Crazy Horses

by Stephen Cook On Crazy Horses, the Osmonds attempted to roughen up their clean-cut musical image with some hard rock and psychedelia -- Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" riff is used for bottom-heavy effect on "Hold Me Tight," while Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles and Paul McCartney are the inspiration for "What Could It Be" and "We All Fall Down." Further tarnishing is attempted with the exclusion of Donny's bubblegum vocals -- the elder Osmonds share the microphone on all the tracks, presumably to insure that this will be a seriously rockin' affair. These "subversive" elements are mostly decorative, though, as variety-show arrangements and "One Bad Apple"-like melodies predominate on cuts like "That's My Girl" and the Bread-inspired number "And You Love Me." What stands out on this plodding album, though, is the excessive yet impressive title track, with its banshee-wail synth intro, Vegas horn arrangements and chugging Bachman Turner Overdrive rhythm. If only the group could have perfected this Broadway/acid rock alliance on the whole album, we might have had a kitsch rock classic. This one is for diehard fans and novelty hounds only; stick with one of their greatest-hits packages if you just want a good introduction to the Osmonds' recordings.