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Ring of Hands

 
Album Review: Ring of Hands

  • Artist: Argent
  • Rating: StarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: 1971
  • Total Time: 46:36
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Ring of Hands is, more often than not, overshadowed by the albums that surrounded it. Argent's debut included Russ Ballard's "Liar," and 1972's All Together Now was the album that yielded their Top Five hit "Hold Your Head Up," while 1973's In Deep produced "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You," which became a bigger hit for Kiss in 1992. But Ring of Hands is one of Argent's most progressively oriented albums, with most of its energy and dynamics coming from Rod Argent's keyboard playing. This album shines the spotlight a little brighter on Rod Argent than on Ballard, and its weight lies more on the band's ability to produce some impressive progressive rock than to create lyrically based rock & roll. Argent himself is spectacular throughout most of the album, lending his lone, rich keyboard solos to tracks like "Lothlorien," "Cast Your Spell Uranus," and "Sleep Won't Help Me." The album does wander into pop familiarity from time to time, but only mildly, like on "Chained" or "Where Are We Going Wrong," and, even so, Rod Argent's playing appropriately protrudes through most of songs to give Ring of Hands an independent feel from all of the albums that followed. In 1999, Sony's Collectables reissued the album with a bonus track; Rod Argent's "He's a Dynamo," which was written one year after the release of the original Ring of Hands album. ~ Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Celebration Chris White, Rod Argent Argent (2:55)
Sweet Mary Chris White, Rod Argent Argent (4:07)
Cast Your Spell Uranus Russ Ballard Argent (4:32)
Lothlorien Chris White, Rod Argent Argent (7:52)
Chained Russ Ballard Argent (5:20)
Rejoice Chris White, Rod Argent Argent (3:46)
Pleasure Chris White, Rod Argent Argent (4:53)
Sleep Won't Help Me Chris White, Rod Argent Argent (5:11)
Where Are We Going Wrong Russ Ballard Argent (4:11)
He's a Dynamo [*] Rod Argent Argent (3:46)

Credits

Jim Rodford (Bass), Russ Ballard (Guitar), Russ Ballard (Vocals), Rod Argent (Keyboards), Rod Argent (Vocals), Robert Henrit (Drums)
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Wikipedia: Ring of Hands
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Ring of Hands
Studio album by Argent
Released 1971
Genre Rock
Label Epic
Argent chronology
Argent
(1970)
Ring of Hands
(1971)
All Together Now
(1972)

Ring of Hands is a 1971 album and the second released by British rock band Argent. It was originally released on Epic Records.

Track Listing

Side One:

  1. "Celebration" (Rod Argent, Chris White) (2:55)
  2. "Sweet Mary" (Argent, White) (4:06)
  3. "Cast Your Spell Uranus" (Russ Ballard) (4:31)
  4. "Lothorien" (Argent, White) (7:50)

Side Two:

  1. "Chained" (Ballard) (5:19)
  2. "Rejoice" (Argent, White) (3:46)
  3. "Pleasure" (Argent, White) (4:52)
  4. "Sleep Won't Help Me" (Argent, White) (5:11)
  5. "Where Are We Going Wrong" (Ballard) (4:10)

Personnel

A two-disc CD re-issue of this album plus Argent was released by BGO Records in 2000.



 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ring of Hands" Read more