Witty and fun first album
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 05/05/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The first album from these witty power popsters has traces of the Beatles, Beach Boys and Frank Zappa floating around in it. And that's in the first song. This great reissue has marvelous sound and five bonus tracks (4 b sides and an A side single version of Rubber Bullets). The sound quality is outstanding although the booklet notes leave something to be desired. They provide a sketchy overview of the band but no insight (unlike the Mercury reissues of The Original Soundtrack and How Dare You!) into how the band worked as a unit to produce such marvelous, quirky albums. There are also a couple of mistakes in the booklet (and one glaring error in the songwriting credits).The 50's song parodies (like Donna) haven't aged as well or as gracefully as the much more imaginative songs on the album. Overall 10cc remains remarkably fresh 28 years later. It's a pity that Godley & Creme packed up their bags and moved out of the house after only 4 albums. The dynamic that made the band so special was the interaction of Stewart, Gouldman, Godley & Creme. The duo (along with newer members Rick Fenn & Stuart Tosh) of Stewart & Gouldman produced at least two exceptional albums after the duo left, but none that had the impact of these first four recordings."