Word: argent
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Most of the songs fall neatly into types. "Keep on Rollin" is pure Little Richard in tone, but moves beyond him finally. Rod Argent's piano opening and solo are both boogie-oriented, but emphasize notes, where Little Richard was content simply to pound chords. This is an Argent-Chris White composition, and as such stresses keyboards...
...took two years and AM radio before I found Argent for myself. I heard "Hold Your Head Up" on the radio and thought it was McCartney, until I heard its organ break. It's still one of the finer things on AM playlists. It's rare enough I buy an album for one cut; this is the first record I've ever bought on the basis of one song played on the radio...
...Argent was a Zombia. You must remember the Zombies, a third-stream-English-invasion band. They had two hits, "She's Not There," and "Tell Her No" then disappeared for four years. In 1968, they made a single, "Time of the Season," and an album for Columbia. They broke up soon after, and Argent formed Argent, named, according to the group, because "the others feel that the identity of the band stemmed from his original purpose...
Their latest, "All Together Now," is comfortably situated in the mainstream of English rock. And therein lies the group's problem. Argent is consistently faithful to the roots of English rock, so faithful, in fact, that much of its impact is lost. The result is an album that is good, but not outstanding...
Russ Ballard is not only Argent's guitarist, he also writes nearly half the band's songs. Ballard's songs emphasize guitar as much as Argent's rely on organ and piano. "Tragedy", opens with a good soul band guitar lick, that becomes the basis of the tune. Rod Argent's role on this one is to build the total sound with his full-bodied chords, and to play a smoothly-phrased duet with Ballard during the break. The transitions between chorus bridge and break are smooth--repeated listening shows this to be one of the band's strong points...