Knnillssonn {Stereophonic LP}

Maybe it's just hindsight on my part, but there's a definite feeling of melancholy on this, Harry's last RCA release. While it was heartening to see an all-originals album after ...That's the Way It Is, his decision to record the way he did (sans any other instrumentation other than orchestral) probably hurt more than helped...while the strings are appropriately lush, they also tend to sap the life out of songs that should have been a bit livelier, like the otherwise clever ^"Who Done It?^".

So while it may be HN's favorite of his releases, it's certainly not mine although I do also like ^"All I Think About is You^", ^"Laughin' Man^", and ^"Perfect Day^". The other songs aren't bad, they just don't make a strong impression with me.

Could Harry have been more out-of-sync with the music industry by releasing an album of orchestral ballads in the middle of the Disco era? Not that this is bad, unless you're interested in selling albums. Knnillssonn is a record that actually sounds better today (maybe it's because I'm older) than it did back then. And how about the first single released from this album ^"Who Done It?^". Could you hear this song being played next to the Bee Gees? Neither could I. That said, this is a pretty good album, though a few guitars here or there would have broken up the string monotony. Standout tracks are ^"Lean On Me^", ^"All I Think About is You^", and ^"Blanket For A Sail^".

Ignore the other reviews. This album is magnificent. ^"Who Done It?^" is silly and beautiful. ^"Laughin' Man^" puts a smile on your face every time you listen, and the rest of the album is even better.

So he uses strings... Wow, ohmigod, who'da thunk it.

^"Sweet Surrender^" and ^"Lean On Me^", they really need guitars don't they?

This is great.

A big thank you to M Doyle for his review and he is absolutely right. Ignore the other reviews.

The Great thing about Harry was that he was the alternative to Bands mentioned in other reviews like The F'n Bee Gees. Yea that was about the time things changed and really started sucking in the music biz. Put it this way. If The Beatles came out today the industry would be trying to find a "Category" for them. When a band puts a song like Helter Skelter on an album and then Martha My Dear on the same album, what does a poor music executive do? Is it rock? Is it pop? Is it easy listening? I'm sorry I can't sign you guys cause it's just not marketable. You have to pick one style and go with it.

Anyone who was truly a Harry fan knows he also had no category. He was just a guy who ( like any true music lover ) likes a good tune.

His choice to use only strings for Knnillssonn was great! He was being what he was AN ARTIST. I don't think the man ever thought about writing a hit song or fitting in with the sound of the day. I think his hits slipped under the music biz radar. And Thank god for that.

Harry was all over the map in his musical taste as we all are. We like rock, we like jazz ,we like pop, we like rap. But god forbid if one artist tried to mix these styles on one album an call it "The White album" Our small brains just wouldn't be able to comprehend it. These days we only allow artists to be one thing. They are not allowed to change or progress like say The Beatles or Harry Nisson.

Music is art, art is being creative, creative means creating something new.

Nuff said

Tracy Adams.