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Anteater · 08-15-2015, 10:48 PM

04. Ambrosia - Ambrosia (1975)

In the halcyon days of California's soft rock dream, there was once a group of kids who wanted to be the next Beach Boys, or perhaps a CSN&Y-ish outfit if possible. However, an early encounter in 1971 with King Crimson in the midst of one of their U.S. live shows promoting In The Wake Of Poseidon would forever alter the DNA of this burgeoning conclave of talent and their focus: four years later, future yacht rock kings Ambrosia hit the airways with a punch and a kick quite different from Styx and (a year later) Boston...but they made quite a mark, blending prog and early AOR with an unfettered ease unique to the period.

Mixed and partly produced by the legendary Alan Parsons, this glorious sun-dazed West Coast AOR debut is not only one of the best albums of the 1970's, but remains one of the coolest crossover records in the entirety of recorded music history. While its status as one of the first "real" American AOR records is interesting, there's just as much King Crimson and Gentle Giant in this album as there is Steely Dan and what Kansas + Styx were getting their feet wet in, and that made them stand out in a good way.

At this point, Ambrosia was a power quartet led by the pipes and phenomenal guitar + bass work of David Pack and Joe Puerta respectively. These two shared lead vocal duties, though it was Pack who would also front and compose the group's biggest hits in the late 70's and early 80's (such as soft rock staples 'How Much I Feel' and 'You're The Biggest Part Of Me'). They would also be present on Alan Parsons's first Project in 1976, the Edgar Allen Poe-inspired classic Tales Of Mystery And Imagination, further demonstrating that the link between progressive rock and AOR-ready radio friendly material wasn't as difficult to connect as critics might have thought.

So basically, although outfits like The Alan Parsons Project and Toto would be influenced by this album's sound to a substantial degree in the second half of the 70's, nothing sounds quite like it before or since. 'Nice, Nice, Very Nice' sports an addictive groove and some Kurt Vonnegut derived lyrical content, resulting in one helluva good idea, but it's on radio-golden cuts like 'Holdin' On To Yesterday' and strange sprawlers along the lines of 'Drink Of Water' and 'Mama Frog' where this band's uncanny talent at blending killer melodies with proggy pathos is unveiled to a glorious maximum.

So, not your average 80's rock template, yet not quite "yacht rock" or a pure progressive rock album. In fact, this album is very difficult to categorize. Still, its important to the overall development of America's AOR sound and deserves its place in the top 5.