The Last Record Album | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 17, 1975[citation needed] | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Studio | The Sound Factory, Los Angeles | |||
Length | 38:17 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Lowell George | |||
Little Feat chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B−[2] |
Rolling Stone | (not rated)[3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
The Last Record Album is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Little Feat, released in 1975 on the Warner Bros. label.
The album title and cover illustration by Neon Park[5] both allude to the 1971 film The Last Picture Show as well as the title typography on the film's poster, with Hollywood Boulevard turned into a desert leading to the apparent visual pun of the Hollywood Sign Jell-O mold "dessert". At left, Frederick's of Hollywood has long since closed, but the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre at right is still a landmark.
The album's back cover includes the record's lyrics. One song, "Hi Roller," was marked out in black ink with the annotation "Maybe Next Time". The song was indeed included on their next album Time Loves a Hero (1977).
Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "For a very short album – only eight songs – too many of the cuts fall flat. Those that succeed, however, are quite good, particularly Paul Barrère and Bill Payne's gently propulsive 'All That You Dream,' Lowell George's beautiful 'Long Distance Love,' and the sublime 'Mercenary Territory' .... There are enough signs of Little Feat's true character on The Last Record Album – the three previously mentioned songs are essential for any Feat fan – to make it fairly enjoyable, but it's clear that the band is beginning to run out of steam."[6]
The track "Long Distance Love" was placed at number 26 in John Peel's 1976 "Festive Fifty".[7] The album was voted number 555 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[8]
Writing for The Guardian in 2010, after the death of Richie Hayward, Adam Sweeting commented:
The Last Record Album (1975) was a less cohesive effort, but continued the group's upward commercial progress. In hindsight, there is bleak irony in the way George chose to decorate the album's sleeve with the medical bills racked up by Hayward following a serious motorcycle accident ... During his final illness, when he had moved to Canada, Hayward's lack of medical insurance left him facing huge bills for treatment.[9]
Chart (1975) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] | 51 |
US Billboard 200[12] | 36 |
Source: The Last Record Album, Warner Bros. Records – K 56156, & BS 2884, 1975, liner notes.