AS THE WORLD

Although not as overtly progressive as "Suffocating The Bloom", "As The World" nevertheless is a classic through and through. I challenge anyone to find a tighter unit vocally and musically from the US around the time this album came out, especially in the symphonic side of prog, (although I would deem Echolyn more Art Rock then Symphonic, but I digress). There has to be more melodic ideas on this album then you'll find on 20 others. Given the fact that they had a larger budget to work with being on a major label, it shows throughout the album; flutes, violins, cellos, recorders and even piccolos, it's all there and they use them very well. I'm not going to go over every one of the 16 tracks on this album because honestly, they are all superb to the max. If you haven't tried a little Echolyn and you're intrigued, give this album a shot. It can be wordy, but if you pay attention you'll hear some incredible musicianship ala Gentle Giant but wholly original, never pandering to any one group. A classic from the 90's and should be in the top ten from that decade easily. 5 stars without a doubt.