone through a two-hour field test. Many different influences come into his musical world, like strange cooks passing through a kitchen and dropping odd things into the stew. There is heavy collaborating with songwriter Jacques Levy, who like
McGuinn was part of
Bob Dylan's chaotic music world during this period. While Levy has fans who feel he brought great riches to the kingdoms of artists such as
McGuinn, the offerings from the
McGuinn and Levy songwriting team on this album, such as "Together" and "The Lady," are packed with corny images and shallow sentiments -- in other words, not exactly what one is used to hearing from
McGuinn in his practically angelic role as a lead vocal spokesman for
the Byrds. A bit of
Turtles sauce goes in courtesy of vocal contributions from
Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman -- it doesn't add much, but at least doesn't detract, which is more than can be said for the song contributions of session pro
Al Kooper or the wimpy
Dan Fogelberg. The title of the former artist's tune is a gift to critics and the public alike: "Please Not One More Time." Another pair of nothing songs comes from one Donnie Dacus, while the album's title number, courtesy country singer
Charlie Rich and hyped to the hilt via the album's artwork, is also pretty much a disappointment, a one-idea song that badly muddles the all-important opening track parade. ~ Eugene Chadbourne