About
Out of St Albans, England in 1961 came one of the most underrated bands of the British Invasion era. The Zombies coalesced around the classically trained Rod Argent on keyboards and the silky-voiced Colin Blunstone, a pairing that gave the group a sophistication few of their contemporaries could match. Rounding out the classic lineup were Paul Atkinson on guitar, Chris White on bass, and Hugh Grundy behind the kit. Their sound blended pop sensibility with jazz-influenced chord progressions and a cool, almost melancholy atmosphere that set them apart from the rawer British acts dominating the scene.
The band scored an immediate hit with She's Not There in 1964, a brooding, minor-key gem that announced they were playing a different game entirely. But it was their 1968 swan song Odessey and Oracle that cemented their legacy. Recorded before the band had already quietly dissolved, the album is a baroque pop masterpiece, with Time of the Season becoming a genuine classic. Ironically, the record's success arrived after the group had split, giving it an almost mythological quality among fans and critics.
Odessey and Oracle now regularly appears on greatest albums of all time lists, and its influence on psychedelic pop and even progressive rock is hard to overstate. Argent and Blunstone have kept the Zombies name alive into the 21st century, introducing the band to new generations and proving that some records genuinely improve with age.
