Galloping into view on the back of the hit "One Bad Apple," itself sliced so firmly in the shape of a
Jackson 5 45 that it was easy to see the market that
the Osmonds hankered for, the brothers' eponymous debut LP nevertheless finds them still putting performance ahead of personality, and barely hinting at the heights they would soon be scaling (
Donny Osmond's "Sweet and Innocent" showcase notwithstanding, of course!). Workaday versions of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and "Catch Me Baby" are draped around a Motown medley that contrarily ranks among the least soulful excursions you could imagine -- live, it surely packed a soupçon of excitement, but in the confines of a studio that the siblings were still coming to grips with, it's a lackluster lump in the heart of an only marginally more impressive long-player. ~ Dave Thompson