Zager & Evans - Zager & Evans

A stark white album cover with the two thin musicians fading into the pale, a mailbox with "2525" inferring that this is a sequel, a follow-up to the album which featured their number-one hit single, and proof in these grooves that writing record reviews is hard work. This project gives record labels an excuse as to why important artists don't get multiple album deals -- there's nothing remotely sounding like a hit, in fact, this is just a horrendous collection of bad songs by Rick Evans who takes all the blame for the words and music. Not only is "Mister Turnkey" a terrible song title, it's the best example of how awful the songwriting here is -- "Mister Turnkey, it's ten p.m. -- in Wichita Falls, August 16th, 1969 -- and I'm in some bar. Mister Turnkey, I need a woman, and I ain't getting far." Of that there is no doubt, because if his pick-up lines are as bad as his diary, he better not hold his breath till the year 2525 waiting for a response. Haven't these guys ever heard of the old Elton John or Randy Bachman or Jeff Lynne trick of borrowing a few riffs and ideas to come up with a new and exciting product? "During REM" is more hokey songwriting: "soon it will be Monday morning and the world will be mourning for the day it has just thrown away." This could be Bob Dylan playing a joke on RCA Victor, and this could be the most difficult listening experience in RCA's storied history until Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music came along. This recording makes Len Barry's dreadful Ups and Downs, Rob Grill's disjointed Uprooted, and the collected works of Bob Pfeifer seem like lost masterpieces. The money that went into this turkey would have been better spent on a cheesy Sci-Fi film version of the hit single that was number one for six weeks. A song like "Reginald Ludwig" won't be in BMI's Top 100 soon. "Produced" by Ted Daryll and Ray Cork, Jr. probably, because Phil Spector was busy with the Beatles. You will know why Yoko Ono's records are so entertaining -- because she, at least, had a vision. When John Lennon and Yoko dressed in all white they made a remarkable statement. When Rick Evans and Denny Zager wear the same attire they fade into the woodwork. Brian Christian engineered some great records in his day, and one can only imagine what was going through his mind while working on this. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide