EDEN

STYLE: Actually the album is closer to symphonic rock than folk/rock.Folk-tinged symphonic rock would be a good description.''Erwartung'' works as a concept album with a story starting from God's creation and Jesus' life and miracles and ends up to the resurrection and humanity's salvation.Lots of magnificent flute,violin and piano parts flirting both with folk and classical music.Lyrics are sung in German with male and female singers delivering great gospel-like choirs and multi-vocal sections.Electric guitars are also awesome sounding close to bands like ELOY and ANYONE'S DAUGHTER.''Erwartung'' is a very melodic album with plenty of complex parts and a fair amount of professional interplays.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: Flute parts remind me a lot of CAMEL,guitars of ANYONE'S DAUGHTER,but the overall sound is closer to other German symph/folk bands like REBEKKA or HOELDERLIN.A touch of GENTLE GIANT's music is also evident.

PLUS: One of the best works on flutes and violins on the entire progressive rock spectrum! Constantly changing moods,from happy sounding tracks to grandiose and deep vocal-driven passages.Excellent delivery on keys and saxes,which make the sound even richer.Great vocal sections,despite the raw German language.Not cheesy at all,despite the Christian-based themes and year of release,on the opposite the musicinaship on ''Erwartung'' is a lot more than demanding.A huge amount of memorable melodies and well-executed interplays.

MINUS: Really hard to find...Just German lyrics aren't everybody's taste and are hard to be followed hy the mass of the prog community.

WILL APPEAL TO: Really to everyone!Both fans of folk rock and symphonic/classic progressive rock will have the time of their lives with this one...but anyone who takes music seriously should run and purchase ''Erwartung''!

CONCLUSION/RATING: 5 stars and my highest recommendations for an album flirting with prog rock's Hall of Fame for its original approach,balance and deep atmospheres!An unforgettable experience definetely!

The album opens with its weakest track, "Spatregen". While it contains most of the elements interspersed throughout the disk, it sounds half baked and rudderless, almost like an early composition that should have been refined before inclusion. The rest of the songs are all great, featuring, in addition to the characteristics named above, plenty of flutes, saxes, acoustic guitars, some raucous leads, and shimmering melodies, sort of like the Moody Blues but bigger and more experimental. However, the end to "Eden Teil II" includes a few bars from "Nights in White Satin" just to drive home the reality of the influence.

The ultimate highlight is the closer, "Ein Anderes Land", which is 16+ minutes of symphonic progressive bliss, a suite of many moods and themes, centered around the most intricate and awe-inspiring harmonies, as well as the most skillful playing and arranging on the record. I think I hear Eden taking a bit of the Novalis sound and stretching way out beyond what that band seemed willing to do. While an obscure reference, Eden also reminds me of the Basque group Enbor at times, chiefly in their attention to vocal interplay and their ethereal folkiness.

Eden's debut exceeds the expectations one might have for an obscure late 70s prog album, serving up a small taste of paradise in musical form.