TIME SILENT RADIO II

In March 2023, I wrote in a review of the album Fear Inoculum, among other things:

For me, this is without a doubt the best record Tool has ever released, and even though they only have five albums, I don't think there is another band that would be at its peak after thirty years of existence.

Today, I know of another band like that. I thought I would see if I could say something similar about other groups, so I compiled a list for myself (alphabetically and without genre restrictions), where two conditions were set - firstly, that the band had been around for thirty years, and secondly, that it was an album that was (for me, of course) excellent. I may have forgotten some, but I got fourteen:

AC/DC - Black Ice ? 2008 Black Sabbath ? 13 - 2013 Deep Purple - Abandon ? 1998, Bananas ? 2003, Rapture Of The Deep ? 2005, Now What?! - 2013, = 1 ? 2024 Dream Theater ? Parasomnia - 2025 Jethro Tull ? J-Tull Dot Com - 1999 King Crimson ? The Construction Of Light ? 2000 Marillion ? Fuck Everyone And Run ? 2016 Porcupine Tree ? Closure/Continuation ? 2022 Rush ? Snakes & Arrows - 2007 The Cure ? Songs Of A Lost World ? 2024 The Rolling Stones ? Hackney Diamonds ? 2023 Tool ? Fear Inoculum ? 2019 Uriah Heep ? Wake The Sleeper - 2008 Yes ? Magnification ? 2001

I was intrigued ? and surprised ? by a few things on that list. Most of all, probably Deep Purple, who are the only ones to have more than one album on there ? even five!!! And along with the Rolling Stones, these are albums recorded after more than fifty/sixty years of existence, which is truly admirable.

Then I thought again and kept only the albums that I think are among the best in the bands' discography. Half of them remained. And I went even further and kept only the records that I consider truly essential and can declare to be the best that these bands have recorded for me. That was quite a difficult task, and some albums were really hard for me to cross out. In the end, I had the task of leaving only one album, and that was Fear Inoculum.

Now I have the most difficult task ? to try to explain why the absolute best album, meeting those two criteria, is Time Silent Radio by Echolyn.

Time Has No Place After about twenty listens to the album, the truly festive day came when I put on my headphones for the first time ? I expected to be amazed, but not to this extent. After those sixteen minutes, I don't know what to write, but I feel absolutely certain that it is the most beautiful song by Echolyn. After two minutes of instrumental overture, beautiful polyphonies are heard accompanied only by acoustic guitar. I really like the piano, which Chris often uses. In Time, it has no place, amazing vocals are heard again. In the interludes, when the bars alternate in eight and seven beats, there is an excellent (probably) mellotron, and in I'm flying by into blue, I'm flying by into green, there is piano again. After less than six minutes, the first part of Into Blue and Green ends. The second, The Air of Ivy Hill, begins with a guitar slightly in the style of Pink Floyd, and in the choruses there are otherworldly beautiful polyphonies. Unfortunately, I don't know English and the translator didn't help me much in understanding the lyrics, but I still have to write that this really brought tears to my eyes, you don't hear such beauty often:

They'll be waiting but please don't hurry Just hold in the air of Ivy Hill Everything's been given All these days that I'm reliving Still holding in the air of Ivy Hill

In Emerald Garden, I really like the melody that Chris plays on the piano between the verses. I don't understand the lyrics here either - but I don't understand the music either, and I still like it very much.

The fourth and final part, Forever Anymore, is interesting rhythmically, it seems choppy and I admit that this time I didn't need to count how many beats there are. I emphasize the piano again, which is beautiful here. It is amazing how the composition breaks beautifully before Midnight ocean, Eighteen thousand, Swallow oil and blue green sea, so that the musical motif from the introduction returns at the very end. If I wrote something in the last review about perfection and beauty, about how everything is thought out and elaborated in detail, then this is perhaps even more true here. For me, sixteen and a half minutes of musical pleasure and delight.

Water In Our Hands In the first part, the bars alternate between five and six beats. The second begins cheerfully, in five beats, and while listening, I was again totally amazed and unable to express what I feel. And what to mention before ? everything is absolutely perfect, flawless, brilliant, beautiful. Organ. Applause in Take our crooked arrow, Dip it in the marrow, Paint the dead bones, Paint the dead bones. Or this:

We feel the time idle on And stare into the noise ? and all the noise it's making We feel the time idle on With everything ? with everything it's taking

I really think to myself that it's impossible ? to invent, rehearse, arrange, record, sing ? what kind of amazing people must be who can do this? I'm left speechless.

The third part is ? and now I'll probably surprise someone, hehe ? fantastic. In ten beats. And so dark. Also thanks to those passages where instead of singing, there is recitation. This piece is captivating with its atmosphere, energy, hardness.

In the fourth part, the piece reaches an even higher level, I really like Talking on mountains your loud megaphone whines, Making the waves of the pleads that will rise, again in ten beats. The contrast between this passage and the following one, where it is played in four beats, is great. I then hear a similar amazing contrast in the piano and the aggressive, somehow distorted bass guitar. The fifth part continues in a ten-beat (or maybe five-beat) rhythm, the motifs from the introduction are heard here (the guitar reminds me a bit of The Shadows). The bass is beautiful here. And again the piano. The farewell in the last, sixth part is magnificent. The acoustic passages with a beautiful piano are fantastic, where it stands out how amazing and exceptional the vocalists in the band are. The composition culminates and progresses:

Everything, you and I, lasts forever Nothing lasts forever Everything, you and I, lasts forever Nothing lasts forever No earth and sky

That musical motif is ? how could it be otherwise ? beautiful. And if I thought I couldn't be more excited ? after all the previous albums and after Time Has No Place, then know that I can. And I am 😀

Radio Waves Oh yeah, it's really terrible, but terribly hard work to write about this album, because one would think that they had used all possible superlatives on the previous two long compositions, and now there will be only some simpler, ordinary songs. But I can tell you that I wanted to cry again, especially when those incredibly polished and pampered vocals sounded in the headphones for the first time - I think Echolyn reached their peak here. And even the best bands that really knew how to do this - Gentle Giant, Yes, The Beatles, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or Queen - could envy. The choruses are really beautiful. And in seven time 😀

Silent Years Even in this shortest song, Echolyn are simply incredible. Again, a great contrast between the seven-time passages and the four-time ones. I don't understand where they get these ideas, after thirty-five years of the band's existence.

Cul-De-Sacs And Tunnels Another beautiful song ? a real treat for headphones, a complete caress for the ears. Again, I don't know what to highlight first ? piano, later some synthesizer, excellent bass, amazing singing and again those polyphonies ? it's really incredible how they won with them and literally spoiled them. The first part is so dreamy, lyrical, in the second part the tempo changes and it seems cheerful, joyful, at the end the opening passage returns.

Boulders On Hills This is a pretty hard song in places, especially in the choruses. About in a six-eighth rhythm, I would say ? and I like how the snare drum plays in a fourth-eighth. Echolyn also used clapping, and of course in their case it doesn't seem awkward at all, as it sometimes does.

Our Brilliant Next A single guitar and a distorted vocal in the opening. Very nice bass. Angry and harsh Ray in the choruses - Fill my mouth with stone, Flowers for the after-burning bright. Great piano interlude. Interesting guitar solo in the middle, kind of jazzy.

One We Blur A cheerful, cheerful song, I always like the stopwatches before the singing. Again, beautiful bass guitar, vocals or piano in the background. In the choruses, a kind of military rhythm, the interlude with clanging cymbals and piano is nice. There is probably no point in mentioning the absolutely perfectly and beautifully elaborated polyphony. Then in the end, an amazing gradation and piano with some echo.

Tiny Star Beautiful piano with bass in the introduction and in the interludes, nice doubled vocals or piano solos in the singing. The choruses are very strong, catchy. After three and a half minutes, there is a change - such a slow, rambling interlude with guitar as from David Gilmour. A beautiful female vocal and the other male vocals. Then there's an even wilder part, we hear the depressing sounds of some synthesizer - and that piano around 6:30 is absolutely fantastic!!! Finally, a guitar solo.

On March 9, I heard Time Silent Radio for the first time, and that day Miro also wrote this:

Anything else that comes out this year in the music world (and not just progressive rock and metal of any subgenre) will have a huge problem coming even close to the quality and power of this two suite album. And above all, the 29-minute "Water in Our Hands" from the peak of Yes, Genesis and EL&P's work is an ideal example of endless beauty and invention in composing and interpreting a prog/rock suite with a huge amount of ideas, motifs, vocal harmonies, four great musicians - instrumentalists and singers in a light, non-violent and playful way.

The whole album is 10 ***/10, "Water in Our Hands" alone is 15 / 10 ... I should point out that I have listened to the album (including "Time Silent Radio VII") at least 30 times in over two months ... so my "opinion" is already deeply rooted ...

I think I have listened to a similar number of times - and not only because of that I completely agree with it. Honestly - I am very sorry that writing reviews of Echolyn has come to an end, because I do not want to say goodbye to the band at all. I will definitely give myself one more complete final round, which I always do, and I will look forward to another immense pleasure that the otherworldly music of this fantastic band brings me.

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