The Zombies
Band members Related acts
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line-up 1 (1963-64) - Rod Argent --
vocals, keyboards, violin
line-up 2 (1964-68) - Rod Argent --
vocals, keyboards, violin
line-up 3 (1990) - Colin Blunstone -- vocals - Hugh Grundy -- drums, percussion NEW - Sebastián Santa María (RIP 1996) -- keyboards, guitar, vocals - Chris White -- bass, vocals)
supporting musicians: (1990) - Paul Atkinson (RIP 2004) -- guitar - Duncan Browne -- vocals, guitar - Tim Renwick -- guitar - Laurie Wisefield -- guitar - John Wolloff -- guitar
line-up 4 (2015) - Rd Argent -- vocals, keyboards - Colin Blunstone -- vocals - Jim Rodford (RIP 2018)-- bass, backing vocals - Steve Rodford -- drums, percussion - Terry Quirk -- bass Guitar, backing vocals - Tom Toomey -- lead guitar, backing vocals
line-up 5 (2023) - Rod Argent -- vocals, keyboards - Colin Blunstone -- vocals NEW - Soren Koch --- bass, backing vocals (replaced Jim Rodford) - Steve Rodford -- drums, percussion - Terry Quirk -- bass Guitar, backing vocals - Tom Toomey -- lead guitar, backing vocals
supporting musicians: (2023) - Jess Cox -- cello - Amy Standord -- viola - Ellis Standford -- violin - Laura Stanford -- violin
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- The Accent (Rick Birkett) - Rod Argent (solo efforts) - Mike Batt and
Friends (Colin Blunstone) - The Bolland Project (Colin Blunstone) - The Mike Cotton Sound - The Crowd (Colin Blunstone) - The Geckos (Hugh Grundy) - Jellybread (Rick
Birkett) - The Kinks (Jim Rodford) - Krew (Keith Airey) - Lucas and the
Mike Cotton Sound (Jim Rodford) - Phoenix (Jim Rodford) - Piano Seven (Sebastián Santa María) - Shadowshow (Rod Argent) - The Swinging Blue Jeans (Jim Rodford) - The Jericho (Keith Airey) - Chris White (solo efforts) - The Chris White Experience - Wild Connections (Rod Argent) - The Wilsations (Keith Airey)
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Genre: psych Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Odessey & Oracle Company: Date Catalog: TES 4013 Year: 1967 Country/State: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG / VG+ Comments: minor edge and corner wear; initials on back cover Available: 1 GEMM catalog ID: 5284 Price: $60.00
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Increasingly frustrated with Decca's lack of support and unwillingness to finance a second album, in late 1967 the group switched to Columbia's recently formed Date subsidiary. The self-produced (and partially self-financed), "Odessey and Oracle" (their spelling, not mine), was a clear effort to shed their 'pop' reputation in order to gain respect as 'serious' musicians. Given extensive creative freedom, working separately Argent and White were again responsible for all of the material and while tracks such as 'Butcher's Tale: (Western Front 1914)' and 'Brief Candles' occasionally bordered on the pretentious (can't think of a lot of bands writing about World War 1 atrocities), thankfully the group's trademarked ethereal melodies and restrained, keyboard dominated sound remained intact. An overlooked era classic, the entire set was worth hearing; to my ears highlights included the weird 'Care of Cell 44' (girlfriend about to be released from jail), the pseudo-psychedelic 'Beechwood Park', 'Changes' and the delicious pop-oriented 'I Want Her She Wants Me'. Considering the album too uncommercial for American audiences Date initially decided not to release the album in the States. Date's decision saw the frustrated group elect to call it quits. Ironically, after constant prodding from fan Al Kooper, Date relented, releasing the set in the States posthumously. Unexpectedly the album's first single 'Time of the Season' b/w 'I'll Call You Mine' (Date catalog number 2-1628) went top-5. Propelled by the single, the parent album hit # 95.
Date executives hastily offered the band a large cash bonus to reform and tour in support of the album. Already involved in a new
project Argent refused the offer, but did agree to complete several previously written and partially recorded Zombie tracks. Working with guitarist Rick
Birkett, drummer Grundy and bassist Jim Rodford the quartet returned to the studio recording several previously written, but unrecorded numbers. Unfortunately, after
'Imagine the Swan' b/w 'Conversation on Floral Street' (Date catalog number 2-1644) was released as an unsuccessful single (it peaked at
# 109), enthusiasm within the band and within Date faded and the follow-up
album project was shelved.
1.) Care of Cell 44 (Rod Argent) - 3:54 (side 2) 1.) Changes
(Rod Argent) - 3:15
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Genre: psych Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Time of the Zombies Company: Epic Catalog: KEG-23861 Year: 1973 Country/State: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+ Comments: double album set; gatefold sleeve Available: 1 GEMM catalog ID: 5286 Price: $20.00
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Released by Epic, 1973's "Time of the
Zombies" was a comprehensive two album, 28 track retrospective. In addition to their American hits, the set included all 14 "Odessey and Oracle" tracks. Up until the release of the boxed set, it stood as the most comprehensive retrospective (it remains the most affordable compilation for the curious and casual fans.) Sporting one of the year's uglier covers, the set manage to squeak to
# 204. (The album was originally released with a gatefold sleeve.)
1.) She's Not There (Rod Argent) - 2:23 (side 2)
1.) She's Coming Home (Rod Argent) - 2:38 (side 3)
1.) Walking In the Sun (Rod Argent) - 2:38 (side 4)
1.) Hung Up On a Dream (Chris White) - 3:01
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Genre: psych Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: The Zombies Live On the BBC 1965-67 Company: Rhino Catalog: RNLP-120 Year: 1985 Country/State: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 GEMM catalog ID: 5287 Price: $15.00
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Having acquired rights to the band's catalog, in 1985 Rhino Records released
"The Zombies Live On the BBC 1965-67." As reflected by the title, recorded across a two year period, the retrospective pulled together 14 tracks drawn from six
appearances on BBC programs including "Tops of the Pops," "Saturday Club" and "The David Symonds Show." Musically the collection offered up a mixture of the band's hits and lesser known covers - many such as Curtis Mayfield's
'It's Alright' and Isley Brothers' 'This Old Heart Of Mine' well known soul chestnuts. While considerably rawer than the studio versions, the differences weren't without their appeal. On material such as
'Tell Her No', 'Just Out Of Reach' (drawn from their soundtrack "Bunny Lake Is Missing") and
'Whenever You're Ready?' the group showed themselves to be a tight rock outfit. Very impressive ...
1.) Tell Her No (live) (Rod Argent) - 2:03 (side 2) 1.) It's Alright
(Curtis Mayfield) (live) - 2:40
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Genre: pop Rating: ** (2 stars) Title: The Return of the Zombie Company: RCA Catalog: PL 74505 Year: 1990 Country/State: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: German pressing Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $40.00
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So The Zombies last studio album was 1968's
classic "Odessey and Oracle." Forward
twenty-two years and singer Colin Blunstone, drummer Hugh Grundy and bassist
Chris White reunited with Chilean keyboardist Sebastián Santa María
replacing an AWOL Rod Argent. Co-produced by the band and Dave
Richards, the result was 1990's less-than-classic "Return of the
Zombies." A quick scan of the liner notes was enough to
cause concerns. For one thing the album included a remake of The Zombies'
"Time of
the Season". The irony of that selection was Rod Argent penned the
tune. Another concern; newcomer Sebastián Santa
María picked up a lot of the creative slack, getting credits on four of the
ten performances. Finally, between his work for the likes of Bowie,
Francis Hardy and Queen, you wondered how an in-demand producer like Dave
Richards found the time to support a "comeback" project like The
Zombies? Yeah, there was a lot that could wrong here.
The
band's label RCA apparently had some concerns as well, releasing the
album throughout the world, with the exception of the US.
Unfortunately those concerns were well placed. Mind you, I'm a big
Zombies fan and a wonderful "comeback" would have thrilled
me. This wasn't that product. Blunstone was clearly the focus of
attention and the good news was his voice remained instantly recognizable;
seemingly as young as ever. The rest of band ... well they
didn't really matter since Richards' production churned them into background
noise. Any semi-professional house band, or good music software
program would have done the job. The same criticisms applied to most
of these ten songs. First the obvious target - their remake of
"Time
of the Season" was dreadful. Adding
Santa María keyboards to the melody did nothing to improve the song.
Wonder of Argent ever forgave them? On tracks like "Moonday Morning
Dance" and "Heavens Gate" producer Richards smothered the group under a
faceless blanket of '90s synthesizers and production effects.
Perhaps the greatest sin - exemplified by material like "Night On
Fire", "Losing You" and "Knowing You", time after time Blunstone's wonderful voice
was wasted on faceless, sleep-inducing corporate ballads. So was there
anything worth hearing? Well, I'd go along with RCA and their choices
for the German singles. The opener "New World" and
"Lula Lula" were
modestly commercial pop tunes. Other than Blunstone's instantly
recognizable voice they had little in common with classic Zombies, but
compared to the rest of the album the performances kept you listening. 1.) New World (Chris White - Andy Nye) - 4:45 rating: **** stars "New World" was a surprisingly enjoyable AOR ballad. Blunstone's ethereal choirboy voice seemingly had not aged over the ensuing years. The song reflected a pleasant, patented slice of '90s corporate rock. Guess it fell squarely in the "Yacht Rock" vein. In a nice nod to their history, original Zombies guitarist Paul Atkinson guested on the song. Atkinson passed away in April 2004. White subsequently released a demo version of the song as part of his "The Chris White Experience Volumes One - Six Production Sessions" collection. The song was tapped as a German single, released in 7", 12" and CD single formats:
7" format - 1990's "New World" b/w "Monday Morning Dance" (RCA catalog number PB 43427) 12" format - 1990's "New World" b/w "Monday Morning Dance" and "Alone In Paradise" (RCA catalog number PT 43427) CD single format - 1990's "New World", "Monday Morning Dance" and "Alone In Paradise" (RCA catalog number PD 43427)
2.) I Can't Be Wrong (Sebastián Santa María) - 3:33 rating: *** stars The first of new keyboardist Sebastián Santa María's four songs, "I Can't Be Wrong" was a pretty, classically-influenced ballad. The tune wasn't awful, but sounded like one of those ballad-by-the-numbers efforts that corporate rock had begin to churn out in the hunt for radio dominance. Ultimately the song was saved from oblivion by Blunstone's voice and the ear candy group refrain. 3.) Moonday Morning Dance (Sebastián Santa María) - 3:24 rating: ** stars The title confuses me, but since the song was slathered in an arsenal of hyperactive '90s synthesizers, I ultimately didn't really care. I guess it was interesting from the perspective it showed Blunstone could sing an up-tempo rock tune. It just wasn't a very good up-tempo rock song. By the way, the backing vocals were way irritating. 4.) Lula Lula (Chris White) - 4:05 rating: **** stars Momentarily I thought I was hearing the opening song again. Blame Blunstone's unique voice ... Setting aside my inherent cynicism, after a couple of spins I had to admit the combination of Blunstone's voice White's dreamy melody made for a nice effort. The song was released as a German single in both vinyl and CD formats.
7" format - 1990's "Lula Lula" b/w "I Can't Be Wrong" (RCA catalog number PB43671) CD single format - 1990's "Lula Lula", '" Can't Be Wrong" and "Nights On Fire" (RCA catalog number PD43671)
5.) Heavens Gate (Chris White - Andy Nye) - 4:19 rating: *** stars "Heavens
Gate" opened up
with some acapella group vocals before plunging into faceless corporate rock
territory. Bluestone's performance was nice, but to be honest, the
first half of the song just faded into background noise. The refrain
momentarily brought the song back into focus, but darn if there was anything
here that screamed "Zombies." Hugh
Grundy's tribal drums sounded like they'd been lifted from any of dozens of
'90s radio hits.
(side 2) 1.) Blue (Sebastián Santa María) - 4:12 rating: ** stars Opening up with a suite of synthesizer washes, "Blue" didn't sound like Blunstone - Santa Marie wrote it, so I'm guessing he handled the vocals. I wonder if anyone hearing this on the radio would have pegged it as a Zombies song. I sure wouldn't have. 2.) Nights On Fire (Colin Blunstone - Sebastián Santa María) 3:34 rating: ** stars What a surprise - an orchestrated ballad ... Well, the classical guitar was pretty. Elsewhere it sounded like an Alan Parsons Project cast-off. By the way, nothing here was on fire. 3.) Losing You (Colin Blunstone - Phil Dennys) - 2:59 rating: ** stars I'm a sucker for songs opening with pretty strumming acoustic guitars so I had hope for "Losing You". That hope was largely dashed by another faceless corporate ballad. This one struck me as being little more than a write-by-number exercise, pulling pieces from a multitude of sources. Completely forgettable and a waste of Blunstone's talent. Tim Renwick on lead guitar? 4.) Time Of The Season (Rod Argent) - 2:32 rating: ** stars Bands that feel the need to revisit and record earlier classic tunes are normally not good signs. Hence seeing "Time of the Season" on the track listing was a source of concern. The fact the tune was written by the missing-in-act Rod Argent added to the sense of irony. The melody remained instantly recognizable, but the remake adding some needless Santa María doodling keyboards and did nothing to improve the original. Moral - don't mess with a classic. 5.) Knowing You (Colin Blunstone) - 2:34 rating: ** stars "Knowing You" was a pretty acoustic ballad. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and background synthesizer, Blunstone's multi-tracked vocals were sweet, but the song just never shifted gears. To be blunt, the song closed the album on a downbeat.
© Scott R. Blackerby April 2024
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Genre: pop Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Still Got That Hunger Company: The End Records Catalog: TE708-1 Year: 2016 Country/State: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: still in shrink wrap (opened) Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $40.00
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Hard to believe that a band like The Zombies had to resort to crowd funding in order to finance what would become their sixth studio album. And while this wasn't a full on Zombies reunion, the project's financial challenges were even sadder given the active participation of Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone (along with former Argent bassist Jim Rodford).
Produced by Chris
Potter (Steve Orchard handling "New York"), 2015's "Still
Got the Hunger" was a mixed success. Technically it was a
hodgepodge featuring newly penned material from Argent, an old Zombies tune
"Want You Back Again
(2015)") and a mixture of previously
recorded solo numbers. "Moving
On" and "Little One" were remakes of material recorded for a
1982 collaboration between Argent and jazz sax player Barbara Thomson.
Inspired by a Tom Petty cover they h
1.) Moving On (Rod Argent) - 4:00 rating: **** stars "Moving On" was originally written and recorded for Argent's collaboration with the late Colosseum sax player Barbara Thompson's on their 1982 "Ghosts" album. A jazzy instrumental, the original recording sounded nothing like The Zombies Free-styled blues-rocker. It may not have been the most album's most original track, but the performance demonstrated that some five decades after The Zombies debut Argent an Blunstone's voices remain in fine form. You also got to hear a touch of Argent's jazz-rock affection. The band even recorded a promotional video for the song: The Zombies - "Moving On" Official Music Video YouTube also has a September 2021 live performance recorded in front of a select audience at Abbey roads Studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac09pd7huEg 2.) Chasing The Past (Rod Argent) - 4:05 rating: **** stars Built on a classically-tinged Argent keyboard riff, the ballad "Chasing The Past" was one of the tracks that came close to capturing that classic Zombies sound. Loved the refrain. Once again hearing Blunstone's ageless voice was a treat. Nice guitar solo from Tom Toomey. YouTube has a surprisingly impressive video clip of the band performing the song as part of The Pandora Whiteboard Sessions: The Zombies "Chasing The Past" - Pandora Whiteboard Sessions 3.) Edge Of The Rainbow (Rod Argent) - 4:10 rating: ** stars A straightforward slice of the blues, "Edge Of The Rainbow" was professional, but just not a genre that did a lot for me. The Gospel-tinged backing vocals provided the song's highlights. YouTube has a clip of them performing the song at their Abbey Road Studios appearance: The Zombies - Edge of the Rainbow (Live from Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios) 4.) New York (Rod Argent) - 4:08 rating: **** stars A biographical love song to the city and the musical groups that initially inspired them, hearing "New York" in the midst of the MAGA revolution was somewhat heartbreaking. Well, on second thought, given the city's animosity to the current administration maybe it should be heard as a paean of faith in better days. Hokey, but the song sported one of the album's catchiest melodies and would have sounded good on radio.
(side 2) 1.) Want You Back Again (2015) (Rod Argent) - 3:34 rating: *** stars "I Want You Back (2015)" was a remake of a Zombies tune originally released as a 1965 single. The band were inspired to drag it out after hearing a Tom Petty cover of the tune. The original was a slinky, blues-jazz tune that I recall for Paul Atkinson's snarling guitar riff and Argent's biting organ solo. The remake was okay, but lacked the original's ominous edge. Argent's organ solo was replaced by an extended, jazzy keyboard solo. Recorded at the Abbey Road Studio concert, their live rendition including Argent's keyboard solo was far better than the studio remake: The Zombies - I Want You Back Again (Live from Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios) 2.) And We Were Young Again (Catherine Argent - Rod Argent) - 4:07 rating: ** stars The voice remained instantly recognizable, but surrounding Blunstone with a hyper-polished Yacht rock melody was kind of a disappointment. Imagine third-tier Steely Dan. 3.) Maybe Tomorrow (Rod Argent) - 3:34 rating: *** stars Powered by a bouncy, Argent barrelhouse keyboard melody and '50s doo-wop flavor, "Maybe Tomorrow" wasn't particularly creative, but it was a fun track and how could you not smile hearing the Beatles reference? (The album was almost delayed when Sony management realized they needed approval from Beatles management to included the end-of-song reference. After forwarding the demo to Paul McCartney's management they got approval to include the reference within 48 hours.) 4.) Now I Know I'll Never Get Over You (Colin Blunstone) - 3:34 rating: **** stars Blunstone's lone writing contribution tot he album, "Now I Know I'll Never Get Over You" was a remake of a song recorded for his 2009 solo album "The Ghost of You and Me". The original was a stunningly pretty, classically inspired ballad. s you'd expect, "Now I Know I'll Never Get Over You" was a pretty ballad. The Zombies version stuck close to the original melody, but ditched the classical instrumentation in favor of a more conventional rock arrangement. Each version had its strength, though powered by a nice Argent keyboard solo the remake has steadily grown on me. Should have been released as a single. 5.) Little One (Rod Argent) - 2:54 rating: *** stars "Little One" was the second song lifted from Argent's earlier collaboration with the late Barbara Thompson. An instrumental originally entitled "Little Annie", the remake added vocals and dropped the jazz-rock arrangement for a more pop-oriented sound. Kind of an also-ran performance. 6.) Beyond The Borderline (Rod Argent) - 3:15 rating: *** stars Argent's piano-powered ballad "Beyond the Borderline" came close to mashing-up classic Zombies with a more modern sound. Pleasant melody with the pair sharing lead vocals.
© Scott R. Blackerby November 2025
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Genre: pop Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Different Game Company: Cooking Vinyl Catalog: COOKLP889 Year: 2023 Country/State: St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK Grade (cover/record): NM/NM Comments: sealed Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $40.00
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Eight years after their last studio release The Zombies got around to releasing a new album - 2023's "Different Game". Being on top of music like I am, it only took me an additional two years to discover the album's existence; let alone find a copy. I don't have an excuse for the delay. The Zombies do. In 2019 The Zombies were elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The resulting publicity inspired them to record a new studio album. Enter COVID and work on the album ground to a halt. Rather than try to record the album remotely the band opted to wait to record as much of the new material as possible in a live, collaborative environment. Four years goes by quickly when you're trying to survive a pandemic.
Co-produced by Rod Argent and Dale Hanson, in many respects their seventh album picked up where they'd left off. With the exception of Soren Koch replacing the late Jim Rodford on bass, the backing band remained unchanged. In addition to providing keyboards and backing vocals, Rod Argent was again responsible for writing the bulk of the ten songs. Though it was a remake of a track from an earlier solo album, Colin Blunstone contribution was limited to the closing ballad "The Sun Will Rise Again". Musically the album continued the band's quest to find a niche between contemporary sounds and their patented classical pop-psych sound. There were a couple of changes. As lead singer Blunstone's voice remained recognizable, but now in his mid-'70s, that instrument had deepened and occasionally begun to fray around the edges. Check out the vocals on "Dropped Reeling & Stupid". The same observations were true for Argent. At least to my ears those were just facts of life changes and not show-stoppers. Far more troubling was the absence of strong material. As reflected in the last three performances on side one ("Rediscover", "Runaway" and "You Could Be My Love"), the overabundance of ballads repeatedly sucked the energy out of the collection. That's not to say the album was without charm. Hardly your typical Zombies sound, but the title track recalled something out of the Procol Harum catalog. If you weren't a Yacht Rock fan then the bubbly "Dropped Reeling & Stupid" was probably a miss. Similarly, it may not have been an all time classic Zombies performance, but the up-tempo, bubbly "Merry-Go-Round" served as the LP's most commercial offering. One of the bigger surprises was how good Blunstone sounded on the bluesy "Got To Move On". I guess he was even tired of all the ballads. And speaking of the ballads; "I Want To Fly" and the Blunstone remake "The Sun Will Rise Again" were quite nice, but those charms were lost on an album where six of the ten compositions where ballads. Not a disaster, but it could have been so much better.
"Different Game" track listing: 1.) Different Game (Rod Argent) - 4:57 rating: **** stars Rod Argent's Hammond B-3 fills gave the title track a distinctive Gary Brooker and Procol Harum sound. In other words, it sounded like something out of Johannes Sebastian Bach's repertoire. The comparison was underscored by the Baroque-styled strings, The song was inspired by a Bach festival Argent attended with his wife. Argent was intrigued by a performance of “Mass in B Minor " using it as a starting point for "Different Game". As shown by the song, while still recognizable, Blunstone's voice was far deeper than before. It was also nice to hear Argent on the backing vocals. Extra star for the Bach-inspired closing sting fadeout. Complete with strings, YouTube also has a September 2021 live performance recorded in front of a select audience at Abbey roads Studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcFhsKJwbsM 2.) Dropped Reeling & Stupid (Rod Argent) - 3:52 rating: *** stars First let me warn you the Blunstone-Argent vocals were a little shaky, but the rest of the performance made up for that shortcomings. Built on a bubbly Argent keyboard riff, this was a great track if you've ever wondered what The Doobie Brothers would sound like if they'd been born and raised in the UK. Well, the Yacht Rock-styled "Dropped Reeling & Stupid" might give you a hint. Add in a tinge of Michael McDonald-styled jazzy keyboards and it was one of the album's catchier performances. The Zombies also released a cheapy promotional video in support of the track: The Zombies - Dropped Reeling & Stupid (Official Lyric Video) Taken from a 2023 performance on the Norwegian cruise ship Blue Star, Tube also has a live performance of the tune: Zombies Dropped Reeling and Stupid On The Blue Stardust 2023 w - YouTube 3.) Rediscover (Rod Argent) - 3:58 rating: ** stars The acapella opening had a very Beach Boy-ish feel as did the song's harmony vocals. By coincidence The Zombies had been touring with The Beach Boys. Unfortunately, from there the song ,morphed into a forgettable, 50s flavored ballad. Pretty, but dated and not particularly memorable. 4.) Runaway (Rod Argent) - 3:17 rating: ** stars Initially "Runaway" came off as a breathless ballad with little to recommend it. Certainly not one of the album's stand out performances, the track got a little better when Argent's jazzy keyboards made their presence felt. This is another one the band performed live at Abbey Road Studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojeAPF5Rkt8 5.) You Could Be My Love (Rod Argent) - 3:48 rating: ** stars How
about another keyboard powered ballad? Again, pretty enough, but
ballad burnout starts to kick in for me at this point. And here's the
live performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtXRBatLhTA
(side 2) 1.) Merry-Go-Round (Rod Argent) - 4:24 rating: *** stars Truthfully, "Merry-Go-Round" may not have been a classic Zombies track, but it was the album's most commercial effort and thankfully not another ballad ... It was also a good example of how Blunstone's voice had deepened with time. I actually quite liked the darker tone. They released a promotional video for the song: The Zombies - Merry-Go-Round (Official Music Video) 2.) Love You While I Can (Rod Argent) - 3:18 rating: *** stars A laidback, sweet ballad, "Live You While I Can" sported some pretty Toomey lead guitar and a nice vocal arrangement with the rest of the band weaving harmonies around Blunstone's lead vocal. The accompanying video was sweet: The Zombies - Love You While I Can (Official Music Video) 3.) I Want To Fly (Rod Argent) - 4:16 rating: *** stars "I Want To Fly" was a remake of an Argent composition originally recorded for The Zombies' 2004 "As Far As I Can See ..." album. I went back and listened to the original which was a patented breathy Blunstone ballad. The remake retained those breathy vocals, but cloaked the track in a pseudo-classical arrangement. Was it better? Not sure, but it was very different. Here's another Abbey Road Studios performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZUkhCik0YE 4.) Got To Move On (Rod Argent) - 3:54 rating: *** stars Their token blues effort ... Again, hearing something other than a ballad was a nice change of pace and I thought it was one of Blunstone's best performances. He even seemed happy to be doing something other than a ballad. 5.) The Sun Will Rise Again (Colin Blunstone) - 3:27 rating: *** stars As on the prior album, Blunstone's sole contribution was a recycled tune - in this case a track originally recorded for 2009's "The Ghost of You and Me". Like the original the remake was a classically-tinged ballad, showcasing Blunstone's breathy voice. The original's string arrangement was dropped in favor of Toomey's stark acoustic guitar. The interesting thing on this one is Blunstone's voice didn't seem to have aged. Very pretty and a extra star for the uplifting lyrics.
The band have a decent website at: https://www.thezombiesmusic.com/
© Scott R. Blackerby November 2025
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eard,
"Want You Back Again" was a remake of a 1965 Zombies single.
Bluestone's lone songwriting contribution "Now I Know I'll Never Get
Over You" was a remake of a track from his 2009 solo album
"The Ghost of
You and Me".
New tracks like
"Edge Of The Rainbow", "And We Were Young Again" and
"Beyond The Borderline" were professional, but cloaked in
anonymous state-of-the-art arrangements, displaying little of the band's
original charm. Still, there was some good news in these
grooves. While it may have been a bit deeper, Blunstone's voice
remained instantly recognizable, showing little wear and tear after some
fifty years of performing. Argent remained a first-rate keyboardist
and bringing on former Argent bassist Jim Rodford and his brother Steve
Rodford on drums provided the band with a steady rhythm section.
Ditching the original jazz-rock instrumental arrangement, their remake of
"Moving On" demonstrated these guys could successfully slug it out
in a blues-rock vein. Sporting a wonderful refrain the classically
tinged ballad "Chasing
The Past" revealed hints of their Zombies glory days. Their
"rocked up" version of Blunstone's "Now I Know I'll Never Get
Over You" would have made a nice single. At best a mixed success,
but it was nice to see them still hanging on and compared to many
"comeback" albums, the results weren't half bad. (Just
my opinion, but even with the nod to the classic "Odessey
& Oracle" LP, Terry Quirk's cover art was butt
ugly.)