With the departure of lead singer Bob McBride and founding keyboard player Paul Hoffert, Lighthouse slimmed down to a mere nine piece outfit for "Can you feel it". In came sax player and vocalist Dale Hillary, Hoffert not being directly replaced. It was though the absence of Hoffert which was the more significant, such had been his input to previous albums in terms of song- writing and arrangements.
Ralph Cole and Skip Prokop write all the songs here with the exception of Dale Hillary's "No more searching". They do not however write as a team, the tracks working out as roughly alternating between them.
The
general feel of the album is that it is under produced and arranged.
The brass and strings on which the band's sound has
leaned so heavily are largely anonymous and underemployed here. "Same
train" for example is a decent song with a pleasant
melody, but it feels understated and undistinguished. "Magic's in the
dancing" is a very ordinary song, but does contain some fine
electric viola played by Don DiNovo on his unusual 5 string viola. The
albums did produce a further hit single "Pretty lady". This
extremely catchy pop song will sound frustratingly familiar to anyone
who hears it. It one of those songs you recognise but have
no idea who it was by.A couple of the principal shortcomings of "Can you feel it" are demonstrated on the title track. Compared to those of Bob McBride, the lead vocals are weak while the song itself is orientated too much towards the "get up and dance" commercial market.
Prokop's "Lonely hours" is one of the best tracks on the album being a slower blues, almost lounge like, song with smooth sax and some pleasant strings. Dale Hillary's "No more searching" only serves to demonstrate why he was only allowed to contribute one track to the album, this being a rather messy country rock tinged affair.
"Can you feel it" is not a bad album. It does however have the feel of a band who have simultaneously lost key members and are running out of ideas.
Progarchives.com
"Can You Feel It"? came out in '73, recorded in New York's Record Plant. The upbeat pop-smash "Pretty Lady", along with the title track and "Set The Stage" fetched the band more gold. But despite following their proven forumula, they were finding themselves in the middle of a changing musical environment.
Progarchives.com
Tracklisting:
Tracks Listing
1. Set the Stage (4:56)
2. Same Train (6:03)
3. Magic's in the Dancing (4:04)
4. Pretty Lady (3:57)
5. Disagreeable Man (5:29)
6. Can You Feel It (4:36)
7. Is Love the Answer (3:14)
8. Lonely Hours (6:25)
9. No More Searching (4:04)
10. Bright Side (4:26)
Total time - 47:14
- Dick Armin / Electric Cello
- Ralph Cole / Guitar, Vocals
- Don Dinovo / Five string electric Viola
- Dale Hillary / Tenor and alto Saxophone, Vocals
- John Naslen / Trumpet
- Skip Prokop / Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Vocals
- Larry Smith / Piano, Trombone, Vocals
- Rick Stepton / Trombone
- Alan Wilmot / Bass
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