You know, we get a lot of CDs for review here at The Night Owl. Some are good. Some are bad. Then, there are those that are so bad that they just defy description. This is one of those CDs. David Cassidy (whether he likes it or not) will always be best known for his role as Keith Partridge on the early 70's TV show, The Partridge Family. As you may or may not know, Cassidy was disgruntled at the time because, as a budding musician (the only real musician in the 'family'), he wanted to rock. The tunes that the 'group' became known for were the complete opposite of what he really wanted to do as an artist. Now, after listening to this CD, you can't help but wonder--why is he doing this?

Then and Now would be okay if it were a retrospective of his entire career, and in one sense, it is. The disc covers his days with 'the family' as well as a few new tunes. But where it falls off the mark is the new versions of the older material. Anyone with any real musical sense knows that The Partridge Family was pure bubblegum pop (which, in the proper context, isn't necessarily a bad thing), but to hear these songs recreated 30 years later by the one person who complained about them in the first place is just ridiculous.

Scattered among the so-called 'classics' are nauseatingly bad covers of "Do You Believe in Magic," "Ain't No Sunshine," "How Can I Be Sure" and the worst one of all--"Cherish." This one's so bad that it's prompted poison control centers across the country to use it when they need to induce vomiting. OK, maybe that's a bit extreme, but you get the picture. By the time I made it this far into the disc, it was all I could do to keep from lunging for the eject button.

Unless you're someone who's never gotten over a crush on David Cassidy from the 70's, avoid this disc at all costs.