AMBROSIA

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Mastered by Alan Parsons (the guy who produced Pink Floyd's 'Dark side of the moon'), Ambrosia's first record is one of the finest symphonic prog rock albums ever released. In fact, it features fabulous vocal harmonies, punchy and odd-metered drumming, fantastic keyboard and guitar playing. The music could be seen as a cross between Eagles and Yes. There are also some surprises in their music : balalaikas on 'Time waits for no one' played by a real balalaika ensemble, an antique Thai-gong, pipe-organ on 'Drink of water' and a reading from Lewis Carroll's 'Jabberwocky' on 'Mama frog'. Although mainly song based, Ambrosia managed to produce an album that should appeal to prog lovers as the vocals harmonies are not less impressive than those of classic prog bands, and the music features many variations in the rhythm section. Recommended to fans of symphonic prog !

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.

Here is a rock that I certainly left unturned until recently and thanks to my fellow music loving pal Jeff Ferguson for pointing this album in my direction. AMBROSIA's debut album is a wonderful mix of progressive and 'clever' pop genres with some fantastic vocal harmonies and instrumentation. Now I know what you might be thinking and clutching the cheesier side of their later 70's pop hits but let me tell you on this debut album their music is not bland or ordinary. The standout feature for me on this album is their wonderful vocal harmonies, guitar and keyboard work. Fans of "Star Castle" will definitely need to get this album. The band was Joe Puerta (bass guitar & lead vocals), David Pack (guitars, vocals), Christopher North (keyboards & vocals), Burleigh Drummond (percussion, bassoon & vocals). A little known fact is AMBROSIA's close connection with Alan PARSONS with him not only engineering this album for AMBROSIA (producing the second), but all four members of AMBROSIA played on the first ALAN PARSONS PROJECT masterpiece "Tales of Mystery and Imagination of Edgar Alan Poe" (which was recorded soon after AMBROSIA's first album). Interesting trivia note also that David Pack appears on the 1993 ALAN PARSONS PROJECT album "Try Anything Once" co-writing, playing and providing vocals on a couple of tracks. Their music on this album is rich and deep in thought and definitely deserves to be included in the journals of "Progressive Rock".

I may not add anything crucial, but I'm only the tenth to write about this very entertaining album of poppy prog. If I should describe Amrosia's music in one sentence: Alan Parsons Project with more feeling, groove, action and progness. The APP connotation comes naturally due to David Pack (voc,g) who has a typical tight APP voice, plus Parsons engineering this album. But it's certainly the songwriting gift of Ambrosia guys themselves that makes this a wonderful listening experience. It would make a good quiz question: which prog album has literary sources in Kurt Vonnegut and Lewis Carroll? Actually I thought 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice' lyrics ARE by Vonnegut, not only influenced by him. And 'Mama Frog' includes the reading of the famous Jamberwocky poem. Both these authors are sort of kindred spirits of Ambrosia.

There are no weak tracks. 'Holdin' On To Yesterday' is a good example of mindblowing grooviness, the kind that you may get tired of but never get bored with; 'Lover Arrive' is the soft ballad of the album, nothing wrong with it. 'Drink Of Water' is a majestic closing number. (4,5 stars; full rate could be a little exaggerating but no clear reasons not to round it upwards. This debut deserves more attention!)

I have to admit I never considered these guys to be even remotely related to progressive music, but then again I was more familiar with their later Southern California pop recordings than with this debut album. This is actually a pretty innovative album with some wide swings in tempo, luscious keyboards, and pretty remarkable drum work. Like Wishbone Ash, these guys opened with their best and kind of faded as they went along.

The opening “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” is one of the more well-known Ambrosia songs, with some great piping keyboard and acoustic guitar. It has an almost Haight-Asbury psychedelic feel to it, but with much better production. That of course comes from the fact that Alan Parsons produced them, but also because this was recorded several years after the early San Francisco hippy albums and studio techniques were already improving significantly.

The balalaikas on “Time Waits For No One” are very cool, even if they serve to clearly date this as a seventies album. David Pack’s guitar sings beautifully on this track, and although only sporadically played, it is among the best he would do with the band. This is a true trippy-hippy tune, and is just fun to listen to.

Joe Puerta’s bass is totally funky on “Holdin' On To Yesterday” and Christopher North’s keyboards and Puerta and Pack’s vocals practically defined the summer of 1975 with this huge American hit. This is a much milder and more palatable version of the Eagles Southern California sound, more soulful and with some great backing vocals. I just can’t say enough about this song, still fresh after more than thirty years.

“World Leave Me Alone” is a bit of a departure with its twangy, almost country-sounding guitar and rockabilly vocals, but the spacey transition just past the halfway mark reveal the flower-power sensibilities of the band, and once again firmly plant this album in the seventies.

On “Make Us All Aware” Pack plays some delicate and beautiful piano, setting a bucolic mood behind the melodic backing vocals and ‘give peace a chance’ lyrics. The layered keyboards in the bridge are totally spaced-out and reaffirm that these guys at least deserve to be mentioned as at least temporarily progressive for this brief moment in time.

“Lover Arrive” is sort of the ballad of the album, very slow and peaceful with vocals that at times sound very much like early Elton John, complete with melodic piano accompaniment and some great drum work. Very short but a great tune.

The last two songs on the album are much closer to bluesy early prog ala Captain Beyond or Theee Image than anything else on the album. “Mama Frog” is completely vocals-driven, with a choppy reactive piano that gives way to some very bluesy and funky guitar work atop an almost jazz-influenced drum rhythm. Top that off with some trippy keyboards and you have a song that would not have been out-of-place a half- dozen years earlier at a love-in somewhere.

And the album closes with the Allman-influenced “Drink of Water”, a good ole’ boy peacenik anthem that leaves you feeling good as it fades away. A great way to close.

This is by far the most creative and interesting studio release from a band that would lean very far to the right and into pop territory before they called it a day in the early eighties. If you have to have one Ambrosia album (and really, you do need to have one) – this is it. Four stars.

peace

A fun diversion into a classy '70's rock sound played with heart and soul, "Ambrosia" delivers a nice (very nice) collection of songs and melodies that straddle the fence between FM anthems and the margins of progressive music.

Sharing only a little in common with the prog-giants of the day, Ambrosia still manages to bring a lot of artistic flair to the table with this release, featuring some complex melodies, skilled playing and the occasionally avant-garde moment for good measure. Most of all though, they play with infectious enthusiasm and beautiful vocal harmony-- something that most of the prog-greats never even attempted.

The songs themselves begin accessible with the radio classics "Nice", "Time Waits for No One", and the beautiful and bluesy "Holdin' On To Yesterday." At the half-way point, however, the band begins to experiment with the more complex and experimental, which despite their lack of epic scope or monstrous instrumental moments are largely successful and thoroughly enjoyable.

A fun purchase for anyone who digs classic '70's rock, but also for the jaded prog-snob looking for a smart sing-a-long to put next to their Fripp.

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 2 Lyrics/Vocals: 3 Style/Emotion/Replay: 3

3.5 stars actually...

Formed in 1970 in Los Angeles,California of US,AMBROSIA,though not regarded as a 100% progressive rock band,created a highly-acclaimed album in 1975 within the progressive rock circles.Using a number of different instruments apart from the rock instrumentation,like piano,violins and mandolin,and based on their superb vocal lines,AMBROSIA deliver in their debut album a fantastic journey in the world of progressive/art rock.The band blended a lot of different styles,ranging from ballad-like tracks to complicated symphonic arrangements,drawing influences from southern and boogie rock like THE ALLMAN BROTHERS,KANSAS or THE EAGLES and prog rock giants like YES,KING CRIMSON and GENTLE GIANT.Deep and intense emotions are not hard to emerge listening to this album and I strongly recommend AMBROSIA's debut to all fans of multi-influenced inventive music!

Ambrosia´s debut album is a very pleasant rock album with slight progressive tendencies. It´s a bit too commercial for my tastes but it´s still a great album. Had I been into this style of music I would have rated Ambrosia one more star but that last star is reserved for the acts that I personally enjoy and not for the albums that are above average but not really to my liking.

The music on Ambrosia is very commercial with memorable choruses and hooks while there are some definite progressive tendencies in some of the instrumental interplays. Some of the songs reminds me a bit of the way Kansas sounds when they are most commercial. There are some songs that sounds more proggy than others though. Good examples would be Nice, Nice, Very Nice, Make Us All Aware ( note the melody line which sounds like one of the melody lines in the epic The Odyssey from Symphony X) and Mama Frog which has a jazz/ fusion rythm. The hit song Holdin' On To Yesterday is the song I think reminds me the most of Kansas, but it´s actually allright even though it´s very commercial.

The musicianship is really good on this album and I´m quite impressed with Ambrosia as musicians and composers.

The production is excellent. I really enjoy the soft seventies rythm section and the synth sounds used in some of the songs.

Allthough this is not my favorite style in rock I have to recognize quality when I hear it and Ambrosia are certainly a quality band. Fans of pop with prog tendencies like 10cc, Supertramp, Queen, Kansas, Toto, Boston could enjoy this. I know I did to a certain degree. 3 stars is deserved in this case.

I'm afraid that I won't share the ratings of my fellow reviewers. This debut album is an average rock album for sure. But I can't find any great song in here.

Production is top notch, musicianship is excellent but this type of music has never been my cup of tea. Some sort of US basic rock vaguely (?) leaning on prog (even if this feature is quite alien in my opinion). There is no way that I can compare this band with "Kansas" like some of my colleagues.

The vocal department is excellent; and to some extent the example must have been "Crosby, Stills & Nash". My fave out here which features this element is "Time Waits for No One". But the next and syrupy "Holdin' on to Yesterday" holds all the characteristics of American music which I am not found of.

A bit more a rocking atmosphere for "World Leave me Alone" might sound attractive, but frankly this is just average AOR to my ears. Press next. In terms of relation to prog, I must admit that "Make us all Aware" is acceptable. But it is the only one track that can share this view.

US rock music. If you like this, fair enough! I am only remote to this even if the closing number "Drink of Water" is not too bad. There are great keys and as I have mentioned already, excellent vocals.

Two stars for the whole as far as I am concerned.

One of those albums that I probably would not have really given too much thought about getting around to hearing, but getting a big whiff of ''Nice, Nice, Very Nice'' convinced me too much that Ambrosia's debut was worth grabbing. I was hoping for a prog-related surprise much like FM's debut or Wishbone Ash's ARGUS album. My response to AMBROSIA is unfortunately, quite different.

Ambrosia comes off on this album as a slick pop-jazz outfit that tries to channel prog rock as one of its influences. Some of the tracks have an AOR quality to them that isn't quite a stink, but it's that feeling of muggy air on your body (makes you drowsy). Comparisons with the debut of Journey don't sound too farfetched. There's a market for this kind of music, but it would work with me if it didn't sound so mediocre.

I feel that tracks like ''World Leave Me Alone'' and ''Time Waits For No One'' sound like Spirit suffering a case of writer's cramp. Most of the album as a whole is off-putting to me as the songs sound like they just exist and don't really do anything. ''Drink of Water'' and ''Holdin' On To Yesterday'' sound tailor made for FM radio without much progging about; they're fine for what they are otherwise. In contrast, ''Mama Frog'' has potential with the jaunty electric keyboard, odd figured opening number channeling Steely Dan. However, a recitation of poetry right in the middle of the song spoils the plot for me. Sure, I understand that prog rock has to have some pretentiousness to it, but this really takes the cake.

Overall, AMBROSIA failed to live up to the hype that is the opening number. Even ''Nice, Nice, Very Nice'' with its whimsical attitude has some of the most asinine vocals I've ever heard, and it lasts about a minute longer than it should. Could have been a nice complement to the debut Journey album, but it has too many, "Why is this here?" moments. Judging by the overall rating, there's a vast base of progheads that will eat this up, but AMBROSIA is simply too plastic and in some cases, laughable for me to seriously give praise to.

American outfit Ambrosia - David Pack(vocals, guitar, keyboards), Joe Puerta(bass, vocals), Christopher North(keyboards, vocals) and Burleigh Drummond(drums) - were a decent enough act who straddled the divide between slick pop and progressive rock with playful abandon yet somehow never really managed to create a truly memorable sound of their own. Existing for seven years and five studio albums, and helped along the way by engineer-and-producer Alan Parsons(yes, that one), Ambrosia's first, self-titled album would prove to be one all other subsequent releases were compared against. Released in 1977 - too late for prog yet also, ironically, a bit too quickly for the burgeoning pop-rock movement spearheaded by the likes of Foreigner, Journey, Boston etc - 'Ambrosia' is an enjoyable slice of lightweight prog featuring impressive interplay and snappy lyrics, yet no real killer tunes. Opening gambit 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice' showcases the group's fluffy style, with stringy guitars, tasteful keyboards and deceptively-complex harmonies showcasing the Ambrosia dynamic, whilst both 'World Leave Me Alone' and 'Lover Arrive' feature catchy, toe-tapping melodies undercut with rasping guitars. There's some nice keyboard-flexing adorning the oddly-monikered 'Mama Frog', and the album's final track 'Drink Of Water' also manages to exude a certain rosy charm, with a slightly more ambitious structure finding the group leaning towards a more overtly-progressive edge. Later efforts would find the group heading in a much more commercially-acceptable direction, making this the pick of their five studio releases, yet with the new, aggressive punk movement trashing anything faintly expressive it was always going to be difficult for a group such as these. Entertaining then, 'Ambrosia' is by no means a bad album, and paying special attention to some of their group's spiky lyrics garners some interesting rewards for the listener, yet overall this is simply far too tame for it's own good.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012