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Customer Reviews of It's Only a Movie

Family Matinee
This is the one Family recording that strikes the listener as "light." Apparently the fellows decided to do something quite different from their mainstay musical forays and different it is. Once they knew the gig was up, I'm guessing they decided to have fun with such songs as the title track "It's Only a Movie," "Leroy," and "Sweet Desiree." There is an aching sadness to "Buffet Tea for Two," a paean to starting over (which is exactly what Chapman and Whitney were about to do with the dissolution of Family) featuring a great, typically underplayed solo by Charlie Whitney. The jaunty keyboards of the late Tony Ashton give this recording a real tilt toward the R&B fold, and Chappo's vocals, as always, prove to have the right touch. Jim Cregan's vocals, second guitar, and bass fill in the edges nicely, and Rob Townsend shows his deft touch once more on drums. The last song on the LP version of this recording, "Check Out" really rocks and as it ends, you cannot help but be both amused and sad that the greatest band of its time closed out its recording career with such an aptly named song.

This part may get a bit confusing, so bear with me. Five live bonus tracks are included on this 2004 version. None of those tracks appear on the newly released Family Live CD, so Family collectors can make a case for getting this version of "It's Only a Movie." But two fairly good studio bonus tracks from the 2000 remaster of this same title---Stop This Car and Drink to You---are absent here. So completists will have to outlay some extra cash in an effort to get the whole Family catalog.

Though I would not recommend this CD as an introduction to Family, I do think it is a fitting conclusion to one of the more creative rock ensembles.