Three Dog Night Albums Ranked
Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sneed (drums). The band had 21 Billboard Top 40 hits between 1969 and 1975, with three hitting number one. Three Dog Night recorded many songs written by outside songwriters, and they helped to introduce mainstream audiences to writers such as Paul Williams (“An Old Fashioned Love Song”) and Hoyt Axton (“Joy to the World”).
In November 2015, the band announced that singer David Morgan would be joining then on the road. He was a member of the Association. In April 2017, Howard Laravea replaced Eddie Reasoner on keyboards. He was formerly with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Three Dog Night among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. Here are all of Three Dog Night’s albums ranked.
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10. American Pastime (1976)
“This and Coming Down Your Way are the best albums Three Dog Night ever released, but they will never get the credit they deserve because by the time this came out, the band had been abandoned by the public. All of the songs are performed spectacularly and sound first rate, which shows that all the new band members were just as good, if not better than those who they replaced. Just like Coming Down Your Way, every song is fantastic and shines in it’s own special way. Once again: there isn’t any filler of throw away tracks, unlike Harmony and Cyan. People say “avoid this record at all costs”, when I do the opposite and actively seek out and buy more and more copies since it’s just so good!”
9. Coming Down Your Way (1975)
“Definitely not as good as their last two releases. I was just a kid at the time, but wasn’t Disco/Dance music kinda taking over around 1975. Three Dog Night’s brand of Pop/Rock (like The Grass Roots and The Guess Who) was getting kicked to the curb. Also more album oriented bands like The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac were taking over. Still, this is an above average release from Three Dog Night. I especially like “Midnight Flyer”, “When It’s Over”, “Lean Back, Hold Steady”, and the title track.”
8. Hard Labor (1974)
“The group,by this time,was starting to splinter,with Chuck Negron’s increasing Drug usage,and Arguments becoming more and more getting in the way of performing,but the Group did this Final Lp,one unfairly put down by Critics as their worst one..but,it may have been their best,as Powerhouse vocals by Negron and excellent instrumental backing from the group creates a Enjoyable listen! Of course,the hit here is “The Show Must Go On”,written by Leo Sayer,and performed first by Him,but it’s the “March Of the Gladiators” theme bookending this that gives it a Whimsy,too! BTW,the original Lp cover had a giant Band-Aid,over the So-Called “Offending” area,because of Censors….However,for this issue,the Nonsense has been rectified! I highly recommend this Fine,Highly Underrated album!”
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7. Cyan (1973)
“While this is an excellent album by Three Dog Night, I can’t find any indication that it has been remastered. It is listed on this Amazon site as having come out in the mid-90’s when the back is copyrighted 1988 – identical to the non-remastered disc I bought around that time (including the same generic back-cover that MCA put on all their cheap cds in the 80s).”
6. Suitable for Framing (1969)
“Fabulous music. I don’t see what the fuss was about, hearing that remasters of Three Dog Night were no good. I usually have my equalizer on, and found that for this disc, and discs like it, I have to bypass the equalizer settings and just play it on regular, flat settings. Then everything comes thru. 2 albums. Often wonder why not more of their music became hits. Almost all are great!”
5. Seven Separate Fools (1972)
” While this is an excellent album by Three Dog Night, I can’t find any indication that it has been remastered. It is listed on this Amazon site as having come out in the mid-90’s when the back is copyrighted 1988 – identical to the non-remastered disc I bought around that time (including the same generic back-cover that MCA put on all their cheap cds in the 80s). I have suggested this same warning for “Harmony.””
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4. Three Dog Night (1968)
“This group (not just the singers, but the whole band including Jimmy Greenspoon, etc), was as tight as any band from the late 60’s. I agree with the reviewer on that. This lp rocks with heavy blue eye soul singing. I heard this version of “One” before Nilsson’s original. Great rocking tracks on this album, makes this a must have if you love classic rock. They were great interpreters of great songs. Their first four albums are pretty solid. After that, they had sporadic greatness on later albums, but this one, Suitable For Framing, Live at the L.A. Forum, and It Ain’t Easy, are all winners in my personal collection.”
3. It Ain’t Easy (1970)
“This is an uneven album. It gets off to a weak start with “Woman”, a “heavy” tune of the grunt-sweat-&-strut variety, and a version of Randy Newman’s “Cowboy” that is so languid that it hardly seems to be there at all. Things pick up with an interesting, pre-Bowie cover of Ron Davies’ “It Ain’t Easy”, and the hit single “Out in the Country”, one of my favorite 3DN songs. But then Side A ends with “Good Feeling (1957)”… with its reggae-tinged arrangement, this could have been one of the album’s highlights, but the group plays it for laughs, with a hyper-falsetto lead vocal that’s stunningly irritating. Side B opens with “Rock and Roll Widow”, a track credited to all seven band members, which has a decent sound but doesn’t really go anywhere. “
2. Naturally (1970)
“Now, it’s been several years since the band’s debut album, and by this time they definitely have their act together and now how to get “the most bang for the buck” when it comes to songs for album inclusion, production, marketing, etc. But despite the inclusion of a little ditty entitled “Joy To The World” (which ended up sounding like a kiddie-anthem and prophesied uglier things to come for the band’s image, sadly) this isn’t a shabby album.”
1. Harmony (1971)
“The collection of melodic songs opens with the top five single “Never Been to Spain”. Penned by Hoyt Axton, Wells handles the lead vocals on “Never Been to Spain”, while Negron was featured on the popular “An Old Fashioned Love Song”. Paul Williams wrote “An Old Fashion Love Song”, which TDN took to number four on the singles chart. Williams also had a hand in writing the ecologically inspired “The Family of Man”, that peaked at number twelve. Harmony, which moved major units as a top ten LP, also includes Stevie Wonder’s “Never Dream You’d Leave Me in Summer”, “You”, and the sobering “My Impesonable Life”, which was written by a grammer school friend of Wells, Terry Furlong.”