After six years of Top 40 songs, the Rolling Stones have managed only three bona fide RIAA-thing-amajigged million-selling singles. In less than two years, Three Dog Night has had two. In Cashbox's 1970 year-end listing of the bestselling artists in the 45-rpm field, Three Dog Night came in fifth (the Beatles took sixth). In the year-end roster of the best-selling LP artists, Three Dog Night also came in fifth (the. Who took sixth). As for Billboard, it put Three Dog Night sixth in the
Read More
singles class and third in album sales, coming out ahead of everyone except Creedence and the Beatles, Hot stuff, eh?
Yeah! Three Dog Night is really fun! They don't do any of the long, drawn-out stuff. They don't do any metaphysical bullshit. They just do these real neat songs. They make you wanna dance, or at least get up (and that ain't hay!).
There is too much good music on this album for anyone to be defensive about it. If music doesn't move you, it sucks, and this music does (the former). Well, maybe just a little of it the latter, but most of it the former.
They do this one song—"Joy to the World"—which is just what it says; if it doesn't make you real happy and dancy and want to have fun you must have a brain tumor or a big nose and wear glasses or something. It's all about wine and ahimsa and benevolence and stuff ("He was a good friend of mine/I never understood a single word he said/But I helped him drink his wine/He always had some mighty fine wine/Joy to the world!/[...]/Joy to you and me!")—isn't that allot better than getting depressed by listening to your average rock star moaning about his social problems? It has some tuff electric piano and allot of gear work on the skins by their Negro drummer. This reviewer finds it the best song on the album. "I Can Hear You Calling" and "Liar" are really good too.
If you are a fun-loving person and not strictly from squaresville, I think that you will also enjoy this record very much. (RS 76)
NICK TOSCHES
