NEXUS

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Music from the spheres

"Nexus" is Argent's most progressive album. The pop indulgences of "Hold your head up" and "God gave rock and roll to you" are largely gone, to be replaced by much more structured and serious compositions.

From the synthesiser driven three part instrumental opener "The coming of Kohoutek" through the dramatic "Music from the spheres" to the slightly more traditional Argent on side 2 of the LP, there's a coherence throughout.

Almost inevitably, the album was not as successful as "In deep" or indeed "All together now". There were no obvious singles, the band relying on the fan base they had acquired through their previous singles, to stay with them. It appears the lack of success for the album was a factor in Russ Ballard's subsequent departure, which in turn led to Argent (the band) rapidly becoming a spent force. "Nexus" however gave a wonderful illustration of how things could have been

Well worth seeking out.

In my teenage years, this disc got lots of turntable time (dating myself here). The disc seems to have a split-personality, divided between straight-up prog and straight-up rock 'n roll of a very high calibre I hasten to add. It was this dichotomy that actually made Argent a compelling listen for me.

"The Coming of Kohoutek" is a killer opening track (I think the main theme is from an old Gregorian chant of some sort) and the two succeeding parts are equally stunning, great keyboard work, fiery and upfront yet not obnoxiously overbearing either, a scary tightrope to walk and yet Rod Argent pulled it off so beautifully!

The ballad "Love" I could've done very well without, but the following track "Music Of The Spheres" is one that sticks with me long after it fades, very nice vocal arrangement, cool music and that repeating figure on the Rhodes and guitar together is so hypnotic, like another reviewer said it seems to go forever and you STILL want more! So true.

"Thunder and Lightning" is a good straight-up rocker, "Keeper of the Flame" is positively heart-wrenching with its haunting Mellotron and plaintive vocals. "Man for All Reasons" doesn't make much of an impression on me, but the disc closes strongly though with the fiercely rocking "Gonna Meet My Maker".

If Argent had one positively maddening aspect to it, it was Russ Ballard's guitar work, while certainly not bad by any means, it just didn't add much to the band either, especially on the more progressive tracks where some scorching lead guitar would've been a welcome sound. It seemed like he was afraid to just let go and burn up the fretboard. My impression is that Russ was more of a songwriter than instrumentalist anyway.

A very fun and engaging disc, misgivings aside, "--Kohoutek" alone makes it worth the price.

3.5 stars really!!

Argent's fifth album came after two commercial success, and probably as a result, their record label allowed them a bit more freedom on this one as it happens to be a tad less mass-appealing, but artistically-speaking this album is their tops, even if this is reached by the domination of Argent's songwriting of Ballard's. But this will be achieved at a great cost, as there will be no hit single on this album.

The three-part instrumental Kohoutek (presented on the Encore album as a 10-min Coming Of Kohoutek single track) is definitely the album's highlight as the first movement is taking its sweet time to unravel its mysteries and twists building from a slowly evolving synth drone to a full-blown guitar/bass twirls and climaxing with Argent's Moog and Hammond stabs at Emerson. The quieter second movement (once around the sun) is no less impressive with a rare Mellotron, while the third movement (Infinite Wanderer) is a little less successful because of Argent's piano work being a little too derivative, but this is a bit of nitpicking. Next to that monster track is the pale in comparison Love track, a rare Ballard credit on this album.

Another standout track is the Music From The Sphere where Argent finally dares to delve a little more in the jazz realm (he had done that successfully in Rings Of Hand with the Sleep track, where Auger's Hammond was obviously his master of thoughts), but his Rhodes is leading more towards Soft Machine's then-current albums (between 6 and Softs), and coupled with Ballard's soft singing, this turns out another strong track. Thunder And Lightning is another solid song (even if the Encore version is much more impressive) where the band proves it can deal drama as well as any other prog band of the era. Keeper Of The Flame is one of those too-often overlooked Argent classic and a favourite of mine. Again Rod Argent's full array of keyboards pepper the track to great effect and add precious depth to a finally-deep Argent album. A Man For All Reasons is another goodie but feels too much like a showcase for Rod's technical abilities, but unfortunately it doesn't stand up to the more glitzy competition. The album closes on the weakest track of the album, another Ballard-dominated Gonna Meet My Maker that unfortunately stands out like a sore thumb

While this album is clearly their better (and best) so far, it will also break up the group's unity. Argent's best prog compositions were clearly not well aligned with Ballard's poppier writings. Part of the frustration for progheads is that his poppier songwriting can be excellent (try out Barnett Dog - 79 and Into the Night - 81 to get a good idea of his songwriting capacities), it did not fit the proggier trackless of the group, his singing was rather uneven and his guitar work rarely more than apt, When Russ found himself with a little less space on this album (coupled with lower sales as it had no single), he took it wrong and left the band before the group's next studio album, but the Live! Encore album would be his swansong with them. In any case, Nexus is clearly Argent's definitive studio album, and clearly the one to investigate in priority, but I am still wary to call it that essential, especially if you own their Live8 Encore album, that is a résumé of Nexus' promotion tour.

This fifth "Argent" album is by far their most prog one.

The first trios of track are particularly brilliant. "Argent" is at its best. The organ play is absolutely gorgeous and the rhythm is well sustained during the opening number, although the full glory of "The Coming Of Kohoutek" is more intense in their good live album "Encore".

Both "Once Around The Sun" as well as "Infinite Wanderer" are extremely pleasant as well. The former is a soft instrumental with bombastic guitar and organ. It is a very emotional number which is so different than any prior "Argent" track. It is just a pity that it lasts for such a short time.

I guess that the band never was so close to ELP than during "Infinite Wanderer". Upbeat song and heavy organ. This is another great instrumental (the third one in a row). It is much in the style of the Rooster as well. It closes brilliantly this series of excellent (but short) tracks.

There is even a mellowish and IMO very dispensable song in the form of "Love". Indeed, it has the flavour of a love song. Pay attention not to fall asleep during these four minutes.

The band is also exploring the jazzy mood in the first part of "Music From The Spheres". Fortunately, they will be more inspired in the second one which is very much "Santana" oriented. It features a great guitar break (there are not many of those in their whole career). It is a very song after all.

The band is heading more into the heavy / funky rhythms with "Thunder And Lightning". Since it is the only one of the genre, let's not complain too much.

"Argent" reverts to a more prog sound and organ oriented song with "Man For All Reasons". This album is rather diversified and flirts with several musical genres. The last one to be taken into consideration is the heavy blues a la Purple Mark III. "Gonna Meet My Maker" is such a song. For the second time, the guitar work from Ballard is to be noticed.

This album is pleasant almost all the way through (except "Love"). Still it doesn't hold real classic and memorable songs. Three stars.

Nexus is probably the best and most progressive album by Argent. Still, it is far from a masterpiece. The progressive keyboard music of Rod Argent - much in the vein of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman - and the more straightforward rock 'n' roll of Russ Ballard alternate, but almost never truly integrate. Had they been able to write together I suspect that they could have made something truly interesting. There is nothing here of low quality, not at all. But I also miss something that is truly excellent.

Rod is allowed to start the album with three instrumental keyboard numbers giving the impression that this is going to be an all instrumental album. Then the soft ballad Love comes in followed by a number of vocal tracks. Maybe the album could have been better if they had put the songs in different running order?

The songs are melodic and there is nothing to complain about, really. Still, this album doesn't quite do it for me. It is good, but not great. There are many other bands in progressive rock that you would need to check out before turning to Argent. But if you want to explore this band, Nexus is the best place to start.

Good, but non-essential.