Detailed Reviews [We All Together - 1970 - "We All Together"]

Prologue. According the CD booklet notes, Peruvian We All Together are the followers of the great Beatles. "We All Together" is the only album they ever released. There are, however, not ten (according to all of the CD booklet details), but fourteen tracks on the CD in all and four "secret bonuses" which are hidden for anyone who hasn't listened to "We All Together".

The Album. Yes, (this time) an 'official' description of the music of We All Together more or less corresponds to the real contents of the album. Apart from the covers of The Beatles' songs (tracks 5, 7, & 9), there are three songs more that sound very Beatles-esque on the album: both the opening ones Children and Young People and the anonymous (or, maybe, secret?) track 13. All of them, being created a la Beatles circa 1964-1966, sound very nice. (Also, it seems it was typical for early Peruvian Rock bands to devote much time to study their English with regard to the pronunciation.) All the other tracks of the album instrumentally have almost nothing to do with the style of The Beatles and only the lead and harmony vocals are Beatles-esque sometimes, though not always. Excluding four cover versions of Beatles' songs (including No.13, as I guess) and the only cover of Badfinger's Carry On Till Tomorrow (track 3), all the remaining tracks (including three of the four invisible ones) sound quite original. It is not just because of the active use of the organ on the majority of tracks and even tube (on a few tracks), which wasn't typical for The Beatles, but, most of all, because of the use of the different (original!) ways of composing and arranging the material. In addition, there are several tracks, the instrumental parts of which, at least, sound progressive: It's a Sin to Go Away, Hey Revolution, Why (tracks 4, 6, & 8) and the two of the four invisible yet audible tracks - 11 & 14. Apart from string instruments, the arrangements of which always sound excellent on the album, there are also heavy electric guitar riffs and solos, wonderful passages of an acoustic guitar, virtuosic organ, and even bass solos, changes of basic themes and tempos.

Summary. Five good progressive songs and two stylistic clones are on one scale. (Unlike any imitations or poor copies, a clone is (perhaps formally yet absolutely, anyway) equivalent to an original exemplar: remember the sheep Dolly?) Five covers that, in my view, are kind of counterpoints to clones (being a musician myself, I would never prefer to put myself in anyone's skin), and a couple of weak songs (The City will Be a Country and the 1-minute song (No.12) with a dull solo on tube) are on another scale. The dual character of the album makes my attitude to it rather ambivalent, whereas without at least three of the five covers and the said 1-minute track "We All Together" would be a really good album within the frame of about 35 minutes. (By the way, Badfinger's Carry On Till Tomorrow and especially Some People Never Know are quite progressive works originally. Also, IMHO, there shouldn't be more than two covers on any of the music albums: no matter if these are Rock, Prog, or even Pop music albums.)

VM. November 1, 2001