How nice to see another Ambrosia thread!
I LOVE early Ambrosia. Among my all-time favorites. I posted a similar thread among my first to this forum some months ago, but it was ignored, so I'm glad to see another thread begun.
Their 1st album (eponymous) is edgy and adventurous musically and lyrically. That's what
Holding on to Yesterday came from, though that's among the more conventional. I agree: Unlike
Pirates
, great song. But my fave from that album is
Nice, Nice, Very Nice, a Kurt Vonnegut poem they set to music (also on the "Anthology" CD). Among other things, the only rock song I can think of that was sung using choral diction..."Nah-ees Nah-ees Veddy Nah-ees, So many people in the same dee-vah-ees". This wildly creative album gets a vote for the most literate rock album ever made from a guy (me) who loves writing. The album was produced by Alan Parsons. Some (all?) of Ambrosia also appeared among the studio musicians on his "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", which is also (...the only album of his...) among my faves.
Their second, "Somewhere I've Never Travelled", is equally strong musically, though more conservative and approachable than the first. Pack even switched to falsetto. Lyrically, the second album isn't as strong, but still a great album. Some funny, Zappa-esque, stuff on there, too, like
Cowboy Star . This album came out when I was in college; turned some friends in the dorm onto them (and prog in general) with that album. Also produced by Parsons. AM has this album. My favorite at the time was "I Wanna Know", because of its explosive power. But over time, it hasn't worn as well as anything on the 1st album. Its lyrics also seem a little silly now, too.
After that, Ambrosia and Parsons changed record labels, parted company, and adopted substantially more commercially-viable styles. With substantially more commercial success.
Ambrosia's third, "Life Beyond LA", has its moments, but is mostly formulaic late-70s-early-80s top-40. I remember an interview where they admitted their prog fans would be disappointed (this one certainly was) that they planned to explore other musical avenues going forward, but might eventually return to prog. At the time, they said their immediate plans included a C&W album! I don't think that ever materialized. I think they had a few albums after that and a few top-40 hits, but since I didn't follow top-40 I lost track of them. For me, there was no Life Beyond LA[g]. I don't know
Ice Age or "Road Island", so maybe I missed some good stuff by dismissing them. Maybe they did return to prog. I'll definitely look into that because when Ambrosia was good, they were very ("Veddy") good.
I bought the "Anthology" CD but have only played it a few times; too much pop pablum. Whenever I get around to start burning my LPs to CD for enjoyment in a post-turntable world, Ambrosia's will be among the first.
Wow, I wrote a lot! Must be more passionate about their music than I realized.