Fresh

Fresh hoped that its third album, Omniverse, would be its commercial breakthrough. But like Fresh's two previous albums, Omniverse was ignored by both soul-funk and rock audiences, and that's regrettable because this LP is generally decent and sometimes excellent. When Omniverse came out in late 1978, disco was huge, but Fresh refused to jump on the disco bandwagon. Its roots were in the classic soul-funk-rock of Sly & the Family Stone and Rare Earth, and the band sticks to its creative guns on original material as well as on likable covers of Larry Williams' "Bony Maronie" and Sam & Dave's "Hold on, I'm Coming." To fully appreciate this album, you need to be someone who treasures both R&B and rock. The basslines are unapologetically funky, while the electric guitars rock without hesitation. But Fresh's creativity continued to go unrewarded, and its third album turned out to be its last. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi