Papas & Mamas – THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS***

The Right Somebody To Love/Safe In My Garden/Meditation Mama(Transcendental Woman Travels)/For The Love Of Ivy/Dream A Little Dream Of Me/Mansions/Gemini Childe/Nothing’s Too Good For My Little Girl/Too Late/Twelve Thirty/Rooms/Midnight Voyage

Final hit album of new material from the iconic sixties hippy group The Mamas & The Papas. Papas & Mamas was a relatively disappointing finale before they spilt. The revival of Dream A Little Dream Of Me was a US No. 12 and UK. No. 11 hit for Mama Cass. (US:15)

"Its definitely more trippy than their earlier albums. Not that this is full on psychedelia by any stretch. But here, with tracks like Meditation Mama, Mansions and the hard rocking Gemini Childe, some of the music takes on a more other worldly bent."

"Strangely bland and tired effort after three very good albums. It seems that this quartet hasn't much left to say at this point; memorable tunes almost completely deserted John Phillips. It's a telling fact that the only brilliant song here is the cover, Dream A Little Dream Of Me. The same song also started Mama Cass' solo career and is to be found on her own first album, so it's somehow out of place here."

"Nothing particularly stands out. OK that's not strictly true as Dream A Little Dream does, but that's merely because its so well known, while Gemini Childe does because of its pretty vicious sounding guitar. I guess Twelve Thirty has the catchiest chorus, but otherwise its all pretty much of a muchness here. That's not necessarily a bad thing as most of the songs are reasonably good, but you just wish that more stood out to grab you in the way they did on the debut."

"This is one of the most underrated rock albums of all time. It was the group’s final album before their initial breakup. Highlights includes the catchy Twelve Thirty and Cass Elliot's Dream A Little Dream Of Me. My favourite is the hard rocker Gemini Childe, the group's most ambitious song, along with the soothing Meditation Mama and the moody Mansions."

"In Papas & Mamas, Twelve Thirty and Midnight Voyage do what can be done to save the whole package drowning into a swamp, but not quite succeeding. The Mamas & The Papas were clearly ready for call it a day in 1968."

"The final album is a solid effort given that the group was about to self-destruct."