Various Artists - Billboard Top Soft Rock Hits: 1970 (CD)

All Music Guide

Billboard: Top Soft Rock Hits illustrates that the pop mainstream wasn't necessarily affected by the musical upheavals in rock roll during the late '60s and early '70s, but did freely adopt its production techniques. Although Engelbert Humperdinck ("My Marie"), Andy Williams and Perry Como all are devoted to the pre-rock roll era, the light acoustic guitars, rolling beats and layered production of other tracks are clearly in debt to folk-rock and pop-rock, and similarly, Bread, Glen Campbell and Dionne Warwick -- all of whom have stronger rock roots -- capture the light, melodic side of rock with their sweet melodies and mellow productions. Of course, Billboard: Top Soft Rock Hits isn't meant as a definitive overview, but it remains an enjoyable sampler, even if the songs on 1970 rely too much on easy listening and not enough on pop/rock.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide