Argent is an underrated band that rose from the demise of The Zombies in the latter part of the ‘60s.  Oddly enough, Argent had already formed when The Zombies’ biggest hit (“Time of the Season”) ascended the charts.  But Argent (the band) allowed ex-Zombies member, Rod Argent, the chance to spread his creative arms even further.  Former Zombies member, Chris White also helped to contribute Argent’s first high-charting single, “Hold Your Head Up,” which rose to #5 in both the US and the UK.  They charted a few more classics, one of them the well-covered and very familiar “God Gave Rock and Roll to You.”  The band released many more singles, most of them better than they got credit for.  All of those are covered in this compilation called Argent Greatest: The Singles Collection.

The songs on The Singles Collection follows a chronological path.  The album begins with “Liar,” an easily recognizable song as it was a big hit for Three Dog Night even though the song sounds just as good from Argent.  Beginning with single cuts that still have the Zombies sound in it, largely due to Rod Argent’s keyboards, the band evolved into an inventive explorer of sound but still retaining a strong Pop/Rock structure.

At 18 tracks, this collection of accumulated single releases successfully provides a decent look into Argent as a band capable of memorable songs.  For those more devout, this is a complementary set that accompanies your own set of necessary album issues.  Regardless, The Singles Collection not only give you the complete better known selections of Argent, it also gives a very good feel for the evolutionary process of the band as they go from “Liar” to “Hold Your Head Up” to “God Gave Rock and Roll to You” and to the excellent “Thunder and Lightning” of their final years.  There is an excellent funky, revved-up Live version of “Time of the Season” that closes the collection.

The included 8-page booklet contains an informative essay from Scott Schinder.  It also includes photos, Argent magazine ad-pages pictures, and 45 rpm label shots from some of their releases.  As an added nostalgic bonus, the CD is painted to reproduce the vintage ‘70s-era, orange Epic label with circular white lines.  The songs are re-mastered and sound excellent.

This is a well done collection in every sense.