Nice NZ press copy here of classic 1971 album AMERICAN PIE by New York singer/ songwriter, Don McLean.

Sleeve has a few creases, so VG+; vinyl also VG+.

Net info:Don McLean's second album American Pie is necessarily dominated by its superb title track, a lengthy, allegorical history of rock & roll that has remained as much a cultural touchstone as a song, sung by everyone from Garth Brooks to Madonna.

Of course, the album also included "Vincent," McLean's paean to Van Gogh, and the other eight original songs range from sensitive fare like "Till Tomorrow" to the sarcastic, uptempo "Everybody Loves Me, Baby."

American Pie -- the album -- is very much a record of its time; it is imbued with the vague depression of the early '70s that infected the population and found expression in the works of singer/songwriters.

"American Pie" -- the song -- is really a criticism of what happened in popular music in the '60s, and "Vincent" sympathizes with Van Gogh's suicide as a sane comment on an insane world.

"Crossroads" and "Empty Chairs" are personal reflections full of regret and despondency, with the love song "Winterwood" providing the only respite. In the album's second half, the songs get more portentous, tracing society's ills into war and spiritual troubles in "The Grave" and "Sister Fatima."

The songs are made all the more poignant by the stately folk-pop arrangements and McLean's clear, direct tenor. It was that voice that was his salvation when he proved unable to match the songwriting standard set on this fine collection. But then, the album has an overall elegiac quality that makes it sound like a final statement. After all, if the music has died, what else is there to say? (FOUR STARS).