| Hat Trick | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | America |
| Cover: | AmericaHatTrick.jpg |
| Released: | October 26, 1973[1] |
| Recorded: | 29 May – 12 July 1973 |
| Studio: | The Record Plant, Los Angeles |
| Genre: | Country rock |
| Length: | 41:39 |
| Label: | Warner Bros.[2] |
| Producer: | |
| Prev Title: | Homecoming |
| Prev Year: | 1972 |
| Next Title: | Holiday |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
Hat Trick is the third studio album by the American folk rock trio America, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1973.[3] It peaked at number 28 on the Billboard album chart; it failed to go gold, whereas the group's first two releases had platinum sales. The album produced the single, "Muskrat Love", which reached number 67 on the Billboard singles chart and number 11 on the adult contemporary chart. That song would become a much bigger hit for Captain & Tennille three years later.
America employed string arrangements for the first time on an album, with the assistance of Jim Ed Norman.[4]
In his AllMusic review, Mike DeGagne wrote that the album faltered "mainly because the songs lacked the cordial folk-rock melodies and mindful songwriting that prevailed on the earlier releases. "She's Gonna Let You Down" and "Rainbow Song" are the album's best cuts, but banal offerings such as "Green Monkey", "Willow Tree Lullaby", and "Molten Love" have Bunnell and Peek straying off course, sounding stale and musically feeble." The Rough Guide to Rock called Hat Trick "one of country-rock's great lost albums."[5] The Rolling Stone Album Guide deemed "Muskrat Love" "an early nadir in cuteness."
with:
| Chart (1973–1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] | 24 |
| Spain (AFYVE)[7] | 24 |