The Zombies - Odessey And Oracle

Released - April 1968

Genre - Pop

Producer - The Zombies

Selected Personnel - Colin Blunstone (Vocals); Rod Argent (Organ/Piano/Mellotron/Vocals); Paul Atkinson (Guitar); Chris White (Bass/Vocals); Hugh Grundy (Drums)

Standout Track - Time Of The Season

Like Song To A Seagull, this is another album that makes its way onto the list by virtue of a single song. You'll come to this album because of "Time Of The Season." Unfortunately, you'll also come away remembering very little other than "Time Of The Season." Sadly, this isn't one of those albums where the big hit entices you in and enables you to discover a whole bunch of other great stuff, as a lot of what's on offer here is fairly simplistic pop in the vein of early Beatles or Beach Boys. But, after repeated listens, the simple and sunny virtues of these other songs do begin to reveal themselves, plus there's the fact that "Time Of The Season" is such a good song that Odessey And Oracle really does warrant inclusion off the back of it.

Odessey And Oracle was only the second studio album the Zombies released, and also their last up until a reunion in the 90s and another in the 2000s. They had achieved mild success with the single "She's Not There" in 1964, but by the time it came to the recording of their second album, tensions were high and creative differences were beginning to show. Lead vocalist Colin Blunstone (later to be a longtime collaborator with the Alan Parsons Project) was frequently disillsuioned with the recording process and was particularly unimpressed by "Time Of The Season," only agreeing to go along with keyboardist and songwriter Rod Argent's suggestions for his vocal delivery after much disagreement. Before the album was even released, two singles had failed to make much impact and the band split up, with the surprise success two years later of the very song Blunstone was so unhappy with being a particularly bitter ending to their career.

Still, all the internal wrangling and discontent that brewed during the making of this album certainly doesn't show - the mood in general is sunny 60s optimism personified. Occasionally there are vague whispers of the psychedelic experimentalism that had pushed music into darker and more uncharted territories in recent years (the discordant and weird account of wartime atrocities that is "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" feeling particularly out of place on this generally carefree little record), but on the whole this is jubilant and light-hearted stuff. "Care Of Cell 44" is a hugely uplifting opener, its cheeriness a neat distraction from the subversive lyrical content concerning someone who's being reunited with their lover after spending time in prison. There's a pleasant softness to Blunstone's vocal delivery, though his voice lacks some of the power and nuance it would develop during his work with Parsons, but there's no doubt at any point that the true centre of attention here is Argent. Not only is he responsible for all the album's best songs, his organ and piano parts are also the defining sound of the music. It's unusual to hear a pop/rock album from the era that's dominated by keyboards rather than guitars, but it's a very welcome change, and from the chiming piano of "Care Of Cell 44" to the swirling acid jazz organ solos of "Time Of The Season," Argent runs rings around the rest of the band, to the extent that guitarist Paul Atkinson is barely noticeable most of the time. Argent even includes use of the Mellotron in order to create an orchestral effect given that the band's budget wouldn't stretch to session musicians. King Crimson are generally credited with the innovation of the Mellotron even though they didn't surface until 1969, so Argent's use of it here is remarkably prescient.

As for "Time Of The Season" itself, it's a song that's probably already familiar to most, though perhaps not one of those songs that's immediately easy to place. It's become absorbed by popular culture as one of the go-to anthems of suave, late-night seduction or bohemian cool, with Blunstone's breathy vocals purring over Argent's impassioned organ swirls. It's one of the truly great psychedelic songs of the 60s, and it was initially a huge disappointment to me to come to this album and find that the rest of the band's work generally didn't match up to that classic. But it's an enjoyable album nonetheless, and a fine example of another band, like the Beach Boys, who were able to get the formula for light-hearted and throwaway pop just right.

Track Listing:

1. Care Of Cell 44 (Rod Argent)

2. A Rose For Emily (Rod Argent)

3. Maybe After He's Gone (Chris White)

4. Beechwood Park (Chris White)

5. Brief Candles (Chris White)

6. Hung Up On A Dream (Rod Argent)

7. Changes (Chris White)

8. I Want Her, She Wants Me (Rod Argent)

9. This Will Be Our Year (Chris White)

10. Butcher's Tale (Western Front, 1914) (Chris White)

11. Friends Of Mine (Chris White)

12. Time Of The Season (Rod Argent)