The Four Seasons Album: “Half & Half”

The first three cuts are very nice, although "Emily", having been written by Laura Nyro, sounds absolutely nothing like a Frankie Valli/4 Seasons song. "And That Reminds Me" is a nice re-make of an old tune. It has a very propulsive arrangement of instruments and complex backing vocals. It is the last of the 4 Seasons singles to have Frankie Valli doing a spectacular falsetto wail at the end. However, such a sentimental song had little chance of succeeding in 1969, the year of Woodstock. "Singles Game" was the B-side of the preceding song, and is an understated gem with very nice backing vocals, which become more pleasingly urgent as the song goes along. The centerpiece of the album, though, is "Patch of Blue", a real powerhouse of a single from 1970, which was unbelievably ignored by radio, showing how far the group had fallen out of fashion by then. "Patch of Blue" has a melody similiar to "Spanish Harlem", but with propulsive bass, kick-out-the-jams drumming and surreal backing vocals on the chorus. "Where Are My Dreams" is also a nice cut. However, the rest of the album is very tuneless, weak and uninspired. The group had no direction and was caught between doing old-timey, contemporary MOR, and experimental "Imitation Gazette" type of material. The result is a chaotic mess, and so Phillips would release the group from their contract after this album. This is also the last 4 Seasons album that Tom DeVito and Joe Long participated in, and was the last of the albums by the traditional group line-up before all the 1970's switches in personnel and musical style.

This was the last album of the first era of the 4 Seasons. Half the album is 4 Seasons songs, with the other half being Frankie Valli solo recordings. The album is a mixed bag. The group's popularity was way down by this point. There were no real hits on the album, with "And That Reminds Me" and "The Girl I'll Never Know" just missing the Top 40. The album has some good songs on it, but it also has some rather forgettable songs. It will really only be of interest to serious 4 Seasons fans. The CD adds six bonus tracks, which were all either "b-sides" or flop singles.