The industry's underlying problems were hinted at by some of the less overwhelming, but still enjoyable efforts. The Allman Brothers made their last truly noteworthy album, and their first one with no Duane Allman involvement at all; Eric Clapton was incapacitated by drug abuse, and his record company dealt with it by releasing a couple of live records; the Faces were about to split up; and Frank Zappa's act was starting to devolve into a self-parody.
Some major embarassments were only to be expected. David Bowie clumsily applied some glam rock sheen to a collection of oldies; British prog rockers like Genesis were increasingly pompous and self-indulgent; L.A. bands like Poco tried to copy the Eagles' vapid country-flavored AOR formula; many 60s stars like Bob Dylan and Traffic were burned out; Rufus got their start as unsuccessful Elton John imitators, of all things; and a lot of Motown acts like Diana Ross and the Temptations had shifted to a tedious MOR-like formula of lengthy, orchestrated ballads. (JA)