The Zombies: Odessey and Oracle [Rhino Bonus Tracks] : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Formed in suburban London, the Zombies had some U.S. success with their early garage singles, 1964's "She's Not There" and '65's "Tell Her No." But by the time the quintet entered Abbey Road Studios in the summer of 1967, the U.K. music scene had changed drastically, and psychedelia was in bloom. Unlike many British Invasion groups, the Zombies actually had the chops and the introspection to meet psychedelia's challenge. The band would break up before Odessey and Oracle's release, but the album's final track, "Time of the Season," became a surprise smash, sporting a combination of love-era lyrics, vocal dexterity, brain-embedding hooks and jazzy keyboard flash. The rest of the disc is beloved by fans of baroque pop for its ornate melodies and nuanced arrangements, as well as the masterful harpsichord, organ, piano and Mellotron playing of Rod Argent. On Beatles-ish ballads such as the mournful "A Rose for Emily," the Zombies harmonize like an English-choirboy answer to Pet Sounds. Throughout Odessey, Colin Blunstone croons with a breathy, mentholated coolness: His androgynous tenor hits an emotional tone to which Jeff Buckley and Radiohead's Thom Yorke would later return.