Albert Hammond's uninspired follow-up to the brilliant "It Never Rains in Southern California" is another collection of songs co-written with Mike Hazelwood, but this time
Hammond does the production work himself, co-arranging the LP with keyboardist Michael Omartian, arranger and conductor of the previous disk. Self-production might be part of the problem, though the songs not being as memorable as the solo debut is certainly more glaring an error. Dan Atfield, co-producer of It Never Rains, is nowhere to be found, and the album faces an uphill battle at the outset. As a song, the title track is over-wordy, cumbersome, and not a significant follow-up. It failed to break the Top 40, though it charted regionally in parts of the U.S.; the musician walking away from the business-chosen-by-family-members theme needed a bit more work.
Hammond touched upon that theme three times on the last outing -- in "Anyone Here in the Audience," "From Great Britain to L.A.," and with the previous hit. "Smokey Factory Blues" here is just too ragged to open the follow-up LP with, a singer/songwriter going for Pat Travers' audience. "The Peacemaker" came a year after Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" and sounds like its sequel. The originality which was so essential to the last album is gone. The entire album feels rushed, and maybe it was, but it does have its moments. "Woman of the World," "Everything I Want to Do," and "Rebecca" are not bad tunes, they just aren't that memorable and could be outtakes from the first album. "Who's for Lunch Today?" and "I Think I'll Go That Way" are almost as good as those other three, and certainly better than the title track. But "For the Peace of All Mankind" is stunning, and it really stands out, showing that
Albert Hammond and crew still had the magic. It would be years before his
When I Need You album that he would put a cohesive set of songs together again.
The Free Electric Band is important only because
Albert Hammond is important. It was his chance to become a superstar, and where Elton John rose to the occasion when the record label demanded a product,
Albert Hammond made this personal and somewhat frivolous venture. It's a shame.