Customer Reviews

Naturally

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Three Dog Night were on a roll at the beginning of the new 70's decade. They had already released three excellent albums ("Three Dog Night", "Suitable For Framing" and "Captured Live"). Their first album for the new decade was "It's Not Easy" which produced the hits "Mama (Told Me Not To Come)" and "Out In The Country". While that album was excellent, it was Three Dog Night's next release "Naturally" that produced their biggest hit with "Joy To The World". Other hits from the album were "One Man Band" and "Liar". But the album also had some other great songs such as the rockers "I'll Be Creepin'", "I Can Hear You Calling", "Fire Eater" (an instrumental rocking track which showcases Mike Allsop's extroadinary guitar playing as well as Jimmy Greenspoon's awesome keyboard skills), the soulful "I Can't Get Enough Of It", and "Sunlight" (an excellent acoustic guitar based slow song written by Jesse Collin Young). Three Dog Night were successful at utilizing three lead singers combining soul, rock and blues into a sound that was distinctly their own. I can't think of too many groups that could harmonize as well as Three Dog Night and it's no wonder they were the seventies most popular rock group. If there's one Three Dog Night cd you buy, this should be it, as "Naturally" was released when the group was at the peak of their musical career. Highly recommended!

This 1970 album came at a time when Three Dog Night was just beginning to hit it big. Riding a huge wave of popularity, TDN was not only great in concert, but, as is evident in "Naturally", outstanding in the studio as well. The 7 members of the group all get their chances to dazzle in this varied production. The strengths of the album, of course, are found in four solid TDN staples, "Joy to the World", "One Man Band", "Liar", and "I Can Hear You Calling", but the icing on the cake is from the underrated gems that are present, such as "Heavy Church" with it's great harmony, the soulful "Sunlight", and the anthemic instrumental, "Fire Eater".

Even the casual classic rock fan knows of the great harmonies of vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton, but it's the rest of the band that really gets a chance to shine in "Natually". Floyd Sneed on drums is very capable, as is Joe Shermie on bass. The keyboards (especially the funky pop organ on "One Man Band") of Jimmy Greenspoon and the great guitar work of Mike Allsup rank with some of the best from the '70s.

If you're a fan of Three Dog Night and you've limited yourself just to the "Greatest Hits" and "Golden Biscuits", you're missing a treat in this album (and "Seven Separate Fools") if you don't have it as part of your collection. "Naturally" has aged well and remains probably the best album produced by TDN.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Certainly dated yet by no means dead, Naturally provides the listener with a small fragment of this group's enormous talent --- despite the second-rate lyrics. Driven by the incredible vocals of Hutton, Negron, and Wells, the album was a welcome change from their earlier works in both style and studio engineering. The bittersweet slash of Argent's "Liar", masterfully translated by the mournful, twisting riffs of Michael Allsup's guitar, arguably stands alone as the album's finest moment. Forget the overrated "Joy to the World"; if the listener can stomach low-level soul, occasional flubbed lyrics, and the pseudo-hippie mysticism of "Heavy Church", the album is a brief gateway to a less taxing time, and, regrettably, too brief a statement by such a phenomenally talented group.

This has to be Three Dog Night's biggest and best album. This CD features nothing but great songs like "Joy To The World (the number 1 pop song of 1971, and Dunhill Records' biggest selling single), "The Family Of Man", "I Can Hear You Calling", and "Liar". "Heavy Church", "Sunlight", and the instrumental "Fire Eater" are excellent, too. Do yourself a favor and purchase this CD. You'll be glad you did!

If you're reading this, then you've found it: This 2002 Japan 24-bit remaster represents the best audio mastering from the dizzying number of Three Dog Night individual album and compilation CD's currently available.

The clarity in the Japanese remastering is astounding. Listening to any of the four studio album titles in the Japan UICY series ("One", "Suitable For Framing", "It Ain't Easy" and "Naturally") delivers a new appreciation for just how good the band behind the singers really was.

The Japanese versions are also superior to the Gott and Edsel "2-fers" that were released after these discs. You really can't appreciate how great these CD's are until you've directly compared one against any other release.

Unfortunately, the limited 2002 run of these titles have long since disappeared into the private collections of TDN fans long ago. These are very hard to find now, and often, especially on Amazon, Sellers have other inferior TDN versions mis-listed under the Japanese titles.

It is highly advisable to double-check with any potential seller claiming to have these rare discs. The OBI/spine catalog numbers are:

One - UICY-3370 Amazon link: One
Suitable For Framing - UICY-3371 Amazon link: Suitable for Framing
Captured Live At The Forum - UICY-3372
It Ain't Easy - UICY-3373 Amazon link: It Ain't Easy
Naturally - UICY-3374 Amazon link: Naturally

***2009 UPDATE***: European label BGO has released the first four TDN albums as "2-fer's" (2 albums on one CD). On Three Dog Night/Suitable For Framing, I am happy to report that the remastering job by BGO is ever so slightly but noticeably better than the 2002 Japan remaster. However, the subsequent release, It Ain't Easy/Naturally is not as good as the '02 Japan remasters.

One of Three Dog Night's Finest albums. Including top hits ie. Joy to the World, One Man Band, and Liar. In addition; it offers 2 unique tracks making Naturally an excellent purchase. A good example of Three Dog Night's softer side is found in Sunlight and the tune that turned me on to the band Heavy Church. This is the only album which contains these otherwise hidden Three Dog Night treasures.

this album has three big hits on it. however, there is one fantastic song that never appears on any greatest hits cd. that song is "sunlight". it is a lot like "pieces of april". a couple of other good songs are "heavy church" and "i'll be creeping". if you like three dog night and have never heard "sunlight", you must.

This was the first Three Dog Night album I bought back in 1970. I liked "Joy To The World"(45rpm mono mix) and bought the single which was slighty different from the album version as well as Liar on a single and to my surprise, it too was longer then the mono mixed single. The actual song that caused me to buy the album was "One Man Band". Funny too because the single was in stereo and was the same mix as the album. Other then that, I still have the vinyl copy, bought the CD version some time ago and still like the album alot even though I still believe they were a better singles band then a album band. So if your looking to try out some Three Dog Night albums. Make your way to this one, not their best but a fine album to listen to around the house or on a long drive. By the way, got sick of hearing "Joy To The World" when it was a hit and skipped it ;-).
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It's time to replace my vinyl (and very scratched) copy of this album. Aside from the much-over-played Joy to the World, the rest of this album is awesome! Liar, Heavy Church, and Sunlight are my favorites -- ones not heard often on the "we only know the 4 Seasons" radio stations.

The single "Sunlight" is alone worth the price of this album. It'll take you to another time, wear your beads....