Altogether less exalted nowadays than Rod Argent’s former compadres, The Zombies, Argent have been comparatively sidelined by posterity – but it wasn’t always thus. By the fag end of the 60s, the courtly, sighing sweetness of Zombies music was starting to sound decidedly old hat in a longhair world weightier of aspect and trouser, so a more substantive approach was called for. With their propensity for polytechnic-pleasing long-form keyboard solos, Argent fit the bill perfectly.
Their third album, All Together Now was originally released in 1972 and benefits immeasurably from the inclusion of the breakthrough hit single, Hold Your Head Up. A perfectly judged balance of high church Hammond, stately melodicism and a once-heard-never- forgotten chorus of self-empowerment, it demonstrated that prog-pop wasn’t just achievable, but desirable.
Taken as a whole, however, All Together Now ironically lacks cohesion. Keep On Rollin’ and He’s A Dynamo are undistinguished boogie ballast, sitting rather awkwardly next to I Am The Dance Of Ages – which has a certain lumpy gravitas in spite of its hokey thunderclaps. Meanwhile, the 13-minute Pure Love – with four subsections, ye gods – has an unaccompanied organ fanfare which lasts for five of those minutes. The taste-and-restraint manual had evidently been left on The Zombies’ tour bus.
