Ambrosia: One Eighty CD Track Listing

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Ambrosia One Eighty (1980)
One Eighty (Japanese Pressing)\n\nOriginally Released 1980\nCD Edition Released February 1, 2000\nJapanese Pressing CD Edition Released ??\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: When Life Beyond L.A. became their biggest hit to date on the strength of smooth AOR like "How Much I Feel," Ambrosia decided to continue in this direction on One Eighty. It became their most successful album but lacks the ambition or inspiration that infused their first two albums. The prog rock style that characterized the group's early work is almost completely gone: The only real progressive cut is "Kamikaze," which attempts to create a stylized blend of prog rock and traditional Japanese music but comes off as stilted and awkward. The rest of the album's songs are either pop/rock tunes or ballads. Rockers like "Ready" go for an ambitious blend of radio-friendly rock and new wave elements, but sound too forced to be convincing. The ballads are the album's redeeming feature. They are all lovingly crafted and boast strong, often complex melodies that keep them from getting too sappy or sentimental: "You're the Only Woman" is a keyboard-rich song that highlights Christopher North's soulful Hammond organ playing, and "Livin' on My Own" layers harmonies reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers over a jazzy tune driven by an intricate bassline. The album's finale, "Biggest Part of Me," is the best of these ballads. It combines rich Beach Boys-styled harmonies with a heartfelt lyric to create a rich slice of blue-eyed soul that gave the group a number two hit single. These classy ballads make One Eighty worth a listen for devoted Ambrosia fans, but the casual listener might want to seek these songs out on the group's Anthology album. -- Donald A. Guarisco\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nCertainly NOT Their Best, But I Bought It Anyway, July 9, 2006\nReviewer: T. R. Rak\nIt's difficult to reconcile an Ambrosia album like "One Eighty" with their previous, predominantly progressive, hard-rock extravaganzas including their debut masterpiece effort (self titled), followed by an arguably even LOFTIER orchestral, rock-opera creation called "Somewhere I've Never Travelled" (which, if you own the LP, is unique, creative and imaginative [and a definite collector's gem] in that the album cover actually opens out and up into the shape [suitable for a table centerpiece] of a perfect pyramid!). Wow! And then Ambrosia's third offering, "Life Beyond L.A.," is worth the price of purchase alone with its eponymously-titled opening track, a progressive-rock "quo vadis" that even received respectable-enough airplay on selective radio stations in 1978. \n\nBut by then however, Ambrosia fans were beginning to notice a rather disconcerting change in their beloved, "intelligent-rocker-audiophile" quartet's musical direction. To put it mildly, Ambrosia was beginning to show signs of "mellowing out." Worse yet, they seemed to be "selling out." You could say that the worry began to settle in with 1978's adult-contemporary hit single, "How Much I Feel." With this song, Ambrosia started to gain a whole new audience, while undermining their faithful base of progressive-rock worshippers. \n\nThat loyal base could have forgiven Ambrosia their 1978 commercially-driven faux pas, were it not for their fourth offering and the album reviewed here, "One Eighty" (released, not coincidentally enough, in 1980). Two more hit singles reminiscent of "How Much I Feel," namely "You're the Only Woman" and "Biggest Part of Me," nailed the coffin lid shut on Ambrosia (as rock-and-roll pioneers) forever, typecasting them as "easy listening" to the masses of listeners right up until the present day. \n\nTragically enough, being typecast as easy-listening was never what band members and erstwhile audial imagineers David Pack, Joe Puerta or Christopher North ever had in mind. But something happened between "Somewhere I've Never Travelled" and "One Eighty." Perhaps it was the fact that David Pack was (literally) losing his hearing in both ears. Or maybe the reality was best summed up in the lyrics to the outstanding, progressive-rock swan song "Life Beyond L.A." (from the album released 2 years before "One Eighty"): "Living out here you soon come to know that it ain't how good you are as much as who you know ... now you fake it." \n\nThey did. And they made a lot of money doing just that. \n\nBut surprisingly (or perhaps not, at least to the legions of "true" Ambrosia aficionados), just as Ambrosia began to be recognized in a rather major fashion by the Billboard Pop Chart, rather than "ride the success wave" to further pop popularity, "One Eighty" marked both the apex (commercially) and the collapse (artistically) of Ambrosia's career. Their followup album, "Road Island," sank into the ocean of oblivion like Krakatoa. And along with "Road Island," Ambrosia itself disappeared beneath the waves. \n\nI recall vividly in 1980, leafing through an issue of Billboard Magazine shortly after "One Eighty" and its attendant, light-on-the-ears, soft-on-the-brain hits dolloped onto the scene like so much hospital-vanilla pudding, amazingly and amusingly enough (and ostensibly as a kind of "sop to Cerberus" to their "hard core" audience): Ambrosia posted a full-page, full-color, heavy-text "disclaimer" in the industry-standard rag, defending their new album and insisting vehemently that "Ambrosia still rocks!" All humor aside, most implicit in this defense was, "please, please don't judge us by our hit songs; buy our new album and you'll hear for yourself - all the REALLY GOOD HEAVY stuff WHICH YOU LOVE and which the radio ISN'T playing! It's in here TOO!!" So I bought "One Eighty." \n\nAnd I kind of had to agree with the guys. I love the thickly-layered, power-rock opening track, "Ready" (reminiscent of their equally power-driven "Can't Let a Woman" off "Somewhere I've Never Travelled"), and I also thought "Kamikaze" jammed effectively enough. But the rest of the album? \n\nHmmmmm ... \n\nIn any case, I had purchased the LP. And when the CD of "One Eighty" finally made it to market, yup - I bought that as well. So, like it or not, if I was upset with the way Ambrosia had declined artistically, I still feel, even to this day, that the band's definitive oeuvre just isn't complete unless all four of their albums (up until "Rock Island" which, although I do own it, confessedly, I couldn't tell you any of the names, let alone hum any of the tunes, of a single one of the songs from this album off the top of my head). \n\nThus, "four" seems to be a kind of "magic number" for Ambrosia, which is why, albeit semi-reluctantly, I give "One Eighty" four stars, even though (intellectually) I might wish to assign it merely two, or two-and-a-half. Maybe I give "One Eighty" 4 stars because their opening song "Ready" redeems the rest of the album. That and "Kamikaze." Or perhaps because ... ummmm ... "je ne sais quoi" (*sigh*) as the French say - I just don't know why. \n\nCall it a "lifetime achievement award" to a band I once loved to pieces, and still do - for their aboriginal, brilliant work early on. Fortunately, you can still hear vestiges of that work here on "One Eighty."\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAmbrosia definitely did a "180", October 25, 2006\nReviewer: Jennifer S. Herman\nIf I wanted soft rock or pop, I'd listen to Barry Manilow, NOT Ambrosia. This album has some "decent" songs like "Ready", "Kamakaze", and so forth, but forget the mushy stuff. Sure, as a girl that appreciates a great male voice, I love hearing David Pack sing his sweet ballads, but some of these songs are just a little too mushy for me. I'm like a lot of others that are disappointed in how much of a "180" they did with their music. Some of the old Ambrosia feel comes through on the harder songs, but this album is mostly just mush!!! LOL!!! This album, regardless of the hit singles on it, may have been Ambrosia's demise. If you like mush, it's a great album to get. If you like classic Ambrosia, hang it up!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nDifferent musicians and a different sound!, April 16, 2006\nReviewer: Mr. Music Critic (Georgia)\nEven with the two hit songs on this CD...It is still pretty good. It's obvious that this isn't progressive rock. The band Ambrosia slowly abandoned that genre music and chose to write and play pop music. Perhaps, it was contractual obligations or maybe, they just needed to eat??? The opening track Ready, makes references in the lyrics...to Somewhere I Never Travelled and Getting On Out Of L.A. Clearly, these words are chosen to refer back to their earlier albums. This song is one of the better one's on this CD. Shape I'm In is an okay pop-style song. Kamikaze rates as one of the worst songs that Ambrosia has ever made. I enjoy the music, but the lyrics stink! It's just stupid and dated. Like they would know anything about being a Kamikaze pilot. You're The Only Woman is a lesser known hit, but still recieves quite a lot of airplay. It's heard more often than not here lately in it's new jazzed-up remix by David Pack on his CD called The Secret Of Movin' On. I think that I like the original version better. Rock N' A Hard Place....is another good song. Definitely some shades of prog-rock here! Livin' On My Own is also one of the standout songs on this CD. It features the singing of Royce Jones. Great voice!!! Cryin' In The Rain is a pretty good tune, but definitely a "girlie rock" song. No Big Deal is a fast-paced, up-tempo song...The lyrics are kind of silly, but the song is catchy and has some hints of progressive rock. The final track is Ambrosia's well-known hit, Biggest Part Of Me. It's a nice song, but definitely overplayed. This is and adequate CD, but certainly not Ambrosia's best. It features some different musicians and a different sound. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nLet's Clear Some Stuff Up, February 3, 2005\nReviewer: Timothy Mark Ash-noda "tyme" (Louisville, Colorado)\nAmbrosia began as a brilliantly original progressive rock band. Their first album "Ambrosia" is genius, one of the best albums of the 70's I'd say. This album is their 4th release, not their third. If you enjoy the early progressive sound of Ambrosia and were disappointed to hear them slipping more and more toward typical uninspired commercial-oriented music (um, selling out) with each album, then this is the album you might not want to buy. 180 indeed, it is almost unrecognizable in style from their brilliant first album. Not that anything these talented guys put out is bad, it's just so far below what they produced when they were playing with a sense of artistry rather than chasing the buck. As to the album cover, it's hard to believe that some folks haven't noticed how playing around with homoeroticism is a staple of the rebelliousness at the heart of rock and roll. This cover could have only caused controversy among the sappy mainstream audience it was directed at. More importantly, who cares what the sexual orientation of an artist is? It's the new millenium. Wake up and smell the diversity. Those of you insisting that the hug on the cover is not evidence of homosexuality are probably as homophobic as those who think it is. I have no idea if these guys are gay and don't care. Do you?\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nThe album that took a 180 degree turn, November 6, 2003\nReviewer: andy8047 (Nokomis,Florida)\nONE EIGHTY was inspired by the month and year this album was finished,January 1980. Burleigh Drummond's arms around Joe Puerta is not a sign of homosexuality,as some people might think. This album was re-released in February 2000 on compact disc in America. This album is Ambrosia's fourth with their last biggest hits YOU'RE THE ONLY WOMAN and BIGGEST PART OF ME written by Ambrosia member David Pack. They're both jazz-flavored. LIVIN' ON MY OWN is also jazz-flavored. Those three songs appear on 1997's ANTHOLOGY. READY,also written by Pack, is a hard-rocker just like ROCK 'N A HARD PLACE(not to be confused with the Rolling Stones recording of almost the same title with different words and music). Drummer Drummond takes the lead on his personally penned CRYIN' IN THE RAIN. NO BIG DEAL,SHAPE I'M IN and KAMIKAZE are all cool. Ambrosia would record one more album after this,ROAD ISLAND,released in 1982 and disband thereafter.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSWEET AMBROSIA, October 25, 2002\nReviewer: Michael Butts (Martinsburg, WV USA)\nSo, first off---what's with the album cover? Is it homsexual to hug another band member? What about all the football guys who hug each other and pat each other's derrieres? Come on, guys, physical contact is pretty common amongst most men, they just don't admit it.\n\nWith that said, the music: it's one of their best, I think. "Kamikaze" with its stilted off-tempo beat, is a killer song. The vocals by Pack and Puerta on all the songs lift them way beyond the norm for those 80's bands. Their two hits, "The Biggest Part of Me" and "You're the Only Woman" are great top-40 songs; you even hear them today. "Cryin in the Rain," "Livin on My Own," "Ready"..they're all great tunes.\nIf you've heard their "Anthology," you can see how great these guys have developed. They were actually involved with the Alan Parsons' classic "Tales of Mystery and Imagination." Pack has since become a producer and backup singer, having helmed Patti Austin's awesome "The Real Me." These guys knew their stuff, and they obviously even LIKED each other.\nRECOMMENDED.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nBesides the album cover..., May 20, 2002\nReviewer: greverio "greverio" (Falls Church, Virginia United States)\nThis album was good. Two popular songs in "You're the Only Woman" and "Biggest Part of Me" alone make this a winner. My personal favorite is "Cryin in the Rain", rockin' song with a killer organ solo. I really wasn't aware of Ambrosia's "rock power". The album cover is quite controversial, the back is even worse. In my younger days, I thought Janet from "Three's Company" was the lead singer, with a cast of some tough truckers. Either way, the album was good then and now.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWhat a creepy album cover, November 7, 2001\nReviewer: A music fan\nYou know, I've never heard this album. I can speak on behalf of the two singles, "Biggest Part Of Me" and "You're The Only Woman (You & I)", which were great early-80's soft-rock radio tracks. And I remember hearing them do "No Big Deal" on "The Midnight Special" and realizing that these guys could rock pretty hard as well. But I have to review it only to comment on the cover - WHAT WERE THESE GUYS THINKING? If they're gay, this certainly wasn't an era when it was a wise career move to come out of the closet, at least not by hugging your bandmate and putting it on the cover! Nothing against homosexuality, but this was NOT the kind of move that was going to sell records back then!\n \nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nEvolution, perhaps..., October 3, 2000\nReviewer: Mark (Columbus, Ohio USA)\nLike the Yes albums of the 1980s, this project is best heard in it's own context, not in view of all that came before. The addition of Royce Jones and David Cutler-Lewis improves the level of creativity which is often lost as bands develop, normally resulting in a less homogenous sound throughout the album. I must admit I was quite disappointed with this album, in the wake of their first two efforts. "One-Eighty" is a definite departure from their prog-rock beginnings, although some echoes of their earlier style can be heard in "Kamikaze" (sung, incidentally, by Joe Puerta, the principal vocalist on the first albums). Hopefully, this album suceeded in bringing new listeners to their earlier music, as was the case with listeners to Yes' "90125" and "Big Generator". All in all, not a bad album. Worth buying.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA GREAT ALBUM FROM A GREAT BAND, April 19, 2000\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis is Ambrosia's third album and their most accessable. This album features The usual lineup of David Pack on vocals & guitar, Joe Puerta vocals & bass and Burleigh Drummond on drums & vocals. This album also benefits from the addition of Former Steely Dan alumnus Royce Jones on percussion (He was in a touring lineup of Steely Dan which also featured future Doobie Brothers Jeff Baxter & Michael McDonald)this album also features the wonderful organ work of returning member Christopher North as well as the synth work of David cutler Lewis. The first cut Ready is a firey rocker featuring the soaring harmonies of Royce jones & Joe Puerta with the lead vocals of David pack over the top Royce Jones takes the lead on the next cut Shape I'm in and shows what a great addition he is to the band. Other highlights include the their two biggest hits the David Pack penned hits You're the only women & Biggest part of Me Also Check out the mean organ solo on Cryin' in the Rain by Christopher North. This is a great recording of highly polished well crafted and well performed songs.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nTakin' me back, February 5, 2000\nReviewer: Marla J. Williams (Deep in the Heart of Texas)\nWhat a great CD. A little bit of everything--from the Top 40 hits "You're the Only Woman" and "Biggest Part of Me" to my favorites that most people have never heard like "Shape I'm In" and "Livin' On My Own". David Pack has a great voice and after 20+ years I still love this music! If you're feeling nostalgic for the late '70's and early '80's, and you like groups like Pablo Cruise or maybe early Toto, I think you'll like this cd. YEAR: 1980
This rock cd contains 9 tracks and runs 39min 41sec.
Freedb: 7d094b09
Buy: from Amazon.com

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