The Plan is the fifth studio album by The Osmonds, released in 1973. The album contains songs that are about the Mormon faith; its name derives from the Plan of Salvation, a key tenet of the Mormon faith.[3] It reached number 58 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.[4] Two of the album's singles, "Goin' Home" and "Let Me In", both peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5][6] The album's third single, "Movie Man" (an experimental synthpop cut featuring Alan Osmond on lead vocals), did not chart.
| The Plan | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 30, 1973 | |||
| Recorded | March 1973 | |||
| Label | MGM Records | |||
| Producer | Alan Osmond | |||
| The Osmonds chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Plan | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
Development
editAccording to Alan Osmond, The Plan was written while on the road both as a statement of faith and an ambitious effort to create a work on par with The Beatles' "white album". During the writing of the album, a fire at a hotel in Tennessee destroyed much of the original manuscripts, forcing the family to restart from scratch.[7] He stated that although "Crazy Horses" was his favorite song to perform, he considered The Plan to be the group's best album and its magnum opus.[7] Alan took the name of his autobiography One Way Ticket from a track on The Plan, "One Way Ticket to Anywhere," which he said was based on the family's life philosophy of persistently pushing forward toward their goals and never conceding defeat.[7]
Reception
editIn a retrospective review for AllMusic, Donald A. Guarisco gave the album a mixed 2.5 stars out a possible 5. He wrote, "Anyone who thinks of this family group as a bubblegum soul outfit will be bowled over by this incredibly ambitious outing, which attempts to explain the family's Mormon beliefs through a series of songs that cut across a wide variety of pop genres." The Osmonds proved themselves versatile at tackling a variety of musical styles, according to Guarisco, but the album was ultimately a "misfire" because the creative diversity led to a lack of cohesion for The Plan as a whole.[2]
Sean Ross of RadioInsight noted that the Osmonds' singles in 1973 had fallen in popularity and radio airplay compared to 1971 and 1972, in part due to increased teen idol competition from The DeFranco Family.[8]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considered the album a major success; by 1976, the quintet had increased the number of new converts to Mormonism by tens of thousands per year, and for this reason, the church exempted the brothers from the requirement to serve a traditional mission on the grounds that their music had evangelized more effectively.[9]
Track listing
editAll songs written and composed by Alan Osmond, Merrill Osmond, and Wayne Osmond.
| No. | Title | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "War In Heaven" | 1:38 | |
| 2. | "Traffic In My Mind" | 3:55 | |
| 3. | "Before The Beginning" | March 7, 1973 | 4:05 |
| 4. | "Movie Man" | 3:36 | |
| 5. | "Let Me In" | March 7, 1973 | 3:39 |
| 6. | "One Way Ticket To Anywhere" | 3:05 | |
| 7. | "Are You Up There" | March 5, 1973 | 4:42 |
| 8. | "It's Alright" | 2:36 | |
| 9. | "Mirror, Mirror" | March 5, 1973 | 2:24 |
| 10. | "Darlin'" | March 5, 1973 | 3:10 |
| 11. | "The Last Days" | 3:01 | |
| 12. | "Goin' Home" | 2:28 |
Credits
editPromo video
editTo commemorate the album's release, the band produced a 10-minute music video, performing a medley of the selected songs in the following order: "Traffic in My Mind", "Let Me In", "Are You Up There?", "The Last Days", "One Way Ticket to Anywhere", and "Goin' Home". This medley was performed live, and during Wayne's flute solo intro to "Let Me In", Alan announced the recent release of "The Plan". A full video version of "Let Me In" was also released from the same taping.
Charts
editAlbum
edit| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11] | 58 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM)[12] | 20 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] | 16 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[14] | 10 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[15] | 6 |
| US Billboard 200[16] | 58 |
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "Goin' Home" | Billboard Hot 100 | 36 |
| Canada | 30 | ||
| Canadian AC | 91 | ||
| United Kingdom | 4 | ||
| Australia | 55 | ||
| "Let Me In" | Billboard Hot 100 | 36 | |
| U.S. AC | 4 | ||
| Canada | 15 | ||
| Canadian AC | 5 | ||
| United Kingdom | 2 | ||
| Australia | 65 |
Certifications
edit| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Gold | 100,000 |
References
edit- ^ a b "The Osmonds - 1973". Osmondmania. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
- ^ a b The Plan at AllMusic
- ^ The Osmonds, Crazy Horses Review Retrieved February 25, 2015
- ^ The Osmonds, The Plan Chart Position Retrieved February 25, 2015
- ^ The Osmonds, "Goin' Home" Chart Position Retrieved February 25, 2015
- ^ The Osmonds, "Let Me In" Chart Position Retrieved February 25, 2015
- ^ a b c LIVING, FRESH (2024-09-24). "Alan Osmond shares his life story in new book 'One Way Ticket'". KUTV. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
- ^ Ross, Sean (September 21, 2020). "Lost Factor 1971: Some Songs Are Like a Broken Yo-Yo". RadioInsight.com. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
- ^ Benson, Lee (2018-12-27). "They're still the Osmond Brothers after all these years". Deseret News. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ^ The Osmonds, The Plan Credits Retrieved February 25, 2015
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "RPM: The Osmonds (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ^ "Tous les Albums de l'Artiste choisi". InfoDisc. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
- ^ "The Osmonds Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
- ^ "The Osmonds US Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2017.