ARGENT

Frustrated by lack of commercial success with The Zombies and seeing the writing on the wall for the changing music tide of the late 1960s despite a few hit singles in both the band's native UK as well as across the pond in the US, Rod Argent grew exhausted from chasing all those psychedelic dreams of the 1960s and longed to jump on the bandwagon of the nascent progressive rock scene that was taking the world of rock and roll to the next level. Ironically The Zombies' final album "Odessey and Oracle" has gone down as one of the most important albums in rock history but that would take many decades to cement its classic status having been commercially unsuccessful upon its time of release.

With the initial intent of simply nudging The Zombies into hard rock / prog hybrid effect, after all was said and done, Rod Argent and Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone decided to part ways which meant Argent had a stockpile of new material free for exploit. After recruiting his cousin and former Mike Cotton Sound bassist Jim Rodford along with drummer Bob Henrit and guitarist Russ Ballard (both formerly of The Roullettes and Unit 4 + 2), Rod Argent formed his new band with his last name ARGENT providing the moniker. This band enjoyed a bit more success than the previous Zombies with several top 40 singles manifesting in both the UK and US during the band's first half of its career. Argent himself handled keys, guitars and lead vocals.

ARGENT was basically the logical next step for where The Zombies would've headed had they stuck it out. This eponymously titled debut album was recorded and released in 1969 and crafted the blueprint for the style that would make ARGENT one of those typical sounding rock bands of the 1970s much like bands like Mott The Hoople, Deep Purple and Rainbow, that being highly melodic songwriting with a hard rock gusto accompanied by adventurous organ rolls which is the key element that added them some prog kudos in certain circles but despite a few progressive accouterments finding their way into the mix, ARGENT was really about writing instantly catchy hits graced by the Rod Argent's excellently emotive vocal style.

For true progheads, ARGENT's debut isn't the place to begin and they should fast forward to the 1974 album "Nexus" but if really good classic 70s rock appeals to you then ARGENT's earliest albums including this debut are decent albums. While not a major success quite yet, this debut caught the attention of Three Dog Night who covered the band's single "LIar" and took it to the top 10. This was an admirable beginning as ARGENT was just getting it's bearings after reemerging from the ashes of The Zombies but the following albums would get stronger however if you want to comprehend the progression of the band then this debut album is by no means a waste of time, just not as strong as what came next.

3.5 rounded down

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