Rod Argent: proving there's life after being a Zombie
Written: Aug 10 '04 (Updated Aug 10 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Progressive songs by Rod Argent and Russ Ballard, featuring the hit "Hold You Head Up."
Cons: A less-than-desireable remake of the Argent-written Zombies' hit "Time Of The Season."
The Bottom Line: Includes the hit "Hold Your Head Up," plus the original versions of "Liar" (later covered by Three Dog Night) and "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" (Kiss).
Don_Krider's Full Review: Anthology- Collection of Greatest Hits by Argent
The Zombies, featuring Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone, scored three of the most memorable Top 10 hits of the Swingin' '60's between 1964 and 1969 with "She's Not There," "Tell Her No" and "Time Of The Season."
The band formally split up in 1968 when their second studio album, "Odessey and Oracle," won critical acclaim but initially achieved no chart success.
Keyboardist Rod Argent then formed a band of his own, simply called Argent, with Chris White from The Zombies on board for production (White was not an official member of Argent, however).
Filling out the Argent lineup were bassist Jim Rodford (Rod's cousin, who later joined The Kinks), drummer Bob Henrit (who also later joined The KInks) and guitarist Russ Ballard (who later became a successful songwriter with songs such as "Since You've Been Gone" for Rainbow and "Winning" by Santana).
Everything looked rosey, until the dead Zombies were resurrected on the U. S. pop charts in 1969 when the defunct group scored a U. S. Top 5 single with "Time Of The Season."
To his credit, Argent resisted lucrative offers to reform The Zombies and cash-in on the success of "Time Of The Season." Instead, he concentrated on his new band, the one with his name on it, "Argent."
Success:
Argent, the band, wasn't the mod pop-rock British Invasion outfit that The Zombies had been. Their music was more progressive, an influence on such later artists as ELP and Kansas. Argent has been praised by modern acts such as R.E.M. and The Verve as an influence on their music.
Still, initial success was fleeting. A popular concert act, the band's first couple of albums, "Argent" in 1969 and "Ring Of Hands" in 1970, failed to chart in the U. S. and produced no hits for the band.
However, "Liar," a song written by Argent band member Russ Ballard on their "Ring Of Hands" album, was covered by the band Three Dog Night for a # 7 charting U. S. hit, creating renewed interest in Argent.
In 1972, Argent peaked with the album "All Together Now," which hit # 23 on the Billboard magazine Top 200 Albums chart. Eventually the band would chart with five albums, but "All Together Now" would be their most successful long-player and would give them their only hit single as a band with "Hold Your Head Up," which hit # 5 in 1972 (originally a 6-minute album track, the song scored as a 3-minute single).
By 1975, the band's declining sales led to the eventual breakup of the band (Phil Collins of Genesis played drums on some tracks on their final LP, "Counterpoints," in 1975).
Rod Argent went on to do session work with The Who and a number of other acts, before reuniting in recent years with fellow Zombies' veteran Colin Blunstone to tour and to record.
Most recently, Argent and Blunstone have released the CD "As Far As I Can See..." in Europe (scheduled for a September, 2004, U. S. release). They seem to have come full circle, as they now list themselves as "The Zombies" beneath their own names on the CD, and will tour the U. S. this fall as The Zombies (see http://www.rodargent.com/newalbum.htm).
Scary as any "reunion" might sound, the album is getting glowing reviews in England. MOJO magazine wrote that the album has "drop dead gorgeous melodies and slinky hooks," while The Times of London warned "miss this one at your peril." The London Sunday Express said "Blunstone's voice and Argent's songwriting are unaffected by age."
Peter Buck of R. E. M. interviewed Rod Argent for TheStranger.Com in 2003. It's a wonderful interview and can be read at http://www.rodargent.com/articles.htm .
This CD:
Now to the business at hand, a review of Argent's CD "The Argent Anthology: A Collection Of Greatest Hits" (despite only one U. S. Hot 100 hit, the band had several songs in the British Top 20 during their career, so "hits" is accurate).
The album is a time warp to the progressive keyboard/synthesizer/mellotron music of the early '70's. "The Argent Anthology..." won't appeal to everyone; it's for special tastes.
There are gems aplenty here, though, including the band's signature tune "Hold Your Head Up" (recently used in the David Spade film "Joe Dirt"), their original version of "Liar" (I think it's better than the hit cover of the tune by Three Dog Night), "God Gave Rock And Roll To You" (later covered by Kiss) and the drop-dead gorgeous piano-based "Pleasure" (kind of Todd Rundgren meets Ian Lloyd & Stories).
The only truly flawed track among the eight tracks on the CD is a live cover of The Zombies' "Time Of The Season": Argent's version becomes a keyboard-heavy, progressive boogie jam that loses all the charm of The Zombies' original pop version, and when they try to sing the harmonies, well, the less said the better...
Still, "The Argent Anthology..." has enough good material to make it worth adding to your classic rock collection.
The CD booklet (is Epic Records low on funds?) is four pages, two of which are blank. There's no band bio or track/songwriter info listed.
The tracks:
"Hold Your Head Up," "Liar," "Pleasure," "God Gave Rock And Roll To You," "It's Only Money Part 1," "Thunder And Lightning," "Tragedy" and "Time Of The Season."
The best tracks:
"Hold Your Head Up":
This sounded amazing to me when I heard it coming out of my AM radio speakers as a lonely lad aged 15 in 1972: swirling keyboards, throbbing bass, a rock-steady beat, gentle guitar and a really hopeful-sounding song. Great lyrics here:
"...and if it's bad / don't let it get you down, you can take it / and if it hurts / don't let them see you cry, you can make it / hold your head up, oh, hold your head up / oh, hold your head up, oh, hold your head high / and if they stare / just let them burn their eyes on your beauty / and if they shout / don't let it change a thing that you're doing / hold your head up..."
Just hearing it now makes me want to put on a leather jacket, put on some ultra cool sunglasses and grow the hair long, daring anyone to mess with me --- it's a cool song (later covered by Blue Oyster Cult, among others).
"Liar":
Three Dog Night turned "Liar" into a screaming anthem, but I prefer Argent's original version of "Liar" (written by band member Russ Ballard). Argent's version is more of a traditional rock 'n' roll tune: strummed guitars, understated bass lines, honky-tonk piano and a vocal from the darkness that has you listening to every word:
"I won't ever leave while you want me to stay / nothing you could do that would turn me away / hanging on every word / believing the things I heard / being a fool / you've taken my life, so take my soul / that's what you said and I believed it all / ... / ain't that what you said? / liar, liar, liar..."
"Pleasure":
From the band's second album, this could be a Paul McCartney piano ballad sung by Todd Rundgren backed by Utopia. It's pretty and enjoyable, in a Left Banke ("Walk Away Rene") sort of way. Keyboard melodies float like waterfalls of sound from the speakers in a most gentle manner while gorgeous Beatle-ish harmonies surround you:
"...she cools me with her smile and gentle grace..."
"God Gave Rock And Roll To You":
The rock group Kiss not only covered the tune several years ago, but they did a video for the song, written by Argent's Russ Ballard. The Kiss version is great and is better known, but I prefer the Argent original myself.
This is anthemic, keyboard-laden rock 'n' roll that should appeal to fans of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer as much as to fans of Kiss --- the acapella bridge is to die for. This is a tune about loving the gift of rock 'n' roll:
"You can learn to dance / or you can be a square / you can let the music take you anywhere / but where will you be when the music's gone / you can learn to sing / you can play guitar / you can learn to rock / you can be a star / god gave rock and roll to you / gave rock and roll to you / put it in the soul of everyone..."
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