LIVE WITH THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & THE WARICKSHIRE COUNTY YOUTH CHOIRS

Last month I received a pack with the latest The Enid releases. Arise And Shine III ' Shining (2012) I reviewed last week (progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=965450), Invicta (2012) (that will be reviewed soon), Art Of Melody (2013), a solo album from their leader Robert John Godfrey (review soon) and the one I'll be reviewing now Live With The City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & The Warwickshire Music Service Youth Choirs (2012).

The Enid has never been a mainstream Prog band, but they have always been the most Symphonic of all the bands. And when I say Symphonic I mean it, not just keyboard driven Prog, but Orchestra kind. With Live With The City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & The Warwickshire Music Service Youth Choirs (2012) they finally made it as they always wanted to' with a full Orchestra and Choir.

Live With The City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & The Warwickshire Music Service Youth Choirs (2012) is a double CD with the most Symphonic tracks of the band, conducted by Mike Seal. It was recorded live on 15th October 2011 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. The audience of 1.200 people was present there.

The CD 1 brings the band's 70's tracks like 'Judgement' and 'In The Region Of The Summer Stars' from their first album In The Region Of The Summer Stars (1976), 'Childe Roland' and 'Fand' from their second album Aerie Faerie Nonsense (1977), though this version of 'Fand' is based on the re-written 1984 version. There's also a brand new song called 'The Mirror Of Love'. Everything on CD 1 is wrapped in pure Symphonic music with the Orchestra giving a full support in a perfect band/orchestra match.

CD 2 is based on their comeback album Journey's End (2010). This is the first part of a trilogy of which Invicta (2012) is the second part and the third and final will be soon released. Here the Choir makes itself very present pretty much every minute. The second CD is closed by a rare performance of the Barclay James Harvest track 'Mockingbird' (which Robert John Godfrey wrote the original score) and 'Dambusters And Land Of Hope And Glory' which is a medley of two of their songs.

In Live With The City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & The Warwickshire Music Service Youth Choirs (2012) all Robert John Godfrey's (pianos and keyboards) dreams came true in an inspiring and beautiful union between a Prog band and an Orchestra + Choirs. On top of that, the album is beautifully presented in a special eight pages digipack with lots of photographs from the day. A DVD is also planned for the near future.

Robert John Godfrey, Max Read (guitars), Dave Storey (drums), Jason Ducker (guitars) and Nicholas Willes (bass) recorded The Enid as it was always meant to be, full Symphonic!

(Originally posted on progshine.net)