AMBROSIA

I almost had a heart attack when I found Ambrosia in our beloved Archives. I could not believe it! How could such a tedious soft-rock or FM rock band be included here? So I had to check out this band from closer because all I knew from them was one or two hits from the late 70's. Was it possible I missed out on something? I went to the library and rented out their first three albums (that's all they had) and came back home to throw an ear on it.

Well the third album is exactly what I had expected from them (tedious US FM rock) but the debut is probably the reason why Ambrosia is included here. The least one can say is that Ambrosia sounds like you've already heard this before but cannot quite place it outside the evident Steely Dan sound. If you can imagine S D with a lesser jazzy sound and a more symphonic sound, you will have a good idea of the sound. A lot of fuss is made of the Mama Frog track that incorporates some apparently well-known story and poetry, but I cannot get that excited about it. The following track Drink of Water is most boring but most of the tracks are well done and well produced (we are with Alan Parsons here) and are deliciously arranged but very commercial-sounding but never really driving up the wall in a frenzy.

I dare say my fellow reviewers are much more enthusiastic than I about this album, but there is no way this is worth five stars. By all means this debut is not bad especially in terms of early US prog, but fellow progheads, make sure you get an ear on the siliceous slice of music before investing your hard earned money. Give it another halfstar at most.