This is a straightforward, filled-to-the-gills 25-track best-of for the band remembered by most listeners only for its big hits
"Western Union" and
"I See the Light." Actually, they released a lot of records during the last half of the 1960s that reveal them as a versatile, polished, yet often derivative group. They were best when putting a thumping beat to accomplished harmonies, catchy
pop/rock melodies, and rolling high organ playing, as exemplified by
"I See the Light" and
"Western Union." They never did come up with other songs as catchy as those, and the other songs on this anthology find them combining lots of influences: Midwestern
frat rock,
Beach Boys and
Association harmonies, and British bands like
the Beatles and (on
"The Losing Game" in particular)
the Zombies. Sometimes the derivativeness comes perilously close to imitation. The
folk-rock of
"Sympathy" almost duplicates the melody of
the Statler Brothers'
"Flowers on the Wall" in places,
"I Know They Lie" is a little-known lightweight
Byrds sound-alike, and
"Don't Blame Me" sounds like a tough American
garage take on
the Dave Clark Five. Their small 1967 Top Forty hits
"Sound of Love" and
"Zip Code" are here, as are two previously unissued songs of minor interest,
"You Can't Win" and
"Letters, Pictures, Melodies." Incidentally, this is not merely an expanded version of the 20-song best-of (
Western Union) issued on same label (
Sundazed) in 1989, 13 years before
The Best of the Five Americans. Though five songs shorter in length,
Western Union has a half dozen tracks that don't show up on
The Best of the Five Americans. More surprisingly, the liner notes, while comprehensive in both CD packages, might be preferable in
Western Union, which goes into much more extensive detail on specific songs. ~ Richie Unterberger
