Seven Separate Fools

by

Three Dog Night

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After nearly 30 years I've finally figured out what that line from Tulsa Turnaround says. This is the 1st rock album I ever listened to when I was 8, and I knew since then I wanted to be a rock star. Anyway this is one of the most underrated albums of all time from 1972 and has many of what I would call classics, from Black and White, a child's song to Chained, a sophisticated impressionistic electric pianoed rocker. Also contains the anthem In Bed, the cool riffed Writing on the Wall, and the greatest song ever written by a studio janitor: Midnight Runaway. My Old Kentucky Home is here, and the ballads, Pieces of April, the Greenspoon riff, Prelude to Morning, Freedom for the Stallion. This shows what an underrated band the Dogs were. And it's got nostalgia value....the time of late 60s/early 70s rock is past, and these records are all we have. Also I recommend another ignored great album: Hard Labor by 3 Dog Night. In case you don't know, a 3 dog night means it's real cold up north.

If you've got one of the comprehensive 'best of' albums you may or may not need this. I find the song "Pieces Of April" much more effective in the context of this album than it is on the compilations. The difference being the brief instrumental preceding it, "Prelude To Morning", which sets up the mood.

Even as an adolescent I found the lead track, "Black and White", to be a little too much of a children's singalong to be top shelf, and unlike Three Dog Night's previous albums, the rest of "Seven Separate Fools" didn't produce a second big single. Truth be told, such wasn't to be found.

"Going In Circles" probably would have been the closest thing to a charting single from this album. Oh, Randy Newman's material checks in but the song about Kentucky seems to be Newman's most nasty, bile-filled writing. I'm sure there are toothless subhumans in Kentucky as the song portrays, but we have them in Southern California too. You may recognize "Freedom for the Stallion" as the same material that the Hues Corporation took to the charts in the year following this album's release. Their version didn't really tear up the charts either.

Summary: Three Dog Night completists will want this, it's got its moments, but it doesn't hold a candle to the band's two albums before this, Naturally and Harmony. After those two albums if you want depth, get the 2CD best of which will include the highlights from this album, then download this album's instrumental, "Prelude to Morning".