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Released in 1971, by which point The Cowsills had exhausted their hit quota, On My Side was the group's attempt to join the ranks of those making "serious music". It's immediately obvious that they were assimilating and replicating the West Coast influences around them - especially the harmonic approach of CSNY - though there are questions to be asked of the distinctiveness and variety of The Cowsills' lead vocalists.
After a very decent British-sounding title track from outside writers, On My Side settles into a mostly group-written clutch of songs that never quite grab the attention, though There Is A Child and the Graham Nash-ish Can You Love stand up well. It all trundles towards a couple of ill-advised country-rooted songs and the cliche-ridden Gary Usher/Dick Campbell Good Ole Rock & Roll Song, suggesting that The Cowsills were still struggling to find their new direction.
The three bonuses are two mono single versions and one non-album release, You (In My Mind), which is a pleasant enough country-rocker. Taken as a whole, it's several good moments make it worthy of reissue, though you can't help but wonder how good the group might have been had just one or two family members taken the reins and pointed them in a more cohesive direction.
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