Insight Out

Insight Out is the third album by the American pop band The Association and was released in June 1967 on Warner Bros. Records. It was the band's first album release for the Warner Brothers label and it became one of the top selling LPs of the year in America, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1967. The album's success was largely attributable to the inclusion of the U.S. hits "Windy" and "Never My Love", which reached number 1 and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart respectively and were among the most-played records on AM radio during the late 1960s. However, the album was less successful outside of North America and failed to chart in the United Kingdom.

Insight Out was the first Association album to feature new guitarist and vocalist Larry Ramos, who had joined the band just prior to the album recording sessions, as a replacement for departed lead guitarist Jules Alexander. The album also saw The Association working with record producer and recording engineer Bones Howe for the first time. Howe, who had previously worked with The Mamas & the Papas and The Turtles, was brought in by the band's manager and Warner Bros. Records in an attempt to steer the group in a more commercial direction. As a result of Howe's focus on obtaining a radio-friendly sound, The Association ceded much of the instrumental playing on Insight Out to a team of top L.A. session musicians, including drummer Hal Blaine, bassist Joe Osborn, keyboardist Larry Knechtel, guitarist Al Casey, and guitarist/sitarist Mike Deasy. The group also elected to record some songs written by non-band members for Insight Out, in stark contrast to their previous album Renaissance, on which the band had written and performed all of their own music.

Insight Out saw the band mixing their textured vocal harmonies with an eclectic blend of influences, including Baroque pop, folk rock, sunshine pop, psychedelia and even elements of garage punk. Along with the hit singles "Windy" and "Never My Love", standout tracks on the album include P. F. Sloan's reflective "On a Quiet Night", the Addrisi Brothers' "Happiness Is", and the band originals "We Love Us", "When Love Comes to Me", and "Requiem for the Masses". The latter song in particular was an ambitious and somber piece written by multi-instrumentalist Terry Kirkman, featuring layered Latin vocals and recounting the story of a matador dying alone in the bullring, miles away from his home. As such, the song was intended by Kirkman to strike parallels with the plight of U.S. soldiers serving in the Vietnam War and to function as a veiled protest against that conflict.