AS THE WORLD

I've been drawn to this album by its excellent reviews and the description of the band as the new Gentle Giant. After listening to As The World for about a week I shelved it without ever coming back to neither the band nor the record until now. This was of course unfair and listening to this album today brings quite a few good memories of the fun I had while listening to it the first couple of times.

The reason for my negligence has to do with the cheap thrills that Echolyn offers the listener. Being a U.S. band they tend to come off a bit like a mix between Kansas and Spock's Beard. That is not to say that there is enough originality offered here but the in your face type of attitude really puts me off at times. The album's title track is a good example of just that. It all starts like great with the intro-verse-chorus section followed by a strongly Gentle Giant inspired part followed by section after section where the band just show off their skill while loosing connection to the original song structure. Of course it's all great once the song comes back to its core towards the end.

Ultimately I've never been a fan of Echolyn but this album works if I'm in the right mood. Therefore this is definitely not one of those albums that I listen to often and probably never will.

***** star songs: As The World (4:50)

**** star songs: All Ways The Same (0:36) Uncle (6:54) Best Regards (4:11) The Cheese Stands Alone (4:48) Prose (1:45) My Dear Wormwood (3:34) The Wiblet (0:47) Settled Land (5:41) Never The Same (7:54)

*** star songs: How Long Have I Waited (4:43) A Short Essay (4:34) Entry 11.19.93 (6:33) One For The Show (4:31) Audio Verite (4:19) A Habit Worth Forming (4:24)