Timeless

Eternity's Children's second and last LP, oddly, was only released in Canada. After working with Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen for their first album, they switched to another renowned California producer, Gary Paxton. Surprisingly, perhaps, Timeless is yet more happy-go-lucky than its predecessor, with weaker material, though it retains a chipper male-female sunshine pop harmonic base. The songs are upbeat, though the blue-eyed soul of "Get Outta Here" is an exception (one is even titled "Sunshine and Flowers"), but forgettable even if much effort clearly went into the vocal and instrumental arrangements. There are a couple of unlikely obscure Byrds connections here in songs co-written with Jan Paxton by both Gene Parsons ("Christina in My Dreams") and Clarence White ("Nature's Child"), while the "Nature Boy"-styled Jan Paxton-Ben Benay composition "Gypsy Minstrel Man" provides the sole change of pace from the relentless cheerfulness. This mighty rare album is included on the Cherry Red CD compilation Eternity's Children, which also includes their first album, also titled Eternity's Children, and some tracks from non-LP singles. ~ Richie Unterberger