The Plan is the tenth studio album by The Osmonds, released in 1973 by Kolob Records and distributed by MGM Records. 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.The Osmonds, Crazy Horses Review Retrieved February 25, 2015 It reached number 58 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.The Osmonds, The Plan Chart Position Retrieved February 25, 2015 Two of the album's singles, "Goin' Home" and "Let Me In", both peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.The Osmonds, "Goin' Home" Chart Position Retrieved February 25, 2015The Osmonds, "Let Me In" Chart Position Retrieved February 25, 2015 The album's third single, "Movie Man" (an experimental synthpop cut featuring Alan Osmond on lead vocals), did not chart.
Development According 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. 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. 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.
Critical reception
In 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.
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.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considered the album a major success; it was speculated that the quintet had increased the number of new converts to the church by twenty-six thousand that year.
Track listing All songs written and composed by Alan Osmond, Merrill Osmond, and Wayne Osmond.
Credits Producer: Alan Osmond Engineer: Ed Greene Recorded at Kolob StudiosThe Osmonds, The Plan Credits Retrieved February 25, 2015
Promo video To 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
Album Chart (1973)Peak positionAustralian Albums (Kent Music Report) 58Canadian Albums (RPM) 20Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) 16French Albums (SNEP) 10UK Albums (OCC) 6US Billboard 200 58
Singles YearSingleChartPosition1973"Goin' Home"Billboard Hot 10036Canada30Canadian AC91United Kingdom4Australia55"Let Me In"Billboard Hot 10036U.S. AC4Canada15Canadian AC5United Kingdom2Australia65
Certifications CountryCertificationSalesUnited KingdomGold100,000
References