COUNTERPOINTS

Another one of those maligned albums I can't understand why it gets such negative reviews. This was Argent's second (and final) post-Ballard studio album, and to many Argent should have packed it in with the departure of Ballard. I actually find Counterpoints quite enjoyable. The band moved to RCA from Epic, and on United Artists in the United States. I guess many didn't like how Argent was going the Mahavishnu route, it seems that guitarist John Grimaldi worshipped at the alter of John McLaughlin. If you remove the vocals on this album, a good portion would pass for Mahavishnu (if it weren't for the lack of violin). Phil Collins appears on some of the cuts, but I really don't know which ones, apparently Rob Henrit went ill during the session. I also seen comparison to Brand X, probably due to the presence of Phil Collins (at this point, Brand X was beginning to work on their debut). Rod Argent's Hammond organ seemed to have vanished by this point, in favor of electric piano, Moog, and even some Mellotron. "Rock & Roll Show" harkens back to the more rock and roll sound of the earlier Argent. I really get a kick off "Time", I call it the "S**t Hits the Fan" song, because that line appears several times. The only song I didn't care for it "Road Back Home", it's just a boring soft rock song with little creativity and too repetitive and drags on too long, and Rod Argent's Mellotron doesn't help save it. I guess being around my share of fusion, well-known and obscure, that I have no trouble adapting to this. Better than I thought it would be, I spent next to nothing for my LP copy.