Argent/Circus

1. Like Honey

2. Liar

3. Be Free

4. Schoolgirl

5. Dance in the Smoke

6. Lonely Hard Road

7. Feeling Is Inside

8. Freefall

9. Stepping Stone

10. Bring You Joy

11. Circus

12. Highwire

13. Clown

14. Trapeze

15. Shine on Sunshine

16. Ring

17. Jester

Argent/Circus,Argent,Wounded Bird Records,Album Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Argent/Circus

Average customer rating:

Lost treasure
Argent - 'Argent/Circus' (Wounded Bird)
The Argent part of the twofer
Underrated then, ignored now

Argent/Circus
Argent
Manufacturer: Wounded Bird Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ring of Hands
In Deep/Nexus
Encore: Live in Concert
All Together Now
In Deep

ASIN: B0009NSDHK
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Tracks:

Like Honey
Liar
Be Free
Schoolgirl
Dance in the Smoke
Lonely Hard Road
Feeling Is Inside
Freefall
Stepping Stone
Bring You Joy
Circus
Highwire
Clown
Trapeze
Shine on Sunshine
Ring
Jester

Customer Reviews:

Lost treasure.......2007-07-02

Argent Circus is an overlooked gem from the seventies. It is my favorite Argent album and finds them at a mature peak. The songs are cohesive from beginning to end and full of energy. The musicianship is topnotch and the concept of the album is realized. The feeling of being at a circus is captured in all its glory. The band fails to miss a beat throughout the whole album. Unfortunately, the album was overlooked in the seventies by bigger bands. This release gives those who missed out the first time a second chance and gives me the chance to fill in a gap in my cd collection. This release was long overdue and ranks as an all-time sleeper hit. I never tire of listening to Circus as I am a die-hard rock and roll fan. The seventies was my decade and I am glad to relive the seventies one more time.

Argent - 'Argent/Circus' (Wounded Bird).......2006-06-15

A nicely assembled 2 lp's-on-one CD reissue.Of Argent's self-titled debut('69)and their 'Circus'('75)album.I had NO idea that Argent was putting out records that early.Decent '70's album rock,nothing outstanding,but okay.Never been that huge of an Argent fan anyway.Semi-memorable tracks include "Dance In The Smoke",Russ Ballard's "Liar"(think a lot of us remember that tune on FM radio),"Stepping Stone","Highwire" and "The Jester".Check it out when you can.

The Argent part of the twofer.......2005-11-18

The Argent album part of the twofer is an excellent continuation of the Zombies for keyboardist and main driving force, Rod Argent. The sound is basically the same and Rod Argent shares songwriting with guitarist Russ Ballard. These songs are incredibly well-crafted with great melodies. Liar (by guitarist Ballard, is the same song 3 Dog Night had a hit with and pretty much copied note for note), Like Honey, Schoolgirl, Be Free,and Dance in the Smoke could have all been singles. Great vocals and harmonies with a Zombies-type vibe make this worth the price of twofer alone. If you really liked the zombies Tell Her No, She's Not There, or Time of the Season, you will love this.

Underrated then, ignored now.......2005-09-26

(This reviews only the Circus part of the twofer, I leave the other album to the experts.)

The progressive rock meme had long since infected popular music by the time Argent released Circus in 1975. But musicians still couldn't decide whether they liked best the harmonic changes, the artsy orchestra, the jazz element, or the bombast. Bombast won, in case the 70s were before your time.

So Circus lacks the chops and big budget of "Tarkus" era ELP, or the bulging brains of "Lamb Lies Down" era Genesis. But, in a minimal sort of way, it's tasty nonetheless.

A standount for me is The Jester, where they don't take themselves too seriously. Dig the off-mike laugh before the bridge guitar solo and the witty, sloppy clincher (ragtime was not meant to be played fast).

Highwire hangs together, despite being one of those 9-minute "bring the band members into the studio on different days" tracks. Even sounds like they were all in the same room for the "getting dangerous" unison toward the end, to good effect.

Shine On Sunshine is just a knock-off of "Good Day Sunshine", but it turns out McCartney was going to be quite good at plagiarizing himself. No praise, no blame here.

Best avoided are the tracks where Argent personnel were starting to go their separate ways (Trapeze), or try too hard to recreate those quaint synthesizer-in-a-stadium solos (The Ring).

(As a sidebar, the circus meme was also rampant in the first half of the 70s - see the "radikally" different track Cirkus on King Crimson's 1970 album Lizard. There, by the way, jazz won.)

I've tried, but I just can't help but like The Clown - Pagliacci minus orchestra, jazz, and bombast - "and so I stand at last revealed a clown". So over the top, it actually rings true.

Rap Music:

Rap Music

rap music

Recommended Music:

Houseplosion, Vol. 1

Sir Michael Tippet: A Vision Of St. Augustine/Concerto For Violin, Viola & Cello

Spheroe

Music: Seeds of Mutation

The Aviator [Soundtrack]

Texas Ballin' [Explicit Lyrics]

The Best Of The Doors [Import]

Sepia

Serie 100 Anos de Musica [Import]

Prokofiev: Songs and Romances [Box set]

Moving Forward, Reaching Back