Ambrosia - Ambrosia
Track List:
Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Time Waits for No One
Holdin’ on to Yesterday
World Leave Me Alone
Make Us All Aware
Lover Arrive
Mama Frog
Drink of Water
Songs I have heard before this listening:
I thought that this was my first exposure to Ambrosia but I found in the course of listening to the album I realize I had heard “Holdin’ on to Yesterday” before.
Songs I think could have been singles:
Mama Frog - I think this could have been released without the poem in the middle as a pop song.
Other artists this reminds me of:
Yes
Notes on the music:
This was an enjoyable album.
Most of my thoughts below were typed in 2 listens of the album. I did dive a little deeper into the final 2 songs with some speculation.
They seem very much in the same style to Yes, at least for this album. The music sounds happy. I looked over some of the credits and it looks like the lyrics of “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” are from a Kurk Vonnegut novel. There is also a poem recited in the penultimate song. I didn't find any other literary allusions, however there could be more. I listed to a playlist called "The Essentials Ambrosia" while finalizing this and I don't think that their more technical playing on this album was reflected on it, They had the first 2 songs and then the rest of what I heard was either really pop styled vocal songs or songs that would fit in as the background music in a doctor's waiting room or as part of the soundtrack for a softcore porn, sometimes both! Money makes people do strange things. I hope that some of the deeper cuts on the other albums have more of the technical and experimental playing and not produced pop rocks songs.
Notes on individual Songs
Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Friendly intro, happy sounding piece (I think this may be subliminal due to the name of the song). I like the delay they add to the second time they sing the first verse. The solo section makes you want to hear more. It intrigues the listener to dive deeper into the album, promising that the songs will be "very nice".
Time Waits for No One
I first read this title as "Tom Waits for No One" and thought that maybe this is the original diss track. I believe I am glad that it wasn't a Tom Waits diss track. I enjoy how the song has a driving feel where it pushes forward to the chorus then has an exaggerated "slowing of time" by reducing the tempo and changing style of lyrical delivery. After a short instrumental section we are rushing forward in time one more. I really like the lyric "you know if you hurry it takes twice as long" is amazing and applies to life so much while many many folks don't realize it. The claps are intriguingly timed and pulls the song forward again like the rest of the song has. We get a rush into multiple genres in a Zappa level showcase of talent. The song encourages the listener to be diligent as time is fleeting however not to rush to ignore the small details. I like this.
Holdin’ on to Yesterday
Notably down beat compared to the previous track. I feel this leans a little more into the psychedelic influence, there are waves of guitar in the background with a lazy kick on 1 and 2 snare on 3 with hat, gives a heartbeat shuffle type beat to to the song with a funky splatty bass sound that really helps give this song a groove. This is a song of longing and wanting for a former lover and coming to the realization that the past is the past. I feel like we have at least a bit of a theme here, appreciation of your limited resources. The solo still has some of the driving feel.
World Leave Me Alone
This is a lot more bluesy. Lyrics are more spoken than sung compared to prior songs. This has a feel a lot like a George Thorogood song.
Make Us All Aware
This song starts with a timpani roll or something similar. I like the way that it sounds a lot. I've tried to reproduce this sound before by playing a recording of a crash symbol in reverse. It's one of my favorite ways to start songs. It's just really neat to hear good music made with the same type sounds. The ascending bass line really drives this one. Very spacey instrumental section, I like the variety in the song. I feel like if this was released today some people would call it "woke"...released in 1975...
Lover Arrive
The song's composition reminds me of an Elton John song. AN ode to a lover. I wonder if this was for the same person who Holdin' on to Yesterday was about. The song doesn't have a happy feel, more of a longing somber tone.
Mama Frog
This song has a much more pop feel to it, with a swing beat. The bass sound on the arp has a splat sound similar to bass on "Estimated Prophet" And then there is the spoken word part. Then a much more experimental piece that now sounds like a Zappa inspired song. And back to the dance pop feel. This song has it all and then just ends.
This song is written in second person and tells the story of you as you went to a meet with Mama Frog and you took some sort of drug that made you trip. It's not a very pleasant trip when you observe the story of a hero who battles and slays the feared Jabberwock. There is a celebration but you lose yourself into your thoughts and nonsense, you then work to find yourself. You are happy and excited again as you are going to see Mama Frog.
Wow! That was a fun ride. They really seem to have captured something I've not seen done before with the playing with the words to show confusion. The spoken word part includes nonsensical words throughout and the first verse repeats at the end. When it first starts it is confusing and seems wrong. However the story develops and then when it repeats the end makes sense lyrically. I think this is a warning against the use of psychedelics. The narrator is excited, and has a jarring experience. Then they just want to repeat it because they find life boring. The album has had a running theme of using your time productively and they could feel that the recreational use of psychedelics is not a productive use of time.
Drink of Water
A breakbeat fill and then a hymn like song. The song creates an atmosphere of tranquility and sereneness. I feel like this could be an extension of the previous song. You've left Mama Frog's house and you are thirsty but otherwise feeling very happy. You have some thoughts about yourself and how you feel in life currently. It is an introspective experience where you are able to accept your life and are at peace. You are in a state of serenity. The lyrics start again and the song intensifies. You sing somber again about the lack of water because you are parched.
Or the more likely meaning but I think less comical that everyone has a calling, some follow theirs and others don't. If you don't pursue your dreams then your dreams will not come true. You get to choose what you do with your time.
