Latter-day
Marmalade is a far cry from the band's exquisite Top Ten 1970 hit, "Reflections of My Life," which had the distinctive voice of
Thomas McAleese ten years before this effort. Keyboardist
Sandy Newman handles the vocals and composes half of the ten songs on this LP, bassist
Graham Knight the only holdover from
Marmalade's heyday still performing in the band. Produced by former
Marmalade guitarist
Junior Campbell and released on the independent G&P Records out of New York City, the album sports forgettable cover art of the four musicians, two eating bread with a jelly-like substance on it. The music inside goes through you like Marianne M. Sach's cover art, not dreadful but not enough to keep you going back to this recording for repeated spins. The best songs appear on side one:
Newman's "Heaven's Above" and "Good Luck to You" work, as does
Campbell's "Back on the Road," which ends the first side. The problem is that they just aren't extraordinary enough to carry the entire record, and given its indie status, this
Marmalade certainly needed to pull a rabbit out of its hat.
Mike O'Brien's "Made in Germany" is a real low point, and why it was included is a mystery. "Lady Jane" is not a cover of
the Rolling Stones tune, and should have been, this album in serious need of something to grab onto as an invitation to hear
Newman's well-written easy listening rock. You've heard this light pop before from American bands like
the Raspberries,
Gallery, and
Looking Glass -- the only difference is that those artists put the jangle into the nuggets that became their signature tunes, and that's where this version of
Marmalade needed to go.
Newman's "Ooh Baby" would have had a chance if it copied
Eric Carmen's group's sound.
Campbell's thin production doesn't help either, especially on singer
Newman's decent "Can't You Feel the Thunder" or the final track, "Oh Susie." There is no experimentation, no Wall of Sound, very little to embellish
Newman's solid compositions. Much more could have been done with this group and its trademark, and since it wasn't, this self-titled effort remains but a footnote in the band's catalog and history.