Irony is necessary as a buffer against the surrealism of things in general, but there are times when it gets to be as much of a mother as anything else. Jesse Colin Young and the Young-bloods have been making very good music for years, and failing to get the audiences they deserved. The major reason for this has been the ineptitude, lack of vision, etc. of the record companies they have worked...

This album might as well have been named Rock Festival Pt. 2. as it marks the second very bad album in a row from the Youngbloods. "Sugar Babe," "Sunlight." "Get Logether." and "Beautiful" are all vastly inferior to the original studio versions: "The Dolphin" they haven't done before, so it's bad the first time out. "Ride The Wind." the remaining cut, suffices in being 9:10 long and merely...

This is one of the most encouraging albums I have heard in months. Having moved far past their early imitative blues/ragtime phase, the Youngbloods have become broadly eclectic and, eschewing dilettantism, have transmuted each of the musical streams borrowed into strongly individualistic statements. Although there are pieces on this record which could easily be classed as ragtime-rock, bossa nova,...