AMBROSIA

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

What happened to ambrosia? i guess the 80's happened. i like their debut album and the folow up as well , i even like their last 'road island' but this is a catastrophe. there is not even one good song here to save the day. music is meant for commercial duties , it's not even melodic rock , they are sticky songs made for the radio and not for the fans , i'm sure this one bought them a whole new set of sticky fans.

Even if the songs are not good i thought i could count on their beautiful melodies , but i was wrong , even the best melodies doesn't save it , they totally lost it the music is just plane simple with nothing to it. well after i slayed this album i can say that if you listen carefully ( why would you like to do that? ) the good ambrosia is hiding between the lines , like good keys in the opener 'ready' , and some other nice keys around like in 'you're the only woman'. they knew what they were doing , that's why they named the album one eighty as in 180 degrees the oposite of what they did earlier.

They should have borrowed a title from frank zappa and call this 'we're only in it for the money' really... nothing more to say about this embarrassing album except avoid , even for you who likes their debut. i thought i would give it 2 stars but it's generous. 1.5 stars

After two great albums which showed their progressive leaning fused with memorable melodies, the band went for a much simpler and sticky kind of songs in their next two albums, which you should avoid with all costs. despite their great success and good sales ambrosia released their last album in 1982 which saw them returning to a more interesting style i wouldn't go far and call it progressive rock but definitely not your regular sticky rock songs , but much more well written songs ,with great energies.

One thing i will give ambrosia is the fact that they could always write beautiful melodies and this one is no different. what you'll hear in the first listen is that this album is rockier than ever , even rockier than their debut. they unleashed this raw sound , with distorted guitars top that with their always fine vocals and you have a great set of songs.

The album starts with my favourite song on the album , the rockiest of them all ,great pounding drums , killer riff , beautiful vocals , and of course the solo , how great is this one hiting all the right notes , like i said hats off!!! the momentum is not wasted and there goes another rocky tune with great guitar riff beautiful vocals and again totally amazing guitar solo , i never heard dave pack like this before, it seems like he really missed this, what a great drive!! the album keeps up being interesting and you can find some more great moments like "kid no more" out of the blew xylophone solo , or "ice age" which is pretty progressive clocking at 7 minutes. deffinitely a good song!! "endings" starts like another AOR song , beautiful but AORish, after a minute and half it changes and the beauty increased going to a more touchy melody followed with great emotional guitar solo, one of the better songs by ambrosia. of course they can't go without some more kind of AORish songs , you got "feelin' alive again" and "fool like me" which are AOR but they are not bad songs like you heard on previous albums , i like to hear them with the rest of the album.

In conclusion i wouldn't recommend it for new comers , but deffinitely for you that already like their debut. another thing is the muddy sounding album not at all like their first two with alan parsons , this is a real downfall i'm not sure why , they already had their success , weird. a remaster is terribly needed!! if this were in a symphonic prog genre i would give it about 2.5 stars, but it is not!! it is a prog related genre , where it should so i'm only proud to give it a solid 4 stars. great ending to their career. with a great album!!

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.

This one (and their last one) is not as weak though. But don't expect too much prog extravaganza of course. A good opener ("For openers - Welcome Home"), which is nicely rocking and features some fine guitar breaks and powerful organ, is the best that you can get out of this "Road Island".

Here and there, one can hear some nice instrumental parts (mainly guitar) but the songwriting is average ("Still Not Satisfied"). The band also felt necessary to record some syrupy and useless track like "Feelin' Alive Again" which is only a dreadful rock ballad that can easily be avoided. Should I recommend the press next button? Yes, I guess?Well, to be honest, the guitar break that sits in the second part is quite good.

This album is not as bad as their previous ones but I didn't rate any of their albums with more than two stars. The same applies here because it holds too many weak tracks ("How Can You Love Me" and the long and basic rock "Ice Age") to deserve the three stars rating.

This "One Eighty" is nothing else than poor and basic AOR music all the way through. But this is no news. The best advice that I can provide is just to stay away from this album. It is straight forward US rock music with no subtleties, no emotion and nothing positive to mention ("Cryin' in the Rain").

Unlike other fellow reviewers, I wouldn't say that the band is on the decline with this album: they were declining already since their second work ("Somewhere I've Never Travelled"). This one is just a confirmation that they aren't quite on their place on this site. I can't find any prog relation in here. Nor on their previous works (except a slightly better debut, as I have said).

The Motown-oriented "You're the Only Woman" is pretty unbearable and is the typical "press next" song you would like to avoid by all means (same applies to "Livin' on My Own" by the way). One of the very few listenable song is the more rocking "Rock 'n a Hard Place". But it is not difficult to emerge out of such a weak ensemble.

The next song is best described by its title: "No Big Deal"! Indeed?even if the upbeat rhythm provides a good break into this ocean of AOR and syrupy stuff like the closing "Biggest Part of Me". The only good news is that it is the last track of this weak album.

Another one star record from this band. The third one in a row as far as I'm concerned.

Prog related. Hummm. Well, I am still looking for the relation to be honest. American FM music fits much better to the description of their output (even their first two albums were really borderline IMO). But this effort tops them with no doubt.

Funky moods during the title track, jazzy mixture for "Apothecary", I have to say that this album is far from the idea I have of prog related music. Syrupy stuff there is. Too much. I really can't stand such a basic pop affair ("If Heaven Could Find Me") but the worst of all is "How Much I Feel". Some sort of Motown track. Press next as soon as you can to avoid it.

Unfortunately, what's next is just the same poor stuff with the same characteristics. Not even basic US rock music. It is just a collage of weak songs all the way through. Ouch! It hurts! I think I was wrong when I thought that "How Much I Feel" was the worst song of all: "Angola" definitely deserves this title. It is another press next type of song.

But there are hardly anything positive to retain out here. Just pass your way and don't spend any time, or any euro for this very poor album. One star, what else?

When you have listened to such a song as "Runnin' Away", my only intention is indeed to run away. And it is not the country style "Harvey" that would convince me to like this album. It is best recommended to do a double "press next" while reaching these two songs.

At times, the music reminds me some "Chicago" stuff. Not my cup of tea at all. As their first effort, I can only consider this as basic US rock music; with a syrupy angle ("The Brunt"). Gosh! Songs as "I Wanna Know » or "Can't Let a Woman" just leave me pretty cold, without any interest.

The only decent song is the "10CC" oriented "Danse With Me George". It is the longest one of the album and theme changes are pleasantly filling the eight minutes of this track. Lot's of piano and classic oriented passages (it is also called "Chopin's Plea"). This is a song full of extravaganza and decadence. I quite like it. It is by far the most (if not the only) interesting piece of music even if some orchestration and marimba don't add anything great to the whole.

To summarize my view about this album, I would just tell that IMHHO, it is a complete waste of time to listen to it. Prog is totally alien (except for "Danse?"). You'd better ignore this album.

One star.