Customer Reviews

Life Beyond L.A.

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the third album by a band that I consider one of the best bands to come out of America in the last half of the 20th century.

I can't pick a favorite song off of this record, nor can I pick a favorite album from Ambrosia or a favorite band member. All are the epitome of rock, even progressive rock, as art.

The music and production on this (or any) Ambrosia album is far more imaginative than your average rock group (this ain't no top 40 pop band). They effectively utilize more instruments than most bands use in an entire career. Ambrosia develops as many styles as songs on this album.

Who else could pull off a song like "Apothecary", ("Late again, for chemistry class")? Joe Puerta's pleading vocals in "If Heaven Could Find Me", gave me chills while writing this. He also sings beautifully on his composition "Heart To Heart". The whimsical "Angola", although humorous, is a strong statement of the excesses of American culture. "Ready for Camarillo" closes the CD with grace and power that can't be matched by any other group.

But don't make the mistake of buying just this CD. All four releases are masterpieces in there own rights. You will not find a "filler" on any of there recordings (except possibly on Road Island which has not as of this writing been released in the U.S.)

Ambrosia... Nice, nice, very nice!

Personnel: Joe Puerta: Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar and Guitars on "Heart to Heart" David Pack: Lead Vocals, Guitars, Acoustic and Electric Keyboards Burleigh Drummond: Drums, Percussion & Vocals Additional Personnel: Christopher North: Piano on "Camarillo", Organ on "Heaven" and "Camarillo" Joe Sample: Piano on "Apothecary" and "Heaven" David Cutler Lewis: Piano on "Art Beware", Rhodes and clavinet on "Dancin'", mini-solo on "Not As You Were" Cliff Woolley: Harmonica on "Art Beware" Marty Krystall: Sax on "Dancin' by Myself" Daniel Kobialka: Violin on "Heart to Heart" Produced by Freddie Piro & Ambrosia

I can't beleive it took so long to release this album on cd. My older brother had this album in the late seventies when I was in high school and it became a staple in my collection. How much I feel was the song that everybody remembers and rightly so.It was and is a classic but the other lesser known songs were just as good if not better. I really liked Ready for Camarillo and Apothacary had a way of going from light rock to a jazzy unique peice. But I always waited for Heart to heart because it put my girlfriend in the mood and was one of my favorites as well. Now that this cd is available ,get it before some record company clown makes us wait another twenty plus years to enjoy this classic. D.B.

I was a huge Ambrosia fan in the 70s, and I still think their first album and their second, _Somewhere I've Never Traveled_, are both among the top 10 albums produced during that decade--it's exhilarating music, just absolutely wonderful. The band got a bad rap with critics and their more intense fans because of three easy listening hits that came off their next two projects, and one of them, "How Much I Feel," is here on _Life Beyond LA_. In a certain mood I don't mind those radio hits, simply because David Pack and Joe Puerta both have such terrific voices, the band is so tight and cool (as good as Steely Dan in that sense), and their tunefulness and vocal harmonies have only ever been surpassed by the Beach Boys themselves (another band I love). But, yeah, OK, the hits in question are a touch on the schmaltzy side. But that is *not* what marks this band on the whole, and Life Beyond LA is still well worth getting. I just bought it and listened to it fresh lately (first time in fifteen or twenty years), and I'm greatly surprised at just how good it is. Many of the lyrics still have the young, angry, artsy edge that I loved about their first two albums, and I can listen to Pack and Puerta sing all day long--believe me, as singers they are *that* good. "Apothecary" is my favorite, a jazzy piece that swings, with clever lyrics in the voice of a drug addict, and the title cut rails against LA phoniness, and it rocks as well. "Art Beware" follows right along: "Art beware, it's all been done / There's nothing new under the sun." I loved the whole first half of the CD, hit single and all. The second half continues with "Dancin' by Myself," with an interesting staccato rhythm that stops then flows into smooth, high-70s pop mode in the chorus. It's perfectly indicative of the drift the band was undergoing away from their progressive art rock beginnings. "Angola" gets back to political commentary, with a comic air that still makes a serious (angry) comment about how blasé Americans are with their absurd consumer abundance. "Heart to Heart" is romantic pop--a bit dull, maybe, except I still love Pack's voice whenever I hear it, especially when he climbs into a falsetto as naturally and effortlessly as Brian Wilson, as he does at one point. "Not as You Were" is a pleasant rocker, with a late 70s-sounding keyboard--it's catchy and it works, but it's not thrilling either. On the whole, while not as ambitious as their first two albums, Life Beyond LA is pretty darn good. For someone only familiar with Ambrosia's radio hits, this is the place to start if you're looking to feel your way towards their mind-blowing early works, and the terribly underrated and ignored (and terrific) final album, _Road Island_. In the end, this band is so good and so talented that I'd recommend anything they put out. Ambrosia is 70s pop/rock at its very smartest and best.

I had this album in the later 70's . It wasn't so much the title song as the remaining songs that touched my life. As others have commented, they were truly ahead of their time. I have searched a long time to find this CD.

I always thought "Holdin' On To Yesterday" was one of the best songs every recorded and when I heard "How Much I Feel" in 1978, I knew Ambrosia had another hit. I immediately purchased "Life Beyond L.A." and as expected, I found it to be a classic album as well. Ambrosia combines a hybrid of cynical humor and catchy pop full of hooks in their work especially on this album. The 10-song set starts out with the fantastic "Life Beyond L.A." with David Pack's vocals and keyboards soaring to dreamlike measures as the rest of the songs blend in with each other between mainstream melodic pop, the cynical humor, and a few catchy romantic ballads such as "How Much I Feel" and "Heart To Heart". Highly recommended for your listening pleasures.

The down side about this album is the absence of original member Christopher North (He only appears on two cuts If Heaven Could Find Me and Ready For Carmarillo)On the upside their is more of an emphasis on the blue eyed soul vocals of David Pack and the Paul Mccartney like tenor vocals of Joe Puerta. Their is also more eclecticism in the songs, ranging from the popular AOR hit title cut Life Beyond LA (Which also introduces new member Keyboardist David Cutler Lewis), to the jazzy cut Apothecary with Joe Sample of the Crusaders on piano. Other highlights include the Power pop cut IF Heaven Could Find Me and the Blue Eyed Soul ballad How Much I Feel(With strings aranged by Jimmie Haskell, he also did the strings on If You Leave Me Now by Chicago)and the funk/calypso of the David Pack penned Dancin' By Myself. Probably the most memorable cut on this album is the sarcastic folk tune Angola. All in All this is album is definitely worth more than one turn in the cd player.

This was the album that suddenly converted Ambrosia into pop stars. Prior to "Life Beyond L.A.," their stock in trade was Genesis/Yes styled prog-rock that was very heavy on texture, probably due to then producer Alan Parsons. Ambrosia opted to self produce (with Freddie Piro) their third album, choosing to tighten up the arrangements and highlighting David Pack's soulful vocals. They also recorded the very out-of-character (for their previous output) adult contemporary ballad "How Much I Feel." It pushed Ambrosia onto the charts and - for better or worse - stigmatized them as lightweights.

Such is not the case if you give the album a hard listen. "Life Beyond L.A." follows in the footsteps of Steely Dan's "Gaucho" in as much that every piece is meticulously in place. Joe Puerta's songs are often enigmatic and mysterious ("Art Beware," "Ready For Camarillo"). It gave the album a fresh and sparkling feel, at the same time Pack's ballads ("How Much..." "Heart To Heart") gave the radio programmers top 40 friendly fodder. It mixed so perfectly that (unfortunately) future albums were then cut from the same formula without as interesting results.

If there is one Ambrosia album to own, "Life Beyond L.A." is it. Their "Anthology" is also a great place to find the cream of their five albums.

why this album was so villified by the folks who think Ambrosia's debut is the masterpiece it is. While not in the same class - and barely in the same genre - "Life Beyond L.A." has much to recommend it. In fact "the HIT" (How Much I Feel) isn't all THAT cheesy by the era's standards and is at least listenable. There are five great songs (1,2,3,8,10) and three damned good ones(4,7,9) to "make up" for "How Much I Feel."

"Angola" is great fun, and the lyrics are a reality check for those of us going through hard times. (Again!) Remember, the economy was a basket case in the late '70's and early '80's also.

Anyway, great production, great musicians and good songwriting make for a pretty good album. Listen with fresh ears. Is it as good as Ambrosia 1? Nope, but it is a good album in its own right, and an enjoyable listen.

This album is definitely not in the same league as the debut album. It can't be compared to "Somewhere I've Never Traveled" because it is so different. It is however a good solid album. I love it because I'm an Ambrosia fan. All I can say is for me it is just a "good" album. If you love the pop sound over their deeper former sound it is possible this could be your favorite Ambrosia album. Listen to the clips and decide.

Life Beyond LA is a fine pop/rock album, with not a bad song on it. The sound quality is fabulous, especially on a high end system. The remastering job is very good, but I think for it's time the recording of this album was exceptional. This album is one of the great CD deals out there that few people know about, since you can find this CD from several sources for less than 10 bucks.