The Rascals

Once Upon a Dream is a fascinating record, capturing the Rascals in transition from white soul band to progressive jazz-blues-rock fusion outfit. Working amid the psychedelia flourishes of the post-Sgt. Pepper's era, this is the Rascals at their most ornate, backed by flautist Hubert Laws, saxman legend King Curtis, trumpet player Mel Lastie, and a string orchestra. "Rainy Day"'s outro, with its mention of peace and love, is the dead giveaway about where the band was heading -- luckily, the soulful "Please Love Me" and "It's Wonderful" follow immediately, retaining the toughness and drive of their earlier work; and Felix Cavaliere's "Singin' the Blues Too Long" marks the peak of the band's blues experiments, as well as a compelling foray into jazz, five minutes of surging trumpet and sax, soulful choruses, and searing guitar from the composer/singer. Gene Cornish's "I'm Gonna Love You" is one of the group's strangest tracks up to that time, a mixture of soul and marching band, no less. Not everything here works, by a long shot -- the gentle, trippy, sitar-laden "Sattva" is one of the silliest things the band had recorded up to that time; "My Hawaii" is a boring interlude, and the title song is too self-consciously pretty and profound. Those flaws aside, however, Once Upon a Dream marked the end of an era, the last Rascals album that could be absorbed casually, without any demanding pretensions or larger messages. [Collectors Choice's 2007 reissue includes mono mixes of each of the original tracks.] ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide