Ring Of Hands - ARGENT***

Celebration/Sweet Mary/Cast Your Spell Uranus/Lothlorien/Chained/Rejoice/Pleasure/Sleep Won't Help Me/ Where Are We Going Wrong

Ring Of Hands was the follow up album from the British progressive band founded by keyboardist Rod Argent. Their music was more rock orientated than the pop appeal of his former group The Zombies.

“Cohesive ensemble playing, mixed with excellent material and a fine example of cooperation by the songwriters. Listening to this, one can only be amazed at the fact this band was completely ignored until the release of their third album. Rod Argent continues to display his amazing talent on keyboards, but the rest of the band shine as well. Russ Ballard shows he's no slouch on the guitar and his songwriting abilities show tremendous growth here. The vocals are extremely well done as well.”

“With a sound pitched just between Zombies styled pop/prog of their previous effort and the mainstream, veering toward AOR, prog of their next effort, this is a pretty happy medium. The songwriting could be a bit stronger on some of the tracks, but the best of them are pretty good.”

“This one sounds noticeably heavier and more progressive than their first, yet still contains an air of commerciality about it. Of course, it features massive amounts of keyboards and some guitar, though not as much as many other prog outfits.”

“Many tracks contain extended progressive improvisations, which are generally right up my alley, but for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, they don't really seem very compelling here. These cuts could be, and should be, better than they are, though still decent nonetheless. My pick would have to be the infectious Where Are We Going Wrong, featuring ever-so-slight psych influences.”

“Argent were a frustrating band. All too often, their music was less than the sum of its parts. Lothlorien is one of the pieces where it all fell brilliantly into place, and it makes this album well worth the price of admission.”

“The songs are a little more adventurous on this second outing, clearly the musicians were starting to gel as a unit. Reflecting the musical trends of the time, tracks like Lothlorien explore the instrumental talents in the band. While Argent and Ballard trade organ and guitar solos, Jim Rodford knits everything together with some adventurous bass playing.”