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Had the album as a young teen, but no longer had a way to play it. I was so happy to find it on CD, the CD sounds better than the album did.
Very Smart.Bread may have been on AM radio, but this is no Bobby Goldsboro hit. Look at my other reviewes, and you'll see Hawkwind, Crimson and Coltrane, and those are the mainstreem choices. The arrangements here are clean and the playing is excellent. But I find Bread's music important on two levels. Gates may not have been against a lot of the change going on in the era, but he realized it was in the context of everyday life, not life itself. Manson and Altamont had all but snuffed the hippie dream, Nixon was firmly in the helm and there was no end in site in Vietnam. "Make it with you" works the same way--"Make it" here could well mean sex, but also could mean finding a safe place to rest with another person.
Here comes this band writting love songs, but songs that speak about the complexities of relationships. People were TIRED. David Gates talked the sadness and the yearning in very real, human terms. Then listen to this.
It surprises me that I am giving this a classic rating, too. Who is to say they are not one in the same here. Looking for sancturary--phsyical and emotional- in the storm of 1970. By not overtly talking about it, Gates is addressing it.This Gates guy is smart. But it is more about resignation, humility, detatchment. If the Carpenters could have made their work this pristine and had emotional complexity this consistent, they would be a much more respected band today.If you are older, take AM, FM, Straights and Hippies, culture and counterculture out of your mind. It is not that this is "great music that brings back great memories." It is great music, but there is a lot more than that going on.Bread arrived in 1969 and hit big in 1970. Even the string parts have a dignaty that is antithetical to much of the AM pandering of the time.
"It Don't Matter To Me" may be, somewhat, about sharing a partner, the restlessness and sexual experimentation going on in 1970. When Gates writes "Lots of people have an ego hang up/want to be the only one." he is making the cultural into the extremely personal. This music is clear as a country stream, never sappy or maudlin. You'll rethink this band and be rewarded for it.,
The album is called the Best of Bread, but there were some songs on there I'd never heard before. Overall, I'm really enjoying the album.
This album really brings back fond memories of my younger days. Such a smooth easy sound.
Great music. If you close you eyes and just put everything aside, this music makes you feel good. It talks to the soul.
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