One reason that a lot of rock & roll fans hated the '70s was the lightheartedness that came to characterize radio -- basically, radio became fun, and it was rough, if you were an Allman Brothers fan or a devotee of almost any harder rock sounds, to tolerate a lot of the lighter sounds that filled the airwaves. Volume eight of this series shows just how confusing it could be flipping the dial in the summer of 1972; hard rockers like Jo Jo Gunne (an offshoot of Spirit) and their "Run Run Run," country/rockabilly band Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen and "Hot Rod Lincoln," Sailcat's "Motorcycle Mama," and Python Lee Jackson's "In a Broken Dream" (featuring Rod Stewart on the vocals) are here, interspersed with Gallery's relentlessly upbeat "Nice to Be With You," Cleo Laine's performance of the pop-devotional "Day By Day" from Godspell, the downright strange "How Do You Do?" by the Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal, and the Addrisi Brothers' blue-eyed soul hit "We've Got to Get It on Again." The latter, for the singing/composing duo, was one of a pair of early-'70s triumphs, the other being the 5th Dimension's rendition of their "Never My Love." The whole disc is cheerfully schizophrenic with a few interesting and bizarre moments amid the one-shot wonders; the single edit of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up" has retained its power across the decades and was among the few self-consciously heavy-sounding records to scale the charts in those days. And then there's "Sylvia's Mother" by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Among the tracks here, the latter, an over-the-top country-pop-flavored satire, was, along with "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan and the Gallery cut, probably responsible for giving AM radio the bad name it got. They do sound very good here, however, and they are fun (as it most anything intended that way by professionals) in moderation. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide