VENUS

'Venus', released in 1998, was Everon's 3rd studio album, and the successor to 'Flood', which saw the band move to the larger Mascot Records, after SI Records went bankrupt. They continued musically in a similar vein, although in general the album has a softer, more polished production as a consequence of the move. Although the musical variety continues to diversify, it ultimately didn't produce a noticeably stronger album than 'Flood', once again very pleasing but not groundbreaking.

For the first time, 'Venus' contains a couple of instrumentals, the short opener, 'Venus' which uses a soaring guitar sound over keyboards, and the rockier 'Meteor', slighlty more in the vein of a 'Rush' solo.

Once again, I return to the feeling that Everon's stronger material generally lies in the longer tracks, most of which are situated toward the end of the album. Both 'Reply' and 'Not For Sale' are able to summon up both sufficient interplay between guitar and keyboard to keep prog fans happy, while instilling the kind of emotion which fans of Enchant's later work (especially 'Blink Of An Eye') would appreciate. The undoubted highlight of the album however is the closer, 'Until The Day Breaks', which is to me possibly the finest track penned by Everon, as it is not only a complex composition, but incredibly emotive and angst ridden, as Philipps sings, as if in desperation 'Moonlight, You're my only reason to live tonight, Stir my passion, stir my instincts, cast my shadow on the wall'. This track is worth the purchase alone.

However, 'Venus' isn't without flaws, hence the 3 star rating. After 'Venus', the album starts well, with the very catchy, radio friendly 'Missing The Last Train', however the heart of the album is filled with unexceptional ballads (of which, 'What Do We Know?' is possibly the most unexceptional, and simply too long at 7 minutes) and in 'Information Overdose', Everon offer a straight forward rocker by numbers, which carries no surprises.

In conclusion, 'Venus' for me is a frustrating album, in that it demonstrates how the band have developed a style which is very much their own within the Art-Prog genre, and indeed are capable of writing excellent material. The ability to write an entire album of consistent quality however, still eluded them.