Now Available: America, The Warner Bros. Years, 1971-1977

Good morning, America fans! How are you? We'd follow that question by adding, “Don't you know me? I'm your native son,” but this isn't a story about “The City of New Orleans,” it's an announcement about the release of a new 8-CD set that includes all seven of the studio albums that the band America released on Warner Brothers from 1971 through 1977, plus the live album that hit stores not long after that studio album in '77.

So what albums do you get? Glad you asked: you get America (1971), Homecoming (1972), Hat Trick (1973), Holiday (1974), Hearts (1975), Hideaway (1976), and, as indicated in the above paragraph, Harbor and America Live (1977). This means that you get half a dozen top-10 singles - “A Horse with No Name,” “I Need You,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” and “Sister Golden Hair” - plus the additional top-10 Adult Contemporary hits “Daisy Jane” and “Today's the Day.” (The latter track was actually a #1 AC hit, even though it only made it to #23 on the pop charts.)

By the way, you may have noticed a certain trend with the titles of the band's albums. That whole “H” thing ended abruptly after the release of Harbor, but the band did eventually pick it up again in 1994, releasing Hourglass, which was followed by Human Nature (1998), Holiday Harmony (2002), and Here & Now (2007). Not that they're in this set, you understand, but if you're an America fan, they're definitely worth checking out.

As for The Warner Bros. Years 1971-1977, you'll be pleased to know that the quality is top-notch, as the music has been taken from 2014 audio masters, and the whole affair comes packaged in a clamshell box, with the CDs housed in wallets that replicate the original album art and inserts. It looks swell, it sounds swell… What are you waiting for? Go pick up a copy now!