''The Island of Real'' is the ninth and final studio album by

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, released in 1972. It peaked at number 180 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The group's final four singles — “Lucky Day,” “Brother Tree,” “Hummin’ Song” and “Jungle Walk” — failed to make the Top 100 and the Rascals disbanded. The album was reissued in 1999 by Sundazed Records with two previously unreleased bonus tracks and also reissued along with '' Peaceful World'' on the BGO label in 2008.

Reception

Writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, critic Jim Newsom wrote that the album was "another great but overlooked album by the Rascals. With a groove at times like Tower of Power, at others like latter-day Sly & the Family Stone, this, the band's final recording, is worth seeking out." Music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote of the album; "You can hear Felix trying to get back as side one begins ... but as

Buzzy Feiten Howard "Buzz" Feiten (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instrument ...

starts tricking up his own "Jungle Walk," you wonder whether jungles are coy. And then you realize that there's a pink horse on the cover for a reason." In his review for the reissue of ''Peaceful World/The Island of Real'', critic Thom Jurek wrote of the album "This is a less overtly ambitious offering, but its sunny optimism, warm vibes, and reliance on the emerging urban spiritual soul coming from Los Angeles, the rhythmic toughness of Chicago, and stretched vocal harmonies from Philadelphia make it a quiet stunner. Some of Cavaliere's best songs are here..."

Track listing

All songs by Felix Cavaliere unless otherwise noted. # "Lucky Day" – 3:09 # "Saga of New York" – 4:03 # "Be on the Real Side" (Robert Popwell) – 3:37 # "Jungle Walk" (Buzz Feiten) – 3:05 # "Brother Tree" – 3:38 # "Island of Real" – 4:57 # "Hummin' Song" – 3:58 # "Echoes" – 3:10 # "Buttercup" – 5:06 # "Time Will Tell" – 4:07 # "Lament" –6:10 #:1999 reissue bonus tracks: # "Prove It" – 3:13 # "Love Is a Woman" – 3:11

Personnel

* Felix Cavaliere – vocals, keyboards,

ARP synthesizer ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before de ...

* Dino Danelli – drums, percussion * Howard "Buzz" Feiten – guitar, ARP synthesizer * Annie Sutton – vocals, background vocals * Robert Popwell – bass * Hubert Laws – flute * Louis Colin – harp * Kwasi "Rocky" Dzidzornu –

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

Joe Farrell Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name o ...

– flute, saxophone * Ralph MacDonald – conga *Jack Scarangella – conga *Daniel Ben Zebulon – conga *Steve Madaio – trumpet * David Sanborn – saxophone, horn *Jon Smith – saxophone, horn *Manny Stamm –

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

*Woodstock Horns – horns *Molly Holt – background vocals * Arthur Jenkins - arrangements on "Echoes" and "Buttercup"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Island of Real 1972 albums The Rascals albums Albums produced by Felix Cavaliere Columbia Records albums