This is not to deny the enthusiasm and rhythmic Carl Perkins/Jerry Lee Lewis-type bravado that pervades most of the cuts, but a lot of the material (most authored or co-authored by Parsons) is pretty weak. The various instruments are not together at times and the vocals, sung two-or three-part harmony, are very repetitive from cut to cut. This last fault would seem fairly easy to correct (if you can't change keys, at least vary the harmonies) but most of the cuts seem to have Parsons singing the verses, with Hillman and/or Bernie Leadon coming in for the choruses. Cut after cut--and when their version of Dylan's "If you Gotta Go" moves into and sounds just like their "Man in the Fog," then something is wrong. Even the addition of accordion, tuba and Leon Russell on piano on the latter cut can't save it from that dum-de-dum-dum dreariness.

Pointless and inane lyrics ruin more than a few of their efforts. "Older Guys" sounds like a Beach Boys reject, while "Lazy Days" comes on like a super-charged Lovin' Spoonful imitation and includes these memorable lyrics: "I'm gonna make you worry/Not about your income tax/No, there's no need to hurry/I think I'll teach you how to relax." "Down in the Churchyard" and "High Fashion Queen," while a step above those two, still have forced rhymes and a confusion of (albeit classic) country, imagery.

Some tunes survive in fine fashion. "Cody, Cody" has that old Byrds sound with excellent use of dynamics and the Burritos' version of the Jagger/Richards "Wild Horses" is brilliant. The latter they stretch out more than six minutes, highlight the emotive vocal and the forlorn lyrics, pause for Stones-ian guitar and piano solos, then bring their langorous harmony to a head with the final chorus. It is the last cut on the album and if the rest of it had started there, this would have been a superb effort.