RING OF HANDS

If their first album still carried over some remnants of the 60's in their sound, the follow up is something else altogether.It is actually a rather uneven album in terms of quality. The opening track "Celebration" the lyric of which gives the album it's title is fairly low key and the next track "Sweet Mary" is frankly a fairly pedestrian bluesy number.With the third track "Cast your Spell Uranus" (no schoolboy giggling please) is much more dramatic - I love the organic nature of it -lots of stabbing chords and free-wheeling rhythms.The closing track on side one "Lothlorien" is the real standout here though.It is hands down my favourite Argent song and has one of the absolute best keyboard solos ever committed to vinyl.I cannot understand why so many critics seem to ignore this track especially while dismissing the album as a whole. The "Inside Argent- an independent Critical Review" DVD is a good (or should I say bad) example.Seriously that track alone could give any of the other "Classic" prog tracks especially those featuring hammond organ a real run for their money. Side 2 is a bit more subdued although "Pleasure" has another excellent keyboard solo and closing track"Where Are We Going Wrong?" is another excellent uptempo number with some spirited playing by the whole band.Interestingly the opening track "Chained" a fairly pedestrian rocker was also covered by "Three Dog Night"

For the fantastic "Lothlorien" this album gets 4 stars from me