TIME SILENT RADIO II

People will have their own experiences. Some projects are divisive for the same reason they are magnificent.

I'm happy to admit I'm an echolyn fan. There's a unique chemistry and aesthetic to these guys; they are about as prog as one could want, and yet they sound like no other prog group (unless there's the now very infrequent nod to the fact that they have loved Gentle Giant). These are distinctly modern rock songs in several respects - the dynamics, instrumentation, some of the vocal stylizations, the normal lineup for a rock band. You have two bona fide epics - a semi (Time Has No Place) and an extra (Water In Our Hands). You have a sophistication and spirit of exploration on some tracks which takes their usual harmonic and structural gifts to another level - and sometimes one beyond that one. These are rich, deep compositions, as lovingly and skillfully composed as anything you will hear in progressive rock. And the lyrics amount to some devastating and gorgeous poetry - with a prominent theme of love and time and our ways of wasting, trying to preserve, and reclaim them, in a world growing steadily tired of our presence. The poetry dips into apocalyptic themes, personal as much as societal, but Hope and the chance of redemption are always present, and never in a cliché way.

And on Time Silent Radio vii, the companion album of seven shorter but still-substantial songs, you have a broad and mature mix of the dissonant-yet-earworm-quality echolyn could always achieve due to some very disciplined and innovative harmonic and rhythmic ideas, and also of some gentle lyrical, even dreamy passages which lovers of the transcendent moments in the Prog Masterworks look forward to. The songwriting has grown, deepened, taken on new dimensions and flavors, with some major chances taken, a repeated reaching for what exceeds the grasp... except these guys often reach it, the way one would expect of mature composers writing from a place of depth and wisdom... not to mention the technique and restraint which make it possible. Masterpiece-level stuff.

Yes, newcomers to the band can get a rich sampling of what this band excels at, but there are so many more layers to each piece, compositionally and production-wise, and in messaging, than even the always-high standard of this band has ever quite reached. This is the fulfillment of what this band does. And there's no reason to think there won't be more progression. no reason except that time to make art in as uncompromising a way as this is always hard to come by.

There are things here that no "modern rock" or classic prog band would have thought of. There's an (to me) cliche-free songwriting ethic here. In this album as much as any other they've done, there are hooks galore, sometimes separated by some brief overture or interlude, or a sudden surprise timed perfectly so that it is bracing but never jarring. Often it will be an odd-time gem consisting of some deliciously weird harmonic movements (Time Has No Place - a beautiful two-part "what makes you weep in the minutes left behind... for what you'll never find", leading into what hits home as a brilliantly demented video-game-car-chase passage just my association? Tell me what comes to mind when you listen to that early portion of "time has no place". Highlight of that passage is Brett Kull's wobbly guitar commentary following "ne-ver Find...", seamlessly tranistioning into a military-toned nightmare....from there in turn leading into one of the most plaintively beautiful, soul-shaking passages I can remember, in a simple acoustic, choral melody - "they'll be waiting, but please don't hurry - just hold in the air of Ivy Hill; everythings been giving, all these days that I'm re-living", just holding in the air of Ivy Hill." Weston's - and sometimes, I think, Brett Kull's - exquisitely sensitive empathy for the urge to hold onto the life which we fail to care for, appreciate, try to hold onto even as the sense of loss - personal and cultural - is devastating'.

I don't always know when a passage has been penned by Brett or Ray. But the lyrics simply never sound like simple words to plug into the melody; there are motives here as one would find with any poet, personal angels and Demons, a sort of personal metaphysics. From the last album,"I heard you listening", there's the song Carried Home", with the following passage:

_________________________ Soon the water will rise And soon it carries them home Always circles around itself Blooming, returning to itself Back and forth, it never ends When anything is everything again We're carried home, we're carried to the sea --------------------------- From "Time Has No Place":

They'll be waiting, but please don't hurry Just hold in the air of Ivy Hill Everything's been given All these days that I'm reliving Still holding in the air of Ivy Hill

He brushes up against her As they wait in line Knowing nothing's better than that moment in time

They sing under the boughs And gaze up towards some half-hidden face Calling from some emerald garden Where time has no place. ---------------------------- Ray works with the elderly and dying in nursing care, as I did for many years; I can only assume that some of what he writes is informed by the experience of helping people who are fading away, their deepest memories filling the present and evaporating. Witnessing the life passing by, and away, was a beautiful and terrible part of that job, something I am priviliged to have done, but after which it becomes very difficult to be casual about life, love, and time. Set to music of such depth, "the end is beautiful". No surprise that the closing passages of the song for which the album is titled is a quote from Stravinsky's "Firebird", which sets to music and dance the tale of the magic bird who brings redemption and hope, but at the price of great sacrifice.

I couldn't help but share that the "Ivy Hill section (section B of a four part movement always has the impact of making me wistfully nostalgic for a time I cannot name, which I know I've never been part of....best I could describe the spiritual quality of it is that there is something universal which hits us in the gut, or the soul, something in the ocean we've all been born from, something which feels deep and a little beyond words. The ocean, the air, the place we leave and find our way back to? These are concerns which run through so much of their work, returning, following a trace of lost memory. It's something felt much more than understood.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm really pleased with this album. I find it a solid notch and three-quarters above anything they've done in cohesion, mixing delicious hooks and surprises, woking in some of the most purely unprecedented and sophisticated compositional and harmonic ideas; first rate complex and deeply affecting vocal harmonies. Jordan Person is a seamless replacement for his old teacher, Paul Ramsay, who left after their last album (IHYL). Perlson is a crispier, slightly funkier, driving, drummer, articulating more crisply, on the beat, straightforwardly but confident and flowing in the many odd-time passages. Instead of the flashier Tom Hyatt on bass, we have Ray Weston, melodic, perfectly adept and tasteful, his playing a fine complement to his extremely emotionally-evocative and relatable voice and lyrics.

Each is a powerful album, another level in the song craft, the sophistication of the composing, harmonically, thematically.... it FEELS like they spent many years creating and polishing their magnum opus. I love their music - but never before have I listened to an album as compulsively right after release. I listened to the whole album every night for two weeks after New Years Eve, and I'm only just starting to slow down. There's so friggin' much music here, crafted immaculately. It rocks. It is musically challenging while being anywhere from relatable to gorgeous to jaw-droppingly strange and evocative. You folks who didn't get the early release have a lot to look forward to.

After almost ten years, Echolyn are back with two albums released at the same time. Both are 45 minutes in length.

The good... the sonics of these albums are amazing. Some of the best I've heard in years. If you dig the vocals and multi-layered harmonies of Echolyn, you will notice they never sounded better. Bravo mates! These are very vocal dominant albums where lots of time was spent on recording vocal tracks.

The not so good... the songwriting has mellowed. The unexpected twists and wow moments that make Echolyn's music glorious to me seem less prominent. Also, long time band mates, Paul (drums), and Thomas (bass), do not play on these new albums... and the groove that only they had is missing. Jordan does a decent job but this Echolyn lineup sounds and feels different.

Favorite songs for me are, "On We Blur" and "Tiny Star". Both energetic and playful. Overall, "Time Silent Radio vii" is a good album, not their best nor a good starting point if you're new to the band, but if you prefer the mellower Echolyn then this should be a great listen.

PA have listed both releases as one. So I give "Time Silent Radio II" three stars also.

I've loved Echolyn's music for many years, but their later albums have been a bit hit and miss. I didn't really like 'I Heard you Listening' so I signed up to the Kickstarter campaign with a bit of trepidation, but I figured that, regardless of the likeability of the music, it's supporting a great and creative band anyway.

I have found the two Time Silent Radio albums quite hard to get into; I have listened to them many times since they dropped on 1 January. They didn't immediately land, but as I have listened over the past couple of weeks, they have grown on me. It's complex music with many parts. 'Water in our Hands' for example is a bit like 'Mei' (which I have also struggled to like). However, I think that Echolyn is like the classical music of Prog Rock in that repeated listening reveals more and more genius writing and playing. It's taken a while for the melodies to land where I can find myself recalling them without listening to the music itself, but it's getting there - they are taking hold.

I think this is actually a good thing because when you like something immediately, perhaps it's not the deep and may even get boring with repeated listening - this is not the case with this music. There's plenty to savour here and repeated listening is more and more rewarding. The beauty of the music becomes more powerful and moving with greater familiarity.

I now think that these two albums are wonderful. I originally gave these albums a three star rating, but as I've been listening, I have increased the rating and I now feel this is among the best of their work. 4.5 stars.

Echolyn's nine-year hiatus has not diminished them in any way. Maybe a few of us wondered if we would ever get more music, but now it's here I'm very happy to say, 'thank you Echolyn, welcome back, you've been missed and thank you for the wonderful new music.'

Echolyn's new album pair, Time Silent Radio vii & II, is a magnificent work of art. In particular, the two epics that fill TSR II, "Time Has No Place" and "Water in Our Hands," are mind-bendingly good.

The new songs feel less aggressive than 2002's Mei or 2005's The End Is Beautiful, leaning instead toward the broader sonic range of 2012's eponymous double and 2015's I Heard You Listening -- while, in this listener's opinion, also tapping into the grand ambition and versatility that informed such earlier works as 1995's classic As the World. Yet mere comparison to past work is unfair, because what's on offer here is not derivative but rather fresh and inspired. And the overall sound itself is gorgeous.

Even after more than 30 intermittent years together, the wizards of Echolyn are creating some of their most passionate, intricate, and enjoyable music right now with this melodic masterpiece.

For fairly obvious reasons, the first two paragraphs of this review are the same as for another Echolyn release, but it does change from there on, honest! In March 2025 Echolyn released (or releases, depending when you read this) two new albums on the same day, this one, and the companion album, 'Time Silent Radio vii'. This contains just two long tracks while the other contains seven shorter ones, and the band have also made available artwork which combines both releases so if one wishes to keep them listed as one double album then it is easy to do so. I first came across Echolyn many years ago when they released their third album, 'As The World' in 1995. This was their first (and last) release to a major label as they were signed to Sony for a period, but after more than 250 live shows, three full length albums and one EP the band broke up.

The band have reformed and gone on hiatus a few times since then, but the first reformation in 2000 saw founders Brett Kull, Christopher Buzby and Ray Weston get back together, this time with drummers Jordan Perlson and Paul Ramsey. There have been five albums since 2000, with slight changes in line-up, but Brett, Chris and Ray have been the constants and now they are back with their first releases since 2015's 'I Heard You Were Listening', since when there has been another line-up change with Brett Kull (guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals), Ray Weston (lead vocals, bass, backing vocals), Chris Buzby (keyboards, backing vocals) welcoming back Jordan Perlson (drums & percussion, backing vocals).

The two songs are "Time Has No Place" (16:37), which is broken into four parts, and "Water in Our Hands, Pts. 1-4" (28:51). Playing this album straight after the other one it is interesting to see the similarities and also the differences, as the pop mentalities are again prevalent (The Beatles being an obvious influence), but there is also the impression that the guys are more relaxed. There is a famous quote from Blaise Pascal (often wrongly attributed to Twain and others), "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter." Here they have been able to expand on ideas which would have necessarily needed to be curtailed if they were going to reduce the length, but at the same time they have not extended songs needlessly. There are plenty of bands out there who could do with some judicious editing on some of their releases, The Flower Kings spring to mind, yet here there is a relevance and continuity which takes the listener along for the journey.

All the styles we hear on 'Time Silent Radio vii' are again present but somehow are just "more". It makes it very difficult indeed to pick a favourite of the two as they are so close yet also separate, and I can certainly understand why the band made the sensible decision to make them available as separate albums as opposed to one lengthy one. Personally, whichever of the two I am listening to is my favourite, with its combination of wonderful musicianship, vocals and melodies, so currently it is this one but at the back of my head is the niggle that I really enjoyed the other one as well. The only solution for progheads is to investigate both: you will not be disappointed.

Early thoughts....subject to editing

Echolyn is a band I have long struggled with. Are they really progressive? Yes, on the face of it but there is such a strong focus on songwriting that, for me, it ceases to be progressive except in a neo sense. I've always felt they were too weighty on the vocals and had a certain self-indulgence that was off-putting lyrically and vocally. Yet, there were certainly flashes of brilliance. The Fountainhead for instance, opening track of their 1st album, is epic and timeless for me. An all-time great track.

Regarding this new release, I am still absorbing it as it is a lot. On first blush, that length seems wholly unjustified. Just tighten everything up and make it a single album, I say. It loses distinction in its length. I also find it wearying in its conscious effort to create "hooks". Are they trying to write hits? Certainly the production is A+ for the most part and it seems radio-friendly. But just considering it on its musical value I find it confusing though fairly compelling most of the time. Clearly my struggles with this band continue. I want to like it. There are plenty of things I dig but they often become meaningless in short order.

You can't have your foot in both worlds. Echolyn is a band that seems to be facing backwards while trudging forward.

Extremely listenable. Great as what I call "Progzak"...stuff that sounds good but with little that is going to grab my attention away from bill paying, bookkeeping, etc...Don't get me wrong. I kind of like my "progzak" playlist as it crackles with proggy vibes and ideas , which is great as background. But, when I attend to it it bores me to revulsion. Strange how that works.

There is a lot of Progzak out there these days. All the nauseating Neo stuff is everywhere. Echolyn is better than most of that and the general arranging skills are quite good if not groundbreaking.

I give it 5 stars for its sound and production. Honestly, I'm on the fence between 3 or 4 stars musically. It's a solid 3 with lots of 4 star splashes, shall we say!

So close. Echolyn delivers an album consisting of only two tracks, which excites me as I enjoy when a band lets loose and dedicates itself to developing its music over a long period. However, the main issue with the album becomes apparent right away: the music doesn't develop much. I keep waiting for the band to do something unexpected, to wake me up or take the music in new directions. But it doesn't happen.

Don't get me wrong, the music is great; I enjoy the melodies and the vocals. But there's a limit to how many times you can hear the same verse or riff. When you take a song that should be a maximum of ten minutes and stretch it to over 16 minutes without allowing it to develop, it becomes close to boring. The second track, "Water in our hands," has a first ten-minute period where I want to turn it off every time I listen because they repeat the same music and riff for too long. Just after ten minutes, they make a change and move in a different direction, but it's a period of music that should have been a maximum of five minutes.

There's a lot of good on this album, but to make it better, they needed to shorten each track by at least 30%, or make changes in the songs to break up the music or introduce something unexpected to keep me engaged. Here, it barely happens, and the music chugs along at a similar tempo and in a similar style. The production is brilliant, the music is fantastic, and the band has never sounded better. But it's too drawn out for me to handle. So close to being fantastic, but it doesn't work when I feel like I want to fast-forward the music. Making long tracks requires a special group, and few can do it well. Echolyn is close but doesn't quite get there this time.

The Tool's of Echolyn

Echolyn has been one of my favorite bands since their early days, with albums like Echolyn (1991), Suffocating the Bloom (1992), As the World (1995), and Mei (2002). They have a fascinating discography, but after Mei, and speaking objectively, the band started to lose what made them interesting. The music became boring, lost its charm, its dissonance, its madness?it became bourgeois in sound, in the best sense of the word.

Then came The End Is Beautiful (2005), which had some flashes of brilliance, and their self-titled album in 2012, which starts off devastatingly strong but then fades away, returning to the same patterns without truly transcending.

At the end of 2024, I received an email informing me that Echolyn would be releasing two albums in March of this year: Time Silent Radio II and Time Silent Radio VII. This news sparked a lot of anticipation. To make the release more appealing, the band offered several options, including green purchases with downloads, special prices, and limited editions. Finally, the release arrived. The first thing I heard was Time Silent Radio II.

And here is the review. The truth is, the album generates more expectation than it actually delivers. I think the band's mistake was in creating such high expectations in the first place.

The album consists of two long tracks and runs for almost 50 minutes. It moves through different atmospheres and sounds, gradually building up flashes of intensity and power. I've never fully grasped the concept behind it, but the music envelops you and takes you places. The first track, Time Has No Place, is incredible, evolving in an excellent way. Something similar happens with the second track?the band knows how to jam and play. The music is exceptional and perhaps the best thing Echolyn has done since The End Is Beautiful. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot. All the elements that make us love this band are here.

While it's a great album, it can't be considered a masterpiece?but it is an excellent record, made with dedication and passion. Echolyn reminds me of a band like Tool in the way they build expectations around every release, but in the end, it's just another record.

Legendary U.S. Symphonic Prog band Echolyn has emerged after a ten-year absence with not one, but two new albums, their 10th and 11th (released not as a double album, but 2 separate albums), returning with their unique rockin' prog sound, mixing classic melodic rock and power pop with sumptuous symphonic prog for a wonderful set of albums. TSRii consists of 2 epic-length tracks (16 and 29 min.), whereas TSRvii has 7 shorter tracks (that's where the titles come from). The two lengthy tracks ebb and flow and take their time to develop through multiple musical sections and themes, but never lose focus, remaining consistently enjoyable and entertaining throughout their musical journeys. I prefer TSRVII over this disc, but this is still quite wonderful prog. It is just not quite as consistently brilliant throughout as the other disc is. Echolyn's music may have many varied influences throughout, but yet they have created their own unique style, as they don't sound quite like anyone else. I'm not all that familiar with the band's earlier catalog, but I really like these 2 albums, and will be returning to them often throughout the year. Best Tracks: Water in Our Hands. Rating: 4.0

"Time Has No Place": a symphonic, cinematic intro, a train station feel, a melody based on Big Big Train, the Flower Kings, and Gentle Giant, a touch jazzy. The vocals appear with Brett and Ray, a touch of XTC, fresh and varied. The lively piano for the second of the four parts, harmony, an invading Mellotron, a marshmallowy return with the melting sound of ELO. The instrumental, the return of the vocals, the choirs, and the air sinking into a divine space with Ray at the helm. The nostalgic, yet not soporific, vintage prog moment; the intermission and the Beatles-esque vocals all at once, somewhere between pop and prog rock with a hint of Canterbury. The sound of King Crimson, the heavy riff supporting the choirs; a musical festival, a fusion of opera, nursery rhymes, and pastoral sequences, bordering on the styles of prog rock.

«'Water in Our Hands, Pts. 1-4» singular, fruity intro; the sound of the 70s for the voice and the musical structure; already lost in this musical maelstrom where we feel the deconstructed prog of Jethro Tull, technical, invasive. The vocal and instrumental mix makes us lose track of time; a compendium of rock with a captivating jazzy tessitura with bewitching voices; an entertaining space that seems to burst with discoveries in every drawer, like this rapped section, this passage on Genesis with the organ making the hairs stand on end. An acoustic piano interlude à la Joe Jackson with the tenacious guitar riff that flirts with «The Lamb». The six parts go from the epic to the moving for an adventure that took ten years, with many nods to Yes, Genesis above all, on Big Big Train narrating the inevitable passage of time. The Beatlesian finale, fruity and enjoyable xtcian and thirty minutes out of this time. The album that recalls "mei" for its impromptu continuation. Origin progcensor.(4.5)