Argent

[nofi]

anyone else like this record. reminds me of manfred mann's earth band of the same period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzVpYEF_w1E&list=PLJbgu5sk4KR38mCYfbDGrPqgYzzDFesmz&index=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4eecVY4moU&list=PLJbgu5sk4KR38mCYfbDGrPqgYzzDFesmz

[Highlander]

Liked a lot of Argent material, as well as MMEB from that time... never saw them but caught the spin-off Phoenix which was pretty good... never seen Russ Ballard or Rod Argent in anything, mind you...

[gweimer]

I saw Argent open for Jeff Beck and became a fan, particularly of Russ Ballard.  There are a lot of songs that Ballard penned that were made well-known by other artists.  Ballard is a rare artist who writes openly of faith, much the way Ken Hensley did in later years.  "It's Only Money" is probably a hint of that.

"Liar" was done better, in my opinion, by Three Dog Night.
"New York Groove" is probably known because of Ace Frehley.
"Since You've Been Gone' is best known by that band with that guy on guitar, who shall not be named.



I loved Ballard's one hit single, too.

[uwe]

I liked both - I like organ driven rock, period, even Iron Butterfly! Manfred Mann had a knack of playing fluid melodies on synth that really made him stand out.

Argent's Hold your head up was a German rock disco classic in the 70ies.

And New York Groove was a hit in Europe long before Ace covered it - I actually preferred the version of these guys with the harmonica and more groove than Ace's somewhat angular performance (but that's just him).

[uwe]

I understand that in the US, The Roaring Silence was pretty much MMEB's only major chart entry - in Germany they ruled record sales and tours for pretty much a decade, early 70ies to early 80ies. Any household that rocked a littlen but not too much, had a couple of MMEB albums, some Barclay James Harvest and Supertramp as well as Wish You Were Here - it was the prog lite standard home furnishing so to say.

To this day, MMEB tour Germany on a regular basis, they don't fill large halls anymore, but they're good for a 1.500 people draw on a warm summer night outdoor gig.

More people know Father of Day, Father of Night, Mighty Quinn, Spirits in the Night, Blinded by the Light and Davey's on the Road again from MMEB in Germany, than from Dylan, Springsteen and The Band. When Springsteen first played here, people thought he was covering MMEB and not very well either, their more technical, yet less cluttered arrangements had become so ingrained. If I'm honest, then I prefer the MMEB versions to the Boss originals to this day.

[gweimer]

I understand that in the US, The Roaring Silence was pretty much MMEB's only major chart entry - in Germany they ruled record sales and tours for pretty much a decade, early 70ies to early 80ies. Any household that rocked a littlen but not too much, had a couple of MMEB albums, some Barclay James Harvest and Supertramp as well as Wish You Were Here - it was the prog lite standard home furnishing so to say.

To this day, MMEB tour Germany on a regular basis, they don't fill large halls anymore, but they're good for a 1.500 people draw on a warm summer night outdoor gig.

More people know Father of Day, Father of Night, Mighty Quinn, Spirits in the Night, Blinded by the Light and Davey's on the Road again from MMEB in Germany, than from Dylan, Springsteen and The Band. When Springsteen first played here, people thought he was covering MMEB and not very well either, their more technical, yet less cluttered arrangements had become so ingrained. If I'm honest, then I prefer the MMEB versions to the Boss originals to this day.

I was also a fan of MMEB, prior to the one hit...well, a couple over here.  I started on Solar Fire, sequed into The Good Earth, and then The Roaring Silence.  And I agree - I prefer how Manfred Mann interprets other people's songs better than they do.  I think I may have even made a reference to that on a record review.  He was detached from the song, and was able to see its true potential.  Sad that people don't remember Nightingales and Bombers, but they do remember the Springsteen hit.

[uwe]

I know, I know, voice box guitar, bass, synth and lead vocals quadrupling the same melody is kinda corny, but I always found this track infectuous. And when I'm all by myself and there is no one to make snide remarks, I sometimes even play the bass run to myself.