Portrait - 5TH DIMENSION****

Puppet Man/One Less Bell To Answer/Feelin' Alright/This Is Your Life/A Love Like Ours/Save The Country/The Declaration-A Change Is Gonna Come-People Gotta Be Free (Medley)/Dimension 5ive

Portrait heralded a change of label to Bell Records for the pop-soul harmony group 5th Dimension. Singer Marilyn McCoo started to take centre stage as featured on the No. 2 US hit One Less Bell To Answer. (US:20)

“Portrait is the perfect combination of pop and R & B with a touch of jazz. Top notch vocal talent, together with the best of LA's studio players, keeps this album as fresh today as when recorded.”

“The 5th Dimension had a wonderful blend of pop and soul that gets criticised by some today as not being ‘black enough’. This album in particular shows the group at their peak. The massive hit ballad One Less Bell To Answer is included here with Marilyn McCoo giving a heart wrenching performance.”

"Portrait was supposed to have been a blockbuster, and though it does provide fans with an enjoyable and memorable recording, its flaws are worth noting. Foremost among these is the splintering of the group's trademark ensemble vocals with solos being credited unnecessarily. Bell Records saw Marilyn as the star vocalist of the group, and though her gorgeous soprano did help push the group to stardom, favouring her led to in-fighting and the eventual break-up of the original group.”

“Ironically, Marilyn's definitive performance of One Less Bell was a fluke hit, released as the album's third single only after it garnered impressive regional airplay. The first single, the Declaration medley, was a blatant attempt to recreate the success of Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In, and though the medley itself is a novel concoction, it was an overlong and a poor choice for a lead single.”

“This 5th LP from the 5D, their first for Bell Records, was a somewhat surprising divergence from the Laura Nyro and Jimmy Webb coverage of the past, though both are represented with one cut each on this release. Its got familiar hits, great cover tunes, reflective numbers, and even a jazzy style performance in Dimension 5ive."

“This is their best material in years, alternating between crisp soul and Warwick style crooning. Marilyn Davis does a gorgeous job on the Bacharach-David ballad One Less Bell To Answer. The high harmonies on Save The Country grate on my nerves a bit, and the closer, Dimension 5ive, is a semi-interesting vocal scat exercise.”