ARGENT

I remember being quite surprised when I first heard this debut. The disc had the copyright year 1969 (not 1970) but the music sounded very much like mid-seventies rock'n'roll with an emphasis on keyboards; catchy rock, both arty and straight-forward. Something like Manfred Mann's Earth Band at its best.

I haven't heard Rod Argent's former r&b band Zombies, and the only other Argent album (All Together Now from 1972) that I've listened to disappointed me strongly after this one. So I'm not any connoisseur of the band, nor is straight-forward rock my field particularly, but anyway this is pretty good and extremely well produced rock without any 60's feel. It can be said that they were ahead of their time. Russ Ballard is just the right man to sing this music. Some little irritations here and there, like the "lonely hard road" repetition of background vocals in 'Lonely Hard Road', but otherwise a strong and nicely flowing album.