All Together Now
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Album Summary
Argent's 'All Together Now' came roaring out of the UK in 1972 on Epic Records, produced by the deeply intuitive partnership of Rod Argent and Chris White — two cats who understood this band's soul from the inside out. Laid down at various studios across Britain, the record captured the group firing on all cylinders, with that thunderous Hammond organ locked in tight with Russ Ballard's guitar work in a way that just felt inevitable, like it couldn't have been made any other way. The album arrived at a moment when Argent had built up a real head of steam — a band with something to prove and the chops to prove it, pushing their progressive hard rock vision deeper and further than ever before.
Reception
- The album achieved moderate commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic, keeping Argent firmly planted in the conversation among serious rock acts of the early 1970s.
- Critical response from the rock press of the era was largely warm, with particular praise directed at Rod Argent's commanding keyboard presence and the band's cohesion as an ensemble unit.
- While the album did not generate a standalone breakout single of the highest commercial order, it reinforced the band's credibility and helped sustain their transatlantic following through a competitive period in rock music.
Significance
- 'All Together Now' stands as a defining document of early 1970s British progressive hard rock, demonstrating how a band could honor melody and song craft without sacrificing ambition or instrumental depth.
- Rod Argent's Hammond organ work throughout this record was part of a broader keyboard-driven movement that left fingerprints all over the decade's rock landscape — a reminder that the organ wasn't just a church instrument, it was a force of nature.
- The songwriting partnership between Rod Argent and Chris White, woven through every track on this album, showed a compositional maturity that set the band apart in a progressive rock era crowded with contenders — this was a group with genuine artistic identity.
Samples
- Hold Your Head Up — one of the most recognizable tracks in the Argent catalog, with its anthemic organ riff and driving rhythm section lending itself to sampling and interpolation across multiple genres over the decades.
Tracklist
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A1 Hold Your Head Up —
6:15
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A2 Keep On Rollin' —
4:30
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A3 Tragedy —
4:45
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A4 I Am The Dance Of Ages —
3:45
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B1 Be My Lover, Be My Friend —
5:15
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B2 He's A Dynamo —
3:45
Artist Details
Argent was a British rock outfit that rose out of the ashes of the legendary Zombies, formed in London around 1969 by keyboard wizard Rod Argent, and those cats wasted no time laying down a sound that was thick, progressive, and drenched in Hammond organ glory — equal parts hard rock muscle and sophisticated pop sensibility. They hit the world stage hard with their 1972 smash "Hold Your Head Up," a driving, hypnotic anthem that became one of the defining rock tracks of the early seventies, and later penned "God Gave Rock and Roll to You," a song so powerful it outlived the decade and found new life decades later. Argent never quite got the superstar treatment they deserved, but among musicians and serious rock heads, they remain a deeply respected band whose influence on keyboard-driven progressive rock echoes all the way through to today.
