RING OF HANDS

Well, just how proggy can an album be if Three Dog Night covered one of the album's lesser songs? Pretty proggy, it turns out. Ring of Hands starts off with the sappy Celebration. Expectations are minimal upon hearing this one. Sweet Mary is the beginning of the redemption for this album. Though it's yer average bluesy tune, we do get nice Ballard guitar work. Something strange sets in 'round 'bout Cast Your Spell Uranus. The band is treading in prog waters, and in the midst of the song there's a wicked Hammond solo from Argent.

And then out of the blue comes Lothlorien. This is as perfectly constructed a prog song as has ever been written, at least back in its day. Driven by Argent's Hammond (and this is certainly Argent's song), it is by turns playful and aggressive, baroque and romantic. From note number one it engages and challenges the listener; by the end of the song it is soaring way up there, ripping mad gashes across the sky. Let's just say it deserves a place in that rarified air where the great prog songs of the era exist.

In terms of listening to this album, I rarely get beyond Lothlorien, the remainder being somewhat of a letdown, following as it does perfection. Chained (the aforementioned covered song) is that typical cowbell-driven 70's rocker, albeit with above-par vocals. Argent contributes pleasant organ work on Rejoice before it lapses into nothingness. As for the rest, well it's purely average.

I'm torn here. This is an average album that hosts one spectacular song, but that song is special. So let's say it's a qualified 4, simply to encourage a newcomer to Argent with an inquisitive mind to give Lothorien a listen.