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"The Association" finds the band leaving its past behind. Their career had already peaked, and they would never again have another feel-good top 40 single like "Windy" or "Cherish." But 1969 was a crazy time, and with a new producer, they left behind an ambitious document about their own evolution.

The album's first track announces that "It's not the bridges burned that bother me, but the ones that I never crossed," suggesting they'd done some soul-searching about 60s political activism. The singer remembers "a friend in the high school band," then asks "Where have I gone?"

"It all came crashing in on me - my God, my land, my law."

The song is called "Look at Me, Look at You," and it suggests that the band will grapple with disillusionment. But instead the album is a hodgepodge of abstract messages. "The Nest" was composed by legendary songwriter Jimmie Spheeris when he was just 20 years, mourning the tragedy of a loveless marriage. Towards the end there's even a nonsense song that's all about broccoli. ("I really dig it steamed...") And the second-to-last track is the band's rejected soundtrack for the movie "Goodbye Columbus" (now with its title changed to "Goodbye Forever").

"If you listen to the lyrics, it's about the relationship between Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw," singer Jim Yester confided on the soundtrack's liner notes. But like a lot of songs from the 60s, they're describing their young lives in abstract terms, hoping this will make them into something more. Another song simply states that "I Am Up For Europe" (even though "I do not speak the language...") But the personal introspection rings true on the song that opened the vinyl album's second side. Jules Alexander remembers growing up Dubuque, drinking nickel Cokes, and "writing songs of rights and wrongs, and buying penny-loafer shoes."

Music had changed, and the band was struggling to find their identity. On "The Association" they attempt some new vocal styles, including country harmonies that resemble Crosby, Stills Young and Nash (on "What Were the Words"). "Boy on the Mountain" seems to assess the years Alexander spent studying meditation in India. The Association would never be on top again, but they tried to leave behind an honest statement about where they were in 1969, and it's a theme that's even reflected in the album's cover.

It shows the mysterious rocks of Stonehenge - spelling out "The Association."

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