Now this was more like it. Kicking off with the wickedly salacious "Burlesque,"
Bandstand was the best of the late
Family recordings. For a band that for the most part eschewed riffs and hooks, both are in plentiful supply here. More important, by the time of
Bandstand's release,
Family had reconciled the war between their art-rock and hard rock tendencies; that is to say, there is more of the latter and less of the former. So, the record doesn't have the internal stress of their earlier releases, but what it does have is
Chapman shouting like he could take on the world and
Whitney playing like he must have when he formed the Farinas in 1962. A corker from the word go. ~ John Dougan