What many readers did not understand is that the AllMusic system for reviews was 1-5 stars based against the artist's own work, not 1-5 stars based on the work itself. There is a lot of misconception about the review system and, guess what, sometimes it was the editors giving out the stars, not the critics!
Drummer Michael Tegza was the only original bandmember left when he reinvented the band H. P. Lovecraft.under the name Lovecraft and released an album called Valley of the Moon in 1970. Joe Viglione, writing for Allmusic says of this album: "For this 1970 Reprise release, they are dubbed Lovecraft and have abandoned the psychedelic Jefferson Airplane sound for a progressive Crosby, Stills & Nash-meets-Uriah Heep flavor. In 1975, drummer [Michael] Tegza re-formed the band again and separated the two words; their Love Craft album, We Love You Whoever You Are, took things into an almost Santana-goes-soul direction."
I have the Love Craft album, and the addition of soulful vocals by LaLomie Washburn atop a dreamy pop-psychedelic sheen makes this a fascinating listen, though it has little similarity to the original H. P. Lovecraft. This record gets some grudging admiration by Joe Viglione in Allmusic: "The record sounds better than it looks, for they look like a glorified Holiday Inn band; but the creative spark is still there, with Michael Tegza producing this with LaLomie Washburn, and the band dipping into progressive jams, expertly played, but with little chance of obtaining Top 40 success."
(June 2014)
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In his Allmusic review of the band’s 1971 album, The Crystal Mansion (though granting that album only two stars), Joe Viglione calls their 1968 single "The Thought of Loving You" "a little mini-pop masterpiece" and "a timeless pop song". This song, "The Thought of Loving You" was released by Cher in 1968 (as a single only) and was later recorded by the Jimmy Castor Bunch, the Manhattan Transfer, Spiral Starecase, Lou Christie, Astrud Gilberto, and Wayne Newton. Unfortunately, the Capitol album sold poorly – Allmusic describes it as "an album that turned out a disappointment for all involved" – and information on the Internet about this album is hard to come by.
My own theory is that Crystal Mansion suffers from the same "problem" as last month’s UARB, the Human Zoo: The band has real variety in its material and doesn’t sound the same all through the record. The Allmusic article on the band, by Lars Lovén, starts off: "The Crystal Mansion's relatively short story is that of a white R&B band moving towards groovy psychedelic rock in the '70s." Joe Viglione writing for Allmusic grudgingly acknowledges this about the final track: "'Earth People' is reminiscent of 'Calling Occupants', the hit for the Carpenters and Klaatu. It is the highlight of the album. Let's call it Crystal Mansion's 'I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home'." The reference of course is to the closing song on the Grand Funk Railroad breakthrough album, Closer to Home (1970), "I'm Your Captain", although Crystal Mansion was able to craft their memorable song in barely one third the playing time of the Grand Funk track.
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Allmusic’s Joe Viglione gives this 1979 release Crystal Mansion a somewhat higher rating of 2½ stars and says: "‘Lonely, Faraway, Missing You’ is a snappy opener, more appealing than Ambrosia, Player, and the Atlanta Rhythm Section, but falling short of the brilliant pop of Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. However, that's the market this band reached out to, not gritty enough to be Rare Earth and too hard to appeal to the fans of Debby Boone, who sings on the wonderful ‘Gather My Children’. The Crystal Mansion were a more than competent pop band that got lost in the rock & roll shuffle. ‘Place in Space’ is another stellar track – FM adult contemporary, if you will. The problem is that there wasn't a format for solid adult pop music that didn't make it to Top 40 prior to the invention of AAA [adult album alternative] radio."
https://sites.google.com/site/underappreciatedrockvocalists/home/the-pantheon/under-appreciated-items-3/joe-viglione