The Plan (The Osmonds album)
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. All songs written and composed by Alan Osmond, Merrill Osmond, and Wayne Osmond. 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.
Reception
The Plan is the fifth studio album by The Osmonds, released in 1973.