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THE
ZOMBIES - ODESSY & ORACLE
 The
British 1960's band the Zombies seemed to have all what it took to be a
success. Two unusually gifted songwriters in Rod Argent and Chris White and
two outstanding singers, Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent (again). What they
may have lacked was a little more "edge" to balance their
melodic music and "nice school-boys" image.
They actually did have early success with their 1964 single "She's
Not There". But in spite of several strong singles were recorded and
released during 1965-66, they somehow were not able to follow-up their
early success.
So in early 1967 the band had not had a hit-record for more than two
years, and it seemed that their time was over. They decided to record a
final "real" album before they'd split up. The result was the
highly acclaimed "Odessey and Oracle" which they recorded during
the second half of 1967.
Of course they had hoped that one of the two first singles taken from
these recordings "Friends of Mine" and "Care of Cell
44" would bring them back into the charts. And since this did not
happen they assumed their time was over, so they disbanded before the
album was actually released in April 1968.
Another single was chosen to promote the album, and the succeeding big
success of "Time of the Season" in America came as a complete
surprise. The album itself also reached the lower parts of the charts in
the States.
Their music has proving its viability over the years, and this album
contains some of their finest moments, with great tunes from both Argent
and White.
After their unexpected 1968 "comeback" effort were made to
secure a Zombies re-union. But Rod Argent and Chris White were already
deeply involved in gathering a new band, which eventually would become
"Argent".
In this transition period Argent and White were persuaded to do a final
"Zombies" album which was given the title "R.I.P."
The album was supposed to consist of earlier out-takes and demos, ( with
new over dubbings ) combined with new recordings.
This 12-songs "new" album was for release some time in 1969 but
the album which had been given the title "R.I.P." was never
released.
This was a big shame, as it would have been a great album.
In recent years this album has actually been released in Japan and all
songs have been released released on various compilations. Here among the
bonus-tracks you'll 11 of these songs of which most equals on the actual
album. The box-set "Zombie Heaven" contains all 12 songs.
6 of these "R.I.P." songs are original Zombies recordings from
1964-66, featuring Colin Blunstone on vocals. He was called in to record
new vocals to "Walking in the Sun" which is the earliest track,
from late 1964, but he is not involved in any of the "new" 1968
recordings. Rod Argent, who is also an incredibly fine singer, takes over
the vocals on these tracks. All these 1968 songs / recordings are great.
"Imagine the Swan", "Smokey Day", "Girl Help
Me", "I Could Spend the Day" are outstanding songs.
"Imagine the Swan" was released as a single and was a minor hit
in America.
The earlier recordings featuring Colin Blunstone are equally strong.
"If It Don't Work Out" was written for Dusty Springfield in
1965. The song was also released as the Zombies' final single in July
1969.
So apart from the one missing song ( "I'll Keep Trying" ) this
highly recommend CD contains two great Zombies albums.
DISCOGRAPHY
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