AXIOM – Axiom
Axiom were generally regarded as Australia’s first supergroup, forming from members of Aussie bands such as The Groop, The Twilights and The Valentines. Their plan was to crack the British market with a blend of country influenced soft rock. After a couple of well-received singles in their homeland they decamped to the UK to record this album, which was eventually released in 1970. True to their word, it contained thirteen country pop tunes, all extremely well played and arranged, but ultimately a bit too anodyne for my tastes. ‘Arkansas Grass’ was a hit in Australia and, together with its B-side ‘Samantha’, are both good uptempo pop songs, while ‘Baby Bear’ has some nice harmonies and a welcome inclusion of pedal steel guitar. Some of the ballads are less memorable, and ‘Take It Or Leave It’ and ‘Country Pickin’’ might sound OK the first few times you hear them but they can quickly become irritating. ‘A Little Ray Of Sunshine’ was another hit in Oz, but sounds extremely dated today with its cloying lyric and overbearing strings. ‘Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow’ is pure late 60’s pop, much more to my liking, but it is just a shame that there is not more on the album like this. The band returned to Australia after a short tour, but the album didn’t set the UK alight, and their follow-up was more easy listening than anything else. This album is not yet out on CD, but there is a ‘Best Of…’ which includes all these tracks plus some from the follow-up, although to be honest I can’t really recommend it other than to Oz-rock completists or fans of easy listening country pop.