Minute By Minute - THE DOOBIE BROTHERS***

Here To Love You/What A Fool Believes/Minute By Minute/Dependin’ On You/Don’t Stop To Watch The Wheels/ Open Your Eyes/Sweet Feelin’/Steamer Lane Breakdown/You Never Change/How Do The Fools Survive

The Doobie Brothers transformation from a hard rocking band to a bland soul outfit reaches its apogee with Minute By Minute. The group is now under the control of Michael McDonald who has supplanted the original chief songwriter Tom Johnston. The end result was a Grammy for this US chart topping album helped along by the US No. 1 single What A Fool Believes, thus reflecting changing public musical tastes. (US:1)

“I am a little embarrassed to admit I own this terrible long play. At one time I was into the cool southern rock and the Doobies were a good southern rock band.. This ultra laid back lounge music is a disgrace; absolutely not southern rock in any way shape or form.”

“Its common knowledge that Michael McDonald led the Doobie Brothers into a keyboard-soaked R & B era far removed from the Tom Johnston guitar-based sound. I happen to like both incarnations though the McDonald era did tend to get a bit tedious. Overall, this isn't a bad set.”

“By this time, there is almost nothing that remains from the classic group that recorded the classic early albums. Indeed there is nothing going for this album unless you're into sickening AOR mush, with insufferable Michael McDonald vocals splattered all over it. Only fools would believe that this is a worthy album.”

“Grammy award winning album Minute By Minute is a definitive moment for a now schizophrenic band. Simmons holds onto the guitar-centric Doobie sound for approximately a third of the album, McDonald brings R & B/smooth jazz keyboard to the forefront of about half, and the rest is a melding of them together in an awesome fusion.”

“Overall, the record sounds just too much like a bunch of studio musicians churning out pedestrian blue eyed soul. Very bland effort from this once mighty band, despite the one monster found here.”

“Michael McDonald's gasping, soulful vocals here pack a major wallop and are simply infectious, and he handles the lead vocals on a handful of classic tracks.”