Harbor contains a good measure of the expected. This time, "Horse with No Name" has been reworked into an offbeat, vaguely admonitory number called "Political Poachers" as well as the merely vague "Are You There." The rest consists largely of leavings from such California neighbors as the Eagles, Neil Young and the Beach Boys, plus the usual determinedly vacuous lyrics, harmonies that would soar if they could, and impeccable pop production by George Martin.

Most interesting are a couple of attempts at rock, particularly "Now She's Gone," in which power chords are buried, and "Hurricane," which echoes the Beach Boys of the Summer Days (and Summer Nights) era. Both, of course, are unredeemably silly: "Now She's Gone" is a most tepid sponge from the Joe Walsh-affected Eagles, while "Hurricane," which had a chance, is ruined by the addition of some of the most flaccid trumpet playing west of Las Vegas. But my favorite absurdity is the final track, "Down to the Water," in which the group's original obsession reaches its ultimate conclusion: to Young's current obsession with arrhythmic chanting the group brings a sense of propriety, and seaside sound effects. The result is almost incalculably funny, particularly when an ersatz Mike Love falsetto pops up at the end; it's like merging "Southern Man" with "Little Honda." (RS 237)

DAVE MARSH