(Which Makes Four for Those of You Keeping Score at Home)
It’s yet another triumph from one of our favorite engineers, KEN SCOTT (Ziggy Stardust, Magical Mystery Tour, Honky Chateau, Crime of the Century and many more).
This is one of Nilsson’s best albums, sonically and musically. (With Ken Scott at the board at Trident Studios the sound has to be good, doesn’t it?) Side one is amazingly good from start to finish. On the two CD set of Nilsson’s greatest hits (which is excellent, by the way) almost all of side one from this album is used, as well as the best material on side two here, which includes Spaceman and The Most Beautiful World In The World. In other words, this album has more than half a dozen of the best songs Nilsson ever wrote.
Nilsson Schmilsson and the album simply titled Harry are the other two superb Nilsson records that I highly recommend. Harry is my favorite of all his albums, maybe because it was so different from anything that I’d ever heard up to that point. A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night is also a personal favorite. It’s an album of standards done in the Nilsson style, and it’s wonderful in every way.
So those four are the ones to own. We guarantee you will love each and every one or your money back.
By the way, if the documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) is on the box, you should definitely check it out. Most of us here have seen it by now and it’s a ton of fun.
TRACK LISTING
Side One
Take Fifty Four
Remember Christmas
Joy
Turn on Your Radio
You’re Breaking My Heart
Side Two
Spaceman
The Lottery Song
At My Front Door
Ambush
I’d Rather Be Dead
The Most Beautiful World in the World
AMG 4 1/2 Star Rave Review
… this is all married to a fantastic set of songs that illustrate what a skilled, versatile songsmith Nilsson was. No, it may not be the easiest album to warm to — and it’s just about the weirdest record to reach number 12 and go gold — but if you appreciate Nilsson’s musicality and weirdo humor, he never got any better.