AMBROSIA

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