Sadly, The Zombies are rarely mentioned when talk turns to the best bands of the British Invasion. Maybe that's because the bespectacled quintet looked more like high school chemistry teachers than proper rock stars, or maybe because only three of their songs (She's Not There, Tell Her No, Time of the Season) bothered the charts in a significant way. Though their success was modest, their music was magnificent. Upfront, The Zombies had the supple, expressive vocals of Colin Blunstone and the jazzy keyboards of Rod Argent, whose playing could have provided the blueprint for Steely Dan's Walter Becker. But, in Argent and guitarist Chris White, The Zombies also had writers whose songs equalled Paul McCartney's and Brian Wilson's for sophistication and invention. The Zombies' tunes were blessed with drop-dead gorgeous melodies, intricate vocal harmonies and major-to-minor key changes that make your heart skip a beat. Absolutely The Best includes the three hits, along with 13 lost pop classics that inexplicably fizzled on the charts between 1965 and '68 although, more than 30 years later, luscious tracks like Leave Me Be, Is This a Dream and Whenever You're Ready can still take your breath away. The uninitiated should start here, or with the group's misspelt baroque-pop masterpiece, Odessey And Oracle.

Track Listing 1. She's Not There
  2. Tell Her No
  3. Time Of The Season
  4. I Love You
  5. Leave Me Be
  6. Way I Feel Inside, The
  7. She's Coming Home
  8. Nothing's Changed
  9. I Want You Back Again
  10. Whenever You're Ready
  11. If It Don't Work Out
  12. Is This The Dream
  13. Remember You
  14. Just Out Of Reach
  15. Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself
  16. Imagine The Swan