The Action: Rolled Gold : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The Action were the other great English band produced by George Martin in the 1960s: London mods who pressed guitar havoc and the airtight pop of Martin's star clients, the Beatles, into a sparkling R&B sealed by the exquisite agony of singer Reg King. After their '65-'67 singles with Martin fell shy of hitsville, the Action cut their own set of demos. But the band broke up, and the tapes were shelved -- until now. Rolled Gold has an unfinished air, but that can't hide the invention in the Action's acid soul: the rolling wah-wah-guitar thunder in "Brain"; the snorting fuzz and dirty-cherub harmonies in "Follow Me." The huge jangle and magnetic chorus of "Something to Say" would make Oasis ache with envy. The Action never became stars, but Rolled Gold justifies the legend.

DAVID FRICKE
(RS 908 - October 31, 2002)