Rod Argent - Red House

Rod Argent - Red House - 1988

This comes off as a New Age movie soundtrack, but a good New Age movie soundtrack. It's mostly instrumental, and mostly done on synthesizers - even the drums sound like drum machines - augmented by occasional sax, guitar (Clem Clempson, ex-Humble Pie), or bass (Mo Foster, ex-Jeff Beck). Argent scat sings on "Salvation Song" and delivers fantastic soul vocals on "Helpless" and "Baby Don't You Cry," but that's it. He'd been doing movie and TV scores for years at this point, and he really had the form figured out: even though some of the numbers drag over six minutes, you hardly notice because they're so light, tuneful, and relaxing. When Argent breaks from the New Age thing to deliver a sparkling, slowed-down 3/4-time classical piano solo ("A 4th Gymnopedie," reprised with synth and sax on "In Memory")

01. Teenage Years
02. Salvation Song
03. A 4th Gymnopedie
04. Helpless
05. Sweet Russian
06. In Memory
07. Baby Don't You Cry
08. First Touch
09. Suite T
10. Spirits

Rod Argent - Keyboards, Vocals
Clem Clempson - Guitar (2, 4, 5, 7)
Dave Bronze - Bass (4)
Mo Foster - Bass (9)
Peter Van Hooke - Drums, Percussion
Phil Todd - Soprano Saxophone (5, 6)

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