MEI

What an experience! After reforming from the ashes of their unfortunate failure with Sony records, Echolyn are finally back in full-force, and dare i say, an even full-er force! From the second I started this track/album, I was in a state of euphoria. Going from orchestral passages, to acoustic ballads, to straight- up rock, these guys have put together an emotionally driven epic that, no matter what mood they've shifted to, keeps you with this warm feeling from start to finish. The often referenced, quirky Gentle Giant side of their music is less apparent and has seemingly been replaced with a more ethereal symphonic, hard-rock sound. They had symphonic and driven rock elements there before, but what's different here is the atmosphere. The music really paints a visual here. You just feel like you're out driving in a minimally inhabited place, looking out at the beauty of nature, while reminiscing about something very sentimental to you. And when you focus in on the lyrics, coincidentally, that's exactly what's going on in this song. Take a look at the first lines of this piece: I find myself wishing for a ladder/To climb from this car/Did I say I loved you today? Driving over hills and by beaten lonely towns/I think of you more now I'm gone/Outside it is blue and green/And everything once blurred is clear/I am part of the peripheral scene/That shines like cathedral glass.

Another plus here, and has always been a plus for this band, is that the lyrics are very good. I would actually take the time to read these and try to explore the images and feelings expressed here. They share a role with the music in this experience. They explain the journey that Echolyn is taking you on. Bretty and Ray really have put much thought into these poetic, vivid and mature lyrics. And how the band made the music such a great compliment to these lyrics, or how they made the lyrics such a great compliment to the music, creates quite a synergistic effect on the listener.

While this is one near-50 minute epic, it never gets boring and it never feels like there are specific parts that make up the whole. It is dynamic and fluent in it's composition and execution. It is Echolyn the pinnacle of Echolyn's career, and it came out of nowhere! This is very much a musical journey, and one that I would like to take often.