IOEARTH

IOEarth comes thundering through the gates with their 2009 debut album - which is a double album, nonetheless! I typically prefer my albums to come in the 30-50 minute variety, so at nearly 100 minutes this one can be a bit of a challenge to swallow all in one sitting. But when you do - what a journey! The music here is quite varied, and while some songs make the tag "Crossover Prog" appropriate, this album really is made for fans of melodic concept albums and those who just love variety in their music. In fact, despite this being a concept album, very little of the music features vocals, and the story is summarised in three paragraphs - so as a listener, you get to piece together your own interpretation of how the music and the story work together on your own.

The track names on this album aren't the most impressive - there are no Siberian Khatru's on here to wow any who happen to stumble upon your lastfm while you are listening to this, the band has opted to go with names such as "Intro", "Interlude #1", and "Intro Reprise" for most of this album. This is because, despite the varying styles and sounds on this album, it is ultimately designed to be listened to straight through, and it definitely sounds great this way - despite the length, it does not bore.

The biggest mainstream connection I can find for this album to mainstream music is in the tracks "Come With Me", "Take Me", and "Come With Me (Reprise)", each of which are love songs. Yet, to my ears, they are pretty darn good and don't feel at all out of place on this album. If all radio love songs sounded this good I'd probably listen to the radio more often. At times, I find myself singing the chorus to Come With Me.

But, despite how enjoyable those tracks are, my favorite moments are the more experimental/varied instrumental tracks, highlights including the eclectic "Loops", which ranges through many different moods and sounds, and later track "Harmonix" (proof that the band is a fan of Guitar Hero? Maybe not...) builds upon it's theme in a very pleasing manner.

I have to give the band props for making an album that was not constrained by the limitations of their medium, while at the same time not attempting to fill their medium to the fullest. At only 95 minutes, this is a fairly easy listen for a modern double album, and demonstrates that the band was just releasing an album that fit their ambition. The music doesn't really bore at any point; when a theme is used for a longer length of time, it is developed and worked upon so as to remain fresh. Despite this, there are moments where one feels that the band will perhaps get somewhat more tight with future releases, that although the tracks never bore with a little more tightness they could have hit just a bit harder.

Overall, though, this album has enough energy, variety, and melody to be of interest to many, and stays fresh over multiple listens due simply to the sheer vastness and variety of music located within.