In the manner of many second albums,
Fat Mattress
' sophomore outing was similar to, but also inferior to, their debut. Again,
Noel Redding
didn't take as much as a leadership role as some listeners might have expected given his prior stardom as bassist in
the Jimi Hendrix Experience
. In fact, he's less of a presence on this record, at least as a composer, his contributions in that regard limited to three songwriting co-credits. And again, the mood is breezy
folk-rock
-
psychedelia
with a dash of early
progressive rock
, though some of the songs on side one in particular have a heavier feel than most of the first album. The songs aren't even up to the debut's modest standard, however, and the lingering feeling is that of a tolerable but fairly anonymous '60s-turning-into-'70s band with a Transatlantic feel. There's a bit of jazzy influence a la
Traffic
in songs like
"Roamin'"
and
"At the Ball,"
and there are some pleasant vocal harmonies. But there's not a single standout tune, and though
Redding
and his bandmates were no doubt straining to avoid being the answer to a trivia question as to what one of the members had done after playing in one of the world's biggest groups, that's what this music ends up being. ~ Richie Unterberger