ECHOLYN

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.

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)

I have only just discovered Echolyn in the last month in spite of them having been in existence for 20 years. What's more, so far I have only heard this album and I write this without reference to any of their other work. In some regards, it seems unnecessary to do so. This album is so good, to my ears, that it stands perfectly well on its own as a classic of 21st Century progressive music - as young as our century may be.

The eight tracks comprising this work offer as good an hour of listening as anything I have heard in recent years, that's how impressed I am. Moreover, each track has a distinct identity, or individuality if you will. None of them overstays their welcome, the longest clocking in at just over 10 minutes. Not that I'm averse to the long-form song you understand, rather, what Echolyn do here is let each track breath sufficiently to assert its personality and uniqueness before moving on to another character in the set thereby sustaining your interest and anticipation. In this sense, 'The End Is Beautiful' has a dramatic structure and unfolds its narrative musically and lyrically without ever approaching anything yuo might term a 'concept'. The songs seem to concern themselves with some pretty murky corners of existence: Loneliness, loss, despair, doomed relationships, addiction (largely it would appear to love), love won and love lost, sorrow and isolation. However, there's nothing in the music that reflects this by being morose or melancholic, quite the opposite really. Musically, Echolyn present us with an optimistic sound merely tinged with sadness in places. The songs are as full of energy and beauty as they are about life's unpleasant challenges. One lyric, from the closing track 'Misery Not Memory' exemplifies this ideally for me:

Wake like a Quaker Full of promise I'm afraid I'll kill again Chose the life that's poisoned me Leave it all to misery Leave it all to misery Can't deny That I belong to misery

The album opens with Georgia Pine, bursting in with a drum break which almost feels like it is going to become 'Stargazer' from Rainbow Rising before quickly finding its feet and galloping along to the wonderful 'I'm gonna get high as a Georgia Pine' chorus - all hammond organ, handclaps and harmonies. But this belies the song's menacing underbelly. It's kind of, 'look at as all getting along merrily but underneath we're a skulking hoard of hate and regret'. Having got the blood moving, 'Heavy Blue Miles' continues to hurl us along on a wave of rich and swelling measures into a delicate piano-led verse that repeatedly threatens danger before developing into a genre-bending mid-section that defies description. Superb. What I will say about these two openers, and this is characteristic of the whole album, is the intricacy of the arrangements is startlingly good. The level of detail in every aspect of the production is staggering. Moreover, both opening tracks are given a further dimension in the form of some fantastic brass arrangements by Chris Buzby played by Mark Gallagher (Alto & Baritone sax), Eric Aplet (Trumpet) and Phil Kaufman (Trombone).

'Lovesick Morning' is the longest track on the album and takes us into stiller, deeper waters. The chorus here is gorgeous and a standout moment in another rich, complex tapestry of sound that the band create with more wonderful horn accompaniment. I'd like to make mention of drummer, Paul Ramsey. His kit work is extraordinary varying from subtle phrasing to hold the beat down, keeping the root rhythm clear and interesting to giant, clattering accents and fills which compliment the variety in the arrangements perfectly. I think this true of the whole work to be fair, the musicianship is of the very highest order and the band accomplish that balance between individual virtuosity and collective coherence with panache.

Ray Weston (for i assume it is him) gets his chance to shine vocally on the angry 'Make Me Sway', bellowing his guts out through a rolling and jabbing pugilist of a number. The title track follows and is in total contrast to everything so far being led along by Tom Hyatt's funky little bass figures that resolve into some sonically taut sections that sound like The Doobie Brothers enduring colonic irrigation. For me the most challenging piece on the album. More funky bass and almost Motown-like Clavinet excursions in the next track, 'So Ready'. 'Arc of Descent' follows and is something of a keynote number for the album's themes and styles being an unnerving mix of acoustic and electric passages about a man alone contemplating taking his own life in a motel room. Final track, 'Misery, Not Memory' takes all of the elements of the album so far and wraps them in an uptempo, accessible, foot-tapping sort of groove driven by more of Buzby's hammond playing until dropping breathlessly into an ethereal whirl of sounds before reprising the refrain and hurtling into its final measures. Something haunting remains as the message of this song seeps through beyond its closing notes. Something to do with life's transience and the wreckage of substance misuse. Deep.

Deep, but never 'up itself' (unlike your reviewer) this is a fine, fine album. American purveyors of progressive music are, as a general rule, not as pervasive as we Europeans (for I am one). Perhaps there's something lacking in their history and culture; not enough pixies and elves and trolls to engage their imaginations and fears as children. Because, by and large, I can count on one hand the American bands who genuinely write such accomplished, involved, delicate, complex music as this. Without a doubt, The End Is Beautiful put Echolyn right up there with the very best of European progsters but have a clear identity, flavour, and style all of their own. This may be the only album i have heard by them but it is a certainty that I shall be acquiring more. if you haven't tried them, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do so and start with this.

One of the best albums from Echolyn, not as good as "Suffocating the Bloom", but close to their music edge of the nineties anyway...the unique- minor defect - is due to the fact that is a sort of solo album, mainly from Brett Kull , especially talking about the point of view of his composition... however the psichedelic tunes as well as the immediate avant gard pop songs (sometimes in the vein of "Mei" or also "Cowboy Poems free"), where the virtuosic features are not the main target, don't affect the good output of the album. I should say that's definitively their most original side, even though the whole album is more guitar oriented, by means of 13 short songs..well the lyrics are a little bit melancholy, obviously not sad, but quite reflective and intelligent too; as for all these reasons the present album can be recommended to the old fans and the new listener as well...for instance "Georgia pine" is a quite powerful tune, enriched with a remarkable guitar solo and a good "support" at the Hammond organ too...ok the piano is gentle but not so important within the composition, but nevermind! "Heavy blue miles" for example is a convincing episode along with its interesting changes in the mood or the various accelerated rhtymical patterns as well, without forgetting the chorus inside "The End is Beautiful", another interesting title track and the definitive "trademark" by Echolin...LONG LIVE ECHOLYN!!

Now out of print, this "Official Live Bootleg" can still be downloaded at Echolyn's website.

As a live album, this is not bad. It does cover just about every stage of the band's career up until Mei. The sound quality is very good, but not spectacular, but at least the crowd has the good sense to keep quiet during the music. The banter on the album provides some interesting insights into the meaning and creation of some of the songs, but at times it goes on a bit too long and becomes tedious.

The highlight of this disk is actually the entire second CD. The performance of the fifty minute epic, Mei is great.

While this is a nice set to own, I believe that this band is deserving of a better produced live recording.

This live album is available for download for free from Echolyn's website, and as it contains a broad spectrum of the band's works, it's a really great place to start. I delight in this live album so much for several reasons. For one, it definitely sounds like the band is playing in a small venue (honestly, it sounds like someone's living room), and yet the sound quality during the music doesn't suffer much at all for it. Secondly, the band and audience bantering between songs is just plain fun- one can tell these gentlemen are just having a swell time, both playing the music and interacting with the gathering. And they are so considerate- asking if anyone in the crowd needs to use the restroom before playing their final song- the fifty minute epic masterpiece of progressive rock music that is "Mei." "Sweet Thing" seems to be a long medley (kicked off by a twelve-tone technique, as explained), containing several sections of "A Suite for Everyman." Admittedly there are several songs I would have rather heard live than some here (mainly replacements from Cowboy Poems Free), but the set list is just fine the way it is. This is a perfect place to start for those new to Echolyn. Not only is it a energetic performance of songs spanning multiple albums, but it's 100% free- a definite plus in these economic times. This is highly recommended for the fans and the curious.

I don't know why, but I always wan't to pronounce this "Meh!" I know, that would indicate that this is not such a great album, which is not true, but I can't resist a good pun.

This ambitious album is made up of just one track, Mei, which clocks in at just under fifty minutes. As an epic, at times this piece succeeds, although at times it also seems to meander around between movements, both musically and lyrically.

The lyrics appear to be describing poetically a car trip through America. Since this was released not very long after 9/11, but before a corrupt administration misguided the country into a war for personal enrichment and vendettas, the lyrics eventually turn to a section reflecting both the national unity and jingoism that were prevalent at the time.

Musically, the piece winds it's way through many different themes, both simple and complex. The usual Gentle Giant references can be heard, mostly in the keyboards, and the vocals are as lush as any Echolyn composition.

But after a while, the length of this song can just make it tedious. But then, the same can happen on a long car ride.

The End Is Beautiful is like an ogre... I mean an onion... it has layers. On the surface, it may sound like somewhat standard songs. But the more you listen to it... and I mean really listen to it... the more these layers unfold, and the majesty of the songs are revealed.

There is much written here that Echolyn is merely a Gentle Giant clone. But while there is clear evidence that they are influenced by GG, they are by no means a clone. Echolyn's music is some of the most unique in the prog world, with the unusual distiction of also being easy on the ears. It is that quality, I believe, that lulls many listeners into the assumption that the music is not highly complex. But delve down into it, and it is.

From the opening Georgia Pine, to the final track, you get amazing compositions of compound time signatures, swirling harmonies, and intricately entwined instumental arrangements. Even slow ballads, like Lovesick Morning is deceptively deep in those respects.

And So Ready is one of the steamiest hard rock tunes ever.

Don't pass this one by. And don't just listen once and put it away.

Echolyn's rebirth in 2000 was a spectacular one. And believe it or not, this isn't even their best album since their comeback. In fact, this four star album isn't as good as either of the two albums they've recorded since, yet this is still very close to a masterpiece.

Now I have heard a profusion of confusion as to whether or not Echolyn is a fusion band. Here the fusion is much less prevalent, as the songs mostly have more traditional rock structures. Yet even with that, the Echolyn odd rhythms, chord patterns and vocal harmonies abound. And the lyrics, mostly about the difficulties attaining the American Dream in this modern age, are deep and poignant.

Echolyn are still masters of intricate musical woven patterns. Although many of the tracks here on the surface sound straightforward, listen to the album repeatedly, and the intricacies reveal themselves to the listener. To spectacular effect.

4.5 stars.

— First review of this album —

After Sony (please pronounce that word with a sneer) used Echolyn as a loss leader, released a fantastic album but barely promoted it or the subsequent tour, the band broke up. Thanks a lot, Sony! :P

In 2000, Echolyn announced their rebirth by offering this two song sampler for free when ordering their new CD, Cowboy Poems Free.

Both of the songs here have a much richer instumental texture than the original releases, each from the album bearing the song name as it's title. And for that, they are both worthy tracks to own. However, the absence of the vocal harmonies on the originals, and the shortening of the fantastic middle section of As The World, make both of these songs inferior to the original recordings.

Because of that, and since both of these tracks were included on the collection A Little Nonsense Now And Then, this is definitely just a collector's item.

Back in 1995, I was still managing a record store in Cambridge Massachusetts. At that time, there was still almost nothing progressive coming out on any of the major labels, save for a few Dream Theater releases, and Altered State, both on WEA labels. Most labels at the time mailed out tapes with samples up many upcoming releases by different bands. Imagine my surprise when I received a tape from Sony that started with As The World by Echolyn. Sony. Probably the least musically daring of any of the labels. Wow.

Here was a band that had comlex, difficult to play arrangements, with beautiful multipart harmonies. And sure, there is a Gentle Giant quality to the music, with interlaced rhythms and harmonies, but this music is much more than that. Echolyn has created a sound that is really all their own, hard really to compare with any other band out there. It is, all at the same time, powerful and introspective, and deceptively deep, both musically and lyrically.

My favorite songs here are the title track, As The World and The Cheese Stands Alone. But not by much. I love this whole album.