Doug Ashdown - The Age Of Mouse (1970) (2005)

AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
Doug Ashdown had released several albums in his native Australia in the 1960s prior to 1970's The Age of the Mouse, which got an American release. It was slightly odd, but overall unimpressive, singer/songwriter folk-rock-pop. Vocally he sounded a little bit like a more overwrought, straighter Tim Buckley. While the production was at its essence commercial folk-rock, it was also loaded down with the kind of horns and backup vocals you'd expect to be more apt to come across on a late-'60s California pop record. "I've Come to Save Your World" he announces on one track, which can't help but beg the question: who asked you? For there's a slight sense of self-importance and over-seriousness to the singing and songs, which sometimes have a vague though not explicit judgment-day-at-hand tone, with references to Jesus Christ on the cross and the condemned being sent to death. Some more romantic ruminations like "I Remember Alice" and "Holly" break up the program, but not the ponderous mood. There's considerable ambition at work here, but the melodies are lukewarm and the lyricism not deft enough to make a lasting imprint.