3.6 + Many of the regrettable 1970s music tropes are represented on this record: long prog-rocky intros, liberal use of disco string fills, falsetto Bee-Gees-style vocal harmonies, synthesized boogie-woogie blues... Sometimes the excess works, sometimes it doesn't. Much of the success of each song depends on the quality of the underlying song itself. If you strip all of the "studio magic" and unbare each song - just an instrument and single voice - what do you get? I'd guess that songs like "Mr. Blue Sky" and "Big Wheels" still sound amazing, and songs like "It's Over" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman" would show themselves to be the turds they are. This album is long and relentless. It gives me a headache to listen to start-to-finish. Still, I like it for a few brilliant songs. And I admire their dogged determination in trying to make me feel happy - all that effort sounds tiresome to my ears but I can't hate them for trying.