ZOO

The Dutch band ZOO was a reconfigured version of an earlier group called SPRING, with apparently no familial relation to the British SPRING that unleashed a self titled mellotron-a-saurus in the early 1970s. That said, this sometimes sounds like a caged barely legitimate child of that minor classic. Only the first few tracks are promising, while hardly distinctive, like a cross between ARGENT and the aforementioned, and the rest is, at its best, utterly forgettable blues influenced rock for its time, with occasional prog instrumentation, chiefly the aforementioned 'tron.

At its worst, ZOO subjects us to a pointless drum solo and lyrics that reach for contemporaneous themes as though a record exec told them exactly what they needed to do to be cool, and they didn't realize they should do the exact opposite. The nadir is in the form of a idolatrous BEATLES' medley for which I can only offer the kindly anachronistic "too soon". They also fancy themselves quite the Acapella maestros, but GRACIOUS they aren't, pun intended. Another odd comparison I could make is to the late 1970s release by GALAXY, "Nature's Clear Well", but that's more a case of that album being behind the times than this one being ahead of anything other than its own flat front feet.

I can't recommend this to anyone except the prog fan equivalent of the tourists who have to go to the zoo in every foreign city they visit, no matter how poorly fed and kept its reluctant inhabitants. Oh yes, and blind followers of the Fab Four. Is there such a beast? Nah. 1.5 stars.