Over the course of their 5 years together, Loggins and Messina released 5 albums of original studio material. The last of these, "Native Sons", was by far the worst. And as much as I loved the first four, listening to this lackluster album makes me think it really was time for these guys to go their separate ways. Though it's not easy to say exactly what is wrong with this album, there are some clear differences from the earlier material. For one thing, there are some personnel changes. Long time collaborators Al Garth (violin, horns) and Michael Omartian (keyboards) are gone. The resulting overall sound is much more lite-rock/pop. The country influences have been downplayed, the band seldom jams, the playing is almost never "hot", and Jimmy Messina's excellent guitar work is barely in evidence. Instead, we get more flute, less sax, more string orchestration. The vocal sound leans more heavily on hired-gun harmonizers. In fact, Messina doesn't sing at all on most of Loggins' songs. To me, it seems that the songwriting doesn't hold up as well, either, although perhaps it is the arrangements that make me feel this way, rather than the songs themselves. A lot of the changes in the sound would later be further amplified on Kenny Loggins' early solo albums, so if you like those a lot you'll probably like this album more than I do.
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