Hold Your Head Up [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import]

Well, the reason that I bought this album is because of their one big hit "Hold Your Head Up". But it was the original full-length album version that I wanted, not the single. My favorite version would thus probably be rather hard to find. And so, I decided to toss the dice on this one. Well -- anyone else who is looking for the full six-minute version -- look no further! -- THIS IS IT! And it sounds great! I'm really enjoying it now, just as I did way back in 1972.

love it! this is just some of the music i grew up with. was good then, is still good. i recieved this item in perfect condition, and in a timely manner. thank you.

Okay, this is a decent enough representation of some of the music from their various albums, but I am hard-pressed as a long term Zombies-Argent-Blunstone fan to give this collection more than the rating it deserves. I won't tell anyone not to buy it because, as the other reviewer here stated, you get the long version of classic staple "Hold Your Head Up" in all its glory. Still, that alone is not enough to merit a 5-star rating. This is an okay representation of the band, but after hearing a masterpiece like Circus, I am very skeptical of this collection. Our title track is definitely worth its classic accolades, and there are some great tracks on here, but some of them just fall flat of what made Rod Argent's group so arresting to many rockers in their heyday.

"Thunder and Lightning" is an electrifyingly great rocker in which mid-70s Bad Company meets early 70s Deep Purple. Amazing since this was the early 70s. Could it be this group was ahead of its time?

"It's Only Money (Part 1)" is very pretentious, and not unnoticeably similar to another young British band at that time known as Uriah Heep.

"Rosie" is among my favorites and reminds me a bit of (again) Bad Company and the Faces with its great blues club sound.

"I Am the Dance of Ages" is just a huge headache which would never die far into the 70s because bands like Kansas would insist on keeping this sound alive. (Does "He Knew" from Point of Know Return come to mind when hearing this, or vice versa?)

"God Gave Rock and Roll to You" is definitely an underrated classic that was murdered by those crayon crud-faced freaks for "Bill & Ted's Awful Sequel", but this version does me proud. How can you recreate this without Rod's virtuoso on keyboard, or Russ Ballard's incendiare vocals? Simply enough, you can't.

"Love?" No comment, and moving along...

"Sweet Mary" is just plain sweet, and a great slow blues shuffle with some great harmonies and electric piano. Easily a fave.

"Christmas for the Free" is very nice, but check out the remake on the new Zombies album, Breathe Out, Breathe In."

"Celebration" is a rich and lively pop song full of optimism and gorgeous harmonies, leading me to suspect fellow Brits Queen were heavily influenced by this group, the Zombies, and the Beatles. This song sounds suspiciously like the blueprint for several of Queen's vocal harmonies--particulary John Deacon's "You and I" from A Day at the Races--and it also has a similarly BIG production sound.

When you get down to the nitty gritty, I think Argent influenced as many 70s bands as Yes, ELP, and Genesis, but they had the dubious distinction of being a bit more pop friendly. That didn't mean they still couldn't be as self-indulgent as their contemporaries, but they proved themselves a force to be reckoned with, and that was sometimes an alienating factor. Still, Rod Argent and Chris White, arming themselves with the multi-talented wunderkind Russ Ballard gave the ears of the masses quite a good run, and they deserve more than a nod for one or two songs on album rock stations. Unless you are only looking for a few songs, this collection will do just fine. I suggest you invest in their earliest albums, the aforementioned Circus being top priority.