EYES OF THE WORLD

Darwin's Radio were formed from the ashes of Neo-Prog band Grey Lady Down and the successful Rush tribute band The Spirit Of Rush.

This is Neo-Prog with a hard edge and the recipe for the whole album can be found in the album opener Erase...Rewind a rather grandiose song that sails through time changes, and light and dark passages with deft aplomb. The edgy vocals add just the right amount of drama and one instantly believes this album may be a classic.

Stronger is next up and it rocks along at a frenetic pace and has a catchy chorus but it sounds so hackneyed as does Windows To Your Soul which whilst decent enough and despite some scratchy mellotron sounds, sounds like a million other Neo-Prog songs, particularly Hogarth-era Marillion

Glass Tiger's Eye is rockier than its predecessors but is like a horrible pastiche of American pomp rock and really grates with this reviewer. Lapse Of Sensation is next up and the band is back on track with a peach of a song that showcases the band's excellent musicianship. The intro has echoes of early Genesis before moving into sparkly keyboards and soaring guitar, I've no idea what its all about but it finishes with a nice guitar piece before the instrumental Eccentric Orbits comes chugging in with a hint of Rush and quite a few too many Prog cliches thrown in for good measure.

Things slow down considerably for the Prog ballad Amber Skies and yet again we are in cliche territory, one wonders why this song was included as it doesnt do the band or the album any favours. Things are rounded off with The Vast Within which initially sounds like Amber Skies Part II but eventually changes pace with a slightly jazz- rock style workout after around 5 minutes before hitting familiar Neo-Prog territory once again.

I am somewhat bemused by this album, it's very much a curate's egg, occasionally brilliant but quite often mundane. All the right ingredients are there - the guys can certainly play and the vocals are more than competent. They seen to know what they want to do but I'm not sure they have enough of their own identity to make it big just yet. However this is a debut album and as such is a reasonable effort. The next album will be make or break-lets hope we dont have to wait the three years this album took to put out. Ratings wise I feel "2 stars" would be unjust so I will go with a 3 star rating because this is a debut and it hints at possibly better things to come.

To be short - RUSH + GENESIS with bigger emphasis on Canadians (actually vocalist/ guitarist was in a RUSH-tribute band).

I adore GENESIS, but don't enjoy RUSH. With echoes of DREAM THEATER scattered here and there (especially both DT and RUSH influences can be heard in short songy- based tracks), DARWIN'S RADIO has got only 4 tracks here for my liking: opening "Erase...Rewind" (imagine "Watcher of the Skies" played by RUSH with mid-part ripped from "Ripples" and predictably ballad coda), dark and disturbing "Lapse of sensation", instrumental "Eccentric orbits" and closing 12-min long epic "The vast within" (very good actually). Flawlessly recorded and professionally played, "Eyes of the World" will please lots of Retro Prog fans. Personally I'd prefer more GENESIS in this RUSH ;). Recommended

I really like "Grey Lady Down" (you can notice this while reading my reviews of that band). So, when I read that two of their members (Mark Westworth on keyboards and Sean Spear on bass) were playing with "Darwin's Radio" I was really thrilled to discover their work. Even if Martin Wilson ("GLD" lead vocalist) is not amongst them, I have to admit that Declan Burke is doing a good job.

The opener "Erase ... Rewind" is a perfect starter. Full of keyboards, pleasant vocals, nice melody and very good musicianship. Even if the long intro sounds familiar ("Watcher...").

I have a more severe judgement about "Stronger" which is closer to prog metal than neo-prog. By the time of "Windows To Your Soul" I am starting to miss Martin again. Declan does not have his emotional style which would have fit a lot better in this song which is good but predictable.

I'm afraid that "Glass Tiger's Eye" won't raise the quality level of this album. AOR-ish, heavy rock. Poor vocals. Not a great mix, is it?

"Lapse of Sensation" starts as "Watcher Of The Skies" ends. Some great guitar breaks will fortunately save the song because I do not really like these heavy sounds for the most of it. Nor the instrumental "Eccentric Orbits" and the closing number "The Vast Within" only stands out for its guitar solo at the end of it.

I probably expected too much of this band. The fantastic opening track confirmed my expectations but that was it. If, like me, you thought that the sound of "GLD" would have been recreated, just forget it. This offering is far from this (but I understand that they wanted to do something different).

One masterpiece song ("Erase...Rewind") and loads of average and not too inspired ones. This is the cocktail from this album. Add some drops of heavy music and you'll get the picture.

I cannot say that "Eyes of the World" is a good album. It just fells short. Five out of ten? Maybe. Two stars ? Probably.

Strange thing. One thing I know for sure, it's music. Rock music to be more specific.

Sometimes calmer, sometimes harder, this record is not so balanced as I wish it to be. The problem of Eyes of the World is that it's not so attractive. It's co casual, average and normal, without any higher moment. Ever-present hard guitar (except few parts where are soft ones), synths and so on. Melodies goes here and there, but for what. Mellotron accompanied by electric guitar in a way I never though that can be possible. And is, a little bit. So "Eccentric Orbits" is maybe the best song for me. This should be "powerful melodic", but you can't have normal melody with power. Take for example symphonic prog, it's often melodic. And do you see anything hard or powerful ? Nope. And this is what I lack here. It's not right probably, maybe.

It's listenable, it has its moments, but I don't recommend it a lot. 3 stars.

I bought the two albums from Darwin's Radio in a relatively short period and also in the right sequence so this debut first that is. Darwin's Radio is a rougher edged neo progressive band with good vocals and producing nice accessible melodic songs. I just had a short peek at the ratings so far and I noticed the prog reviewers are obviously less enthusiastic than the guest reviewers. I don't agree with the prog reviewers this time.

Also I could be tempted to leave this album lower rated than the successor that is clearly more spectacular than this debut but that doesn't mean in my perception that this is a no more than average performance. It could also be of course that this style of neo prog is much more to my liking than of other prog reviewers but I simply fail to see where this album could fall short. Already the opening track Erase...Rewind sounds very promising to me and it was actually second song Stronger that made me go for this release in the first place because I really loved it for quite some time.

Maybe these are two of the better songs on this album but I can promise the rest isn't poor by any means. Third track Windows to your Soul is a very nice ballad for instance, 5th track Lapse of Sensation is simply stunning (especially the opening minutes) and also the epical closing song The Vast Within is a very good composition. The other shorter songs are at least nice for anybody's ears I dare to state.

But again: you have to be a supporter of this more accessible almost poppy neo prog to appreciate Eye of the World. Sometimes I'm in the mood for this and then I simply love it. The progressive content is there nevertheless though not of the highest caliber of course. But all things considered I simply believe this is great music and can't dismiss it with a low or even average rating so that leaves four stars as the only possibility (rounded up from 3,75). Very fine debut !

Darwin's Radio combines veterans of UK neo-prog act Grey Lady Down with members of a Rush tribute band, but to me their debut album resembles Spock's Beard more than anything else - particularly in the vocal harmonies. The album is pleasant enough if you like accessible, poppy neo-prog of the Grey Lady Down type with a bit more bite to it than usual; I admit that this style of neo-prog isn't exactly my thing but Darwin's Radio have managed to produce a decent enough album which captures some nice performances which should satisfy those who are in tune with their particular style.

Another British new entry in the Neo Prog field, Darwin's Radio were found in 2003 by ex-Grey Lady Down keyboardist Mark Westworth and debuted the same year with the private 3-track EP ''Pictures''.Featuring also ex-Grey Lady Down bassist Sean Spear, vocalist/guitarist Declan Burke and Unlimbo's drummer David Pankhurst, Darwin's Radio focused on writing material for their first full-legth album.This was recorded at The Lodge Studios in Northampton and released in 2006 under the title ''Eyes of the World''.

A great debut indeed, ''Eyes of the World'' falls into the category of modern Neo Prog with strong symphonic and heavier leanings as proposed by bands such as SUBSIGNAL, FROST, ARENA or MTSYERY.A compilation of eight short and semi-long tracks with a fantastic production, nice vocals and bombastic still melodic musicianship is there to satisfy any fan of the genre.The longer compositions are trully interesting, full of impressive heavy breakouts, keyboard/piano- led symphonic leanings, expressive lyrics and plenty of changing moods, not far from Westworth's previous attempts with Grey Lady Down ,albeit with a more intense atmosphere overall.The inspired changes between grandiose moments and calmer, vocal-based material are another one of the band's positive assets.The short ones are satisfying as well, definitely with catchier arrangements and powerful rhythmic parts, still played with a professional sound and artistic approach.The guitars become almost metallic, the synthesizers are more sharp, Burke's singing becomes more crunchy and the material is quite rocking and highly memorable.

Very good debut with solid musicianship and some impressive moments as well.Strongly recommended to all fans of modern Progressive Rock, Neo Prog and Heavy/Symphonic Rock...3.5 stars.