Music Reviews
Album Review: America – ‘Here & Now’
By Jeff Swindoll
Dec 20, 2006, 15:45 GMT

When this two-disc set came across the reviewing desk, I thought that it was a “best of” album.  On closer inspection I found that it was a little of something new and a little of something old (though newly recorded). 

Disc one contains twelve new tracks and disc two contains a live performance of America’s greatest hits.  Before I get into that let’s talk a little about the band.  America had its heyday back in the 1970s when “A Horse with No Name” galloped across the radio dial.  The band consisted of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek in those days.  Peek would leave the group in 1977 and now Bunnell and Beckley make up America. 

These two would again score another hit in 1982 with “You Can Do Magic.”  Now that we’re up to date, disc one contains 12 tracks of new material.  The tracks are “Chasing the Rainbow,” “Indian Summer,” “One Chance,” “Golden,” “Always Love,” “Ride On,” “Love & Leaving,” “Look at me now,” “This Time,” “Work to Do,” “All I Think About is You,” and “Walk in the Woods.” 

Disc two is a live performance taped at the XM Studios on October 23, 2005, which consists of the group’s greatest hits.  The ones I recognized were “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” “Sister Golden Hair,” and “A Horse with No Name.”  Oddly, “You Can Do Magic” was not amongst them.  Neither was “The Last Unicorn,” which is one I always think of when I think of America. 

Though their voices have somewhat mellowed with age, it was good to hear both the old and the new of America.  The album can be enjoyed by both the older and newer generations of America fans. 

‘Here & Now’ is now available at Amazon. Visit the music database for more information and a complete track listing.