Moon's second self-titled album, like their debut -- 1968's
Moon Without Earth -- is well crafted and a sonically solid production effort throughout, if nothing remarkable. The album has never been released on CD, however, and for that reason alone, vinyl copies of
Moon are becoming sought-after items by collectors of West Coast '60s pop. Most of the songs here sound influenced by
Paul McCartney's recordings of the same period (i.e., "Hey Jude," "The Long and Winding Road," etc.) or even sound like the similarly influenced Apple recordings by
Pete Ham/
Tom Evans'
Badfinger, which arrived a few years later. "Mary Jane" has a stately and Baroque orchestral arrangement (no surprise that arranger
Bob Klimes -- who also worked with Colours,
the Association, and
Denny Brooks -- is credited as co-writer). Keyboardist
Matthew Moore, who wrote most of the group's material, is the chief songwriter on the remaining tracks, though his thin, reedy voice doesn't quite seem to have enough emotional gravitas to pull off the album's heavy bluesy guitar/piano treatment. "Pirate," the only single from the album, failed to chart, and the group members, including ex-
Beach Boy David Marks, ventured off to bigger and better career moves.