The Zombies – featuring superb lead singer Colin Blunstone and fine young keyboard player Rod Argent – were the second UK group following the Beatles to score a No. 1 hit in America. With gorgeous melodies, breathy vocals, choral back-up harmonies and a jazzy influence, The Zombies ruled the 1960’s with hit singles like “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.” Delivering some of the best produced and distinctive records in all of pop music, The Zombies’ canon belongs on the same shelf as the other major players of the mid-60s such as the Kinks, Yardbirds and Animals; from their debut onwards, there was never at any point a drop in quality.

R.I.P., also known as R.I.P. – The Lost Album, was originally scheduled to be released in 1969, but was cancelled. It was finally first released in Japan in October 2000 by Imperial Records. In 1968, Rod Argent and Chris White began working on material for a possible new band when they were approached by CBS to do another Zombies album. Side A of the album is composed of new tracks that were cut with a lineup led by keyboardist Rod Argent and musicians who would become the band, Argent. Side B is composed of old out-takes and demos that were overdubbed and enhanced. Two songs from the album, “Imagine the Swan” (one of the newly recorded songs) and “If It Don’t Work Out” (a demo of a song that Dusty Springfield recorded and released in 1965), were put out as singles in 1969.