Summertime Flower Power Pop Rock!
Proper sixties rock is here again. Yes, get into your Frog-eye sprites, with your big flares, silly flowery shirts with the massive cuffs and stupid sunglasses. This particular album has a summer time, baroque pop feel to it with tracks by both the Zombies and The Alan Parsons Project.
"She's not there" is of course the track everyone will know, with the others being largely unknown by most. Right from the get-go, this album just oozes summertime feelings of relaxing in the park. It's perhaps not the normal kind of album we review here at RoomThirteen but since the Zombies have been somewhat influential in the history of pop music (a small understatement perhaps?) it would be remiss of us not to review this little gem. "Summertime", "Tell her No" and "I will Love You" have such a relaxing, warm sound to them it's hard not to snuggle up to this kind of sound in a kind of nostalgic hug knowing the world is a happy place.
There are a couple of tracks I'm not so fond of; "A Rose for Emily" is simply depressing and not a lot of fun to listen to and seems to burst the aforementioned love bubble. Very odd. "This Will Be Our Year" is a simple little track and another famous hit. The fast tapping of the cymbals in the background is a little annoying after a while though overall track is more uplifting if not so warm.
Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent take turns on the second half of the album. There are twenty tracks on this particular disc, giving you a good indication of the length of each track. "Say you don't mind" has some nice violin sections and departs a little from the pop feeling. Some of the tracks such as "Caroline Goodbye" have slightly more production and even a little synth here and there; perhaps an indication of the progression from the sixties. This is most pronounced in the track with the Alan Parsons Project. Listening to the track "Old and Wise", you can almost feel that this is the missing link between sixties pop and eighties new romantics. It's even got some saxophone in there!
Rod Argent seems to remind me a little of Freddie Mercury. His voice is somewhat similar, although really only in the song "South-side of the Street". his version of "God gave Rock and Roll to You" isn't too bad, although I have to say I prefer the KISS version (and who doesn't?).
Overall, its a solid summertime album and a blast from the past.