View From the Ground brought America back into the Top Ten with the exquisite "You Can Do Magic," one of the best soft rock anthems of the early '80s.
It was an unexpected but welcome comeback for the group, and it seemed like they could continue to spin out hits with its sequel, 1983's Your Move.
That didn't turn out to be the case.
Your Move feels wrong from the start, with its stiff drum-machine beats, synthesizers, and extremely slight song, "My Kinda Woman." Things pick up a little bit with the gentle, Californian breeze of "She's a Runaway," but that turns out to be an anomaly; most of Your Move sounds like "My Kinda Woman" and is about as catchy and memorable.
It's hard to tell what happened to Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, and it's not enough to blame Russ Ballard, who, after all, delivers a soft rock/adult contemporary record that plays by all the rules of 1983 radio.
There's a distinct lack of spark in the material, production, and performance; only "The Border," which became a minor Top 40 hit, finds the right combination, and it's good enough to rank among the best of America's latter-day material.
Unfortunately, it also serves to point out how lame the rest of the album is.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My Kinda WomanRuss Ballard | America | Play | 03:07 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | She's a RunawayRuss Ballard | America | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 3 | Cast the SpiritRuss Ballard | America | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Love's Worn Out AgainGerry Beckley, Bill Mumy | America | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | The BorderRuss Ballard, Dewey Bunnell | America | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | Your MoveSteve Kipner, Terry Shaddick | America | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | HoneyRuss Ballard | America | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | My DearDewey Bunnell | America | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | Tonight Is for DreamersRuss Ballard | America | Play | 03:18 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | Don't Let Me Be LonelyRuss Ballard | America | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 11 | Someday WomanGerry Beckley, Robert Haimer, Bill Mumy | America | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 40 mins | 93 MB | |||||
| 40 mins | 277 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | America | Primary Artist |
| 2 | Russ Ballard | Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Keyboards, Percussion, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Gerry Beckley | Composer, Guitar, Vocals |
| 4 | Stephen Bishop | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Dewey Bunnell | Composer, Drums, Guitar, Vocals |
| 6 | Louis Clark | Arranger, Conductor |
| 7 | Barry Griffiths | Leader |
| 8 | Robert Haimer | Composer |
| 9 | Steve Kipner | Composer |
| 10 | Bill Mumy | Composer |
| 11 | Raphael Ravenscroft | Saxophone |
| 12 | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra | Orchestra, Strings |
| 13 | Terry Shaddick | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |