Part of the plan (Dan Fogelberg) (LP 2542 - 2545)

Dan Fogelberg  Souvenirs (Vinyl, Epic Records, 1974) ****  

Dan Fogelberg  Captured Angel (Cassette, Vinyl, CD Epic Records, 1975) ***** 

Dan Fogelberg  Nether Lands (CD Epic Records, 1977) ***

Dan Fogelberg  The Innocent Age (Double Vinyl, Epic Records, 1981) *** 

Genre: Pop rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Spellbound Wax Company

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Man In The Mirror/ Below The Surface (Captured Angel)

Gear costume: The Last Nail (Captured Angel) 

Active compensatory factors: Dan is a gifted musician, composer, and singer. I get that he's a bit of an acquired taste though - maybe a bit too saccharine for some, but I love his singing, songs and approach (harmony).

I'm not a completist, although I was tempted at one point, so we join the story at album number two - the Joe Walsh produced Souvenirs. Various Eagles are joined at various times by Walsh, Gerry Beckley from America, and Graham Nash. Heavy company, but no one overshadows Dan (those Eagles harmonies do their best to upstage him).

Ignore the critics, and trust me on this - Captured Angel is a perfect Dan Fogelberg album: warm, musically rich, catchy songs, and no smugness. It's also an album with personal attachments because I played this on cassette in the car on family holidays. 

So, it became a singalong favourite and I associate good times with the songs each time I play it (which is a lot actually).

Nether Lands is an ambitious work and lauded by some critics, but it doesn't have the same emotional connection for me. It also has a lot of orchestration on it, and I prefer the simple acoustic based songs on Captured Angel.

I bought Innocent Age on release, sold it, regretted it a few years later, and so bought it again.

I do understand why I sold it and why I bought it again. It's uneven, and he's in smug mode for some of it, but there are some great moments on it as well: Nexus; Leader Of The Band; Same Old Lang Syne; and Times Like These. 

Where do they all belong? Maybe I'd be tempted to buy his other seventies album - Phoenix, but I think this is enough right now.