ROAD ISLAND

On Ambrosia's last album, "Road Island", they seemed to be trying to get back to some progressive elements and they actually made some respectable songs here. However, after the commercial success of "One Eighty", music enthusiasts were not taking them seriously and the music on this album was just too deep for the top 40 music lovers to appreciate.

The first track sounds like it is going to take off and go somewhere, but never really does, but at least it is better than any of the tracks from the previous album. "Still Not Satisfied" is better and shows a lot more hope for a possible return to good musci for Ambrosia. "Kid No More" has become one of my favorite Ambrosia tracks, with it's break-neck speed and chaotic sound and I just love the surprise of the added xylophone that is thrown in the middle. If Ambrosia had stayed around, this is where I would hope they would have headed which would have probably given them back the respect they deserved. "Feelin' Alive Again" is a nice ballad which almost seems to approach early "Phil Collins era Genesis" sound. Again, a lot of promise here. "How Can You Love Me" is the commercial throw-away track. "Fool Like Me" is another excellent ballad which has some very nice Pink Floyd-like progressions and is another one of my favs by this band. "Ice Age" is the highlight of the album and is good enough to say that it approaches the ingenuity of their debut album. Unfortunately, the album ends with a rather weak track called "Endings". Overall however, I liked this album and it was at least nice to see that they were trying to get back to the sounds of the amazing debut album, which they were never quite able to match.