EARTHRISE

There is life in the farthest corners of the empire. It truly is. And what's more, there is brilliance and vision too. I am constantly amazed by the number of bands that through the decades struggled and struggles to get their Music out. Back in the 70's, from where Earthrise originated, the only way to get Music out was by way of record companies or by self funding. Earthrise did the latter. As a consequense, apart from being slightly out of touch in 1977, they lost the opportunity of the major companies pushing for them through ads and what not. I am speculating but I think that may have been the case.

The visual side of the album is stunning. It baffles, intrigues and fascinates me. The pyramids turning up in the skies, perhaps going in for landing. It is brilliant. Then there's the music. There are only four tracks but four great ones.

"Eden's Child" opens up the record. At first I thought it to be too much in the pop tradition, heading for the charts and imitating later Chicago, or something in that vein. The first inclination soon wears off though, when keyboards of the finest degree kicks in. Spacey Moog and tasteful organ. This is one hell of a song. Superb!

"Arcturus" starts ever so gently but holds a great beat and rhythm. Great latter part of instrumentation and the organ is wonderful. The title track is a beautiful, spacey instrumental working really well. The ending "New clear dawn" is more up-tempo and holds a great drum solo. I am usually no fan of drum solos but this one is really good.

It's really sad that this much talent went unnoticed back in the day. There is so much promise here and I wonder what they might have come up with if they had had the opportunity to record further. The resemblence to ELP is alright but Earthrise is really an entity of their own. There is a lot of spacey sounds that differ from ELP. It is a very competent and fine blend of symphonic textures but also a slice of pop (in the first track especially). The vocals are great, the instrumentation superb. This is one ot the finest discoveries I've made in 2015. If you can get a hold of this album, buy it. I would.