STARTING OVER
Raspberries / Capitol ST 11329

By Ken Barnes
 
The Raspberries have at last realized their potential. They've clearly become the premier synthesizers of Sixties pop influences, extant. Even more importantly, the end results of their adroit collages of musical knowledge often equal or surpass their models' original creations.
 
As illustrations there are two perfectly astonishing tracks on Starting Over.

"I Don't Know What I Want" is the ultimate Who tribute, a superbly integrated pastiche of Who styles, 1965-71. Fragments of Townshend melodies surface hero and there, and Eric Carmen's vocal is an uncanny Roger Daltrey imitation. Yet the song stands on its own merits as a modern teenage frustration classic.
 
"Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" boasts a stunning production, combining an ultra-complex Beach Boys approach with Phil Spector techniques. Lyrically it's a refreshingly frank confession of the band's number one goal. Unlike those sensitive, questing souls, who profess to disdain their gold records, the Raspberries want that hit on the radio. And they know what it takes to get it—"If the program director don't pull it / Then it's time to get back a bullet" is a far cry from the naive "Please Mr. DJ play my record" plaints of a decade ago.
 
Though the Beach Boys and the Who are historically my favorite artists, I'd have to admit that "Overnight Sensation" and "I Don't Know What I Want" eclipse anything either band has done recently. They also overshadow the rest of the album, which is almost uniformly excellent and contains three other tracks which likewise outshine most of the available product. "I Can Hardly Believe You're Mine" is a gorgeous rock ballad,"Play On" has captivating harmonies over high-voltage rocking and "Cruisin' Music" is a consummately produced Beach Boys-style tribute to the car radio.
 
Starting Over is still not the ultimate Raspberries triumph, but its highest points are as lofty as any heights rock music '74 has scaled.

Rolling Stone / October 24, 1974