And he's even better with Blunstone...The magic started with The Zombies, in particular Odessey And Oracle.Originally Posted by fiberman
And he's even better with Blunstone...The magic started with The Zombies, in particular Odessey And Oracle.
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
Circus and Counterpoints are two of my absolute favorites, with Circus being what i consider a perfect album. And what he did with vocal harmonies was never equaled, imho.
I wonder why this band never got the box set treatment.
They are very good and I like Rod Argent as a keyboardplayer. He is also present on 'Variations' from Andrew Lloyd Webber, which is probably the most progish Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever done. Coloseum II, augumented with Rod Argent, Barbara Thompson and Julian Lloyd Webber. I remember hearing Andrew Lloyd Webber saying they didn't need overdubs, like other groups. Well, with 2 keyboardplayers, I think you got that covered quite well.
Not prog, just effing good!
Yes, Rod is from the Zombies. For me Odessey & Oracle is in the same league of essential albums as SGT Pepper's, Forever Changes, Pet Sounds and so on.
Well worth checking out.
Yes!
Argent dabbled in prog, but they got so much better when Russ Ballard left. Circus and Counterpoints are wonderful albums. The last 10 minutes of Counterpoints is something I could listen to on an endless loop.
Last edited by yesstiles; 11-08-2021 at 05:34 AM.
I assume you mean Russ Ballard, Rod Argent was ever present.
I've never actually listened to this album - but the clip here is reminiscent in places of a jazzier ELO!
Yes, of course! haha
I feel like answering in a ProgArchival way by calling them prog-related (even if PA classifies them as Crossover prog)
My take on the band is that the classic (or core-period) Argent lasted only 4 albums:All Together now, In Deep, Nexus & Encore. It's inside those abums that you'll find the proggier stuff they composed - mostly the stuff written by Rod, as opposed to Ballard's single/pop approach. Except for a couple of tracks (Candles on the river and Keeper of the flame), the Live/Encore album is really all I need from the band's core era.
Before that core era:
TBH, I find Argent's first two albums still too Zombies-like to fit the classic Argent mould.
Not saying I don't like The Zombies, but they don't strike a major chord with me.
Ring of Hands has two tracks that hint at the "prog" to come.
After that core era:
And the last two albums (cited above) to be something else than Argent. Russ Ballard's departure (an average guitarist) was replaced by two of them, and the band's focus changed dramatically.
There are some sizzling JR/F tracks on both albums (combined, they would make an awesome album), but also some very weird stuff that I WTF heavily upon.
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As for Russ Ballard's solo career, I find Barnett Dogs and Into The Fire to be excellent and inventive rock albums and they were a reral band (with Rob Henritt on drums and Wintour on bass).
Never cared for his first three solo albums (when he wrote his "hits" - covered by others) and his later mid-80's albums leave me totally cold.
Last edited by Trane; 11-08-2021 at 06:23 AM.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Been a Zombies and Argent fans for many decades, saw them in a smaller club circuit tour in 2014.
Not going to argument about Argent being prog but his closest ally who is Colin Blunstone was a member of another very prog band Keats (with mostly Alan Parson musicians and Pete Bardens of Camel) and sang on Alan Parsons albums.
But to Rod Argent's credit, he was member of one of the early bands to have the keyboards as the lead instrument in lieu of a lead guitar that was adopted by Keith Emerson's Nice later than Argent.
The Zombies Odessey And Oracle (1968) was an early prog achievement.
This is a useless thread whether or not Argent is "Prog" whatever that is at the moment. Anybody that can not appreciate what Argent and the Zombies have meant to music really should study somewhere else.
Colin is such a fantastic singer. I just love his voice.
Check out this collaboration with another famous keyboard player:
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Very good and, as you say, a lovely voice. Interestingly the female vocalist is Amanda Parsons, who sang in Hatfield and the North, Egg and National Heath alongside Dave Stewart on keyboards. The other backing singer credited on Discogs is Jakko Jakszyk, who went on to play with King Crimson. That must be him on the drums.
Last edited by Munster; 11-09-2021 at 04:05 AM.
We walked arm in arm with madness, and every little breeze whispered of the secret love we had for our disease
That's about right!
Dave Sr.
I prefer Nature to Human Nature
Even odder that in an Argent (the band) thread there are more posts about The Zombies than for Argent itself.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
My favorite Argent album!!!! Circus is also excellent! I hope I can find Counterpoints on CD. I’ve been looking for it for years….
So much music....so little time....
Yesterday, my fave comics bookshop had In Deep playing during a "dédicace séance". The 40-sumthin' German drawer promoting his Gung Ho series loved it.
good luck. Unless you find a pirate, it's never been reissued on CD. Already, Circus had to wait until +/- 10 years ago to be reissued as a CD.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
I ordered this one: https://www.discogs.com/release/1937...-Counterpoints
It's on Big Pink, some consider this a pirate, although according to some of the comments on https://www.discogs.com/label/151065-Big-Pink some artists have been payed. Quality is mostly very good. This Argent sure is as well as the second Spin-album, Whirlwind, which was recently released.
Oké, I understand musicians complain when they don't get payed, what I don't understand is that they don't feel with the fans who want to have something on CD and Big Pink gives them the opportunity to buy that at last.
I agree about Big Pink, which comes out of South Korea I think. I have a couple of releases from them - High Mountain's Canyon and Hoedown - but only because they have never appeared elsewhere on CD. Canyon was initially a CBS album but there has never been a CD from CBS. I am not sure who initially released Hoedown but, again, there has never been an "official" release on CD. I find the sound quality on these two albums excellent.
We walked arm in arm with madness, and every little breeze whispered of the secret love we had for our disease
I have a buddy who manjaged (very recently) to find Circus' (Sw/Ch) Movin' On on that label is a beautiful cardboard Mini-Lp sleeve.
I doubt, Marco & Fritz & Co found a single penny going their way.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Yes, that's a different story. There's an official CD-version on that album, which is still available (although I doubt if it can be bought new - so they won't get a penny for those either):
https://www.discogs.com/release/2945158-Circus-Movin-On
Yes, well...there’s a big difference between the two. Movin’ On is tough to find in any format. Vinyl copies, at least, of Counterpoints are common as dirt.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
I never have taken the time to explore Argent. I always liked “Hold Your Head Up” and some of their other hits, but that was it. Argent has just come out with a new 2 CD compilation album and I decided to give it a shot. I really dig just about every song on this one and thinking I should explore further. What would you all say are the band’s best albums?
I had a look at what is on this best-of and it's not a bad tracklist.
There was a 5 disc set in the Original Album Classics series which had their first five albums. It's out of print but is worth seeking out second hand, as it's probably the most cost-effective way of owning the albums.
I've never heard any of their subsequent output.
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