SETTINGS FOR A DRAMA

Edera is an interesting combination of Italian symphonic prog and neo prog where the musical focus is on pianos and guitars. Their sound is similar to Arena (but with much less emphasis on synthesizers) and Tale Cue (but with much shorter songs and better recording). Singer Valerio Valentini sounds similar to Arena's second vocalist, Paul Wrightson, but with more tremolo, not quite as clear, and having a slight accent (vocals are in English) with the occasional mispronunciation. The mix and production are very well done, though not perfect.

Most of the songs fit this description and for the most part I found them good, but average for this style. The piano playing is exceptional and beautiful on most songs and somewhat subdued on others. Occasionally the guitar work is heavy and somewhat gothic. The ending of Walls has an excellent guitar solo. The best song on the whole disc is Lain on Wet Grass, having a strong symphonic prog feel, and similar to Arena, but with the piano replacing the keyboards.

Overall, this is a great debut for Edera and I hope they continue releasing new music in the future as I expect they will improve with time. For me, they're between good and excellent and although I would love to rate this with four stars, the "averageness" of much of the material has me leaning to three stars (3.5 would be nice). Good, but not quite essential. Still, an enjoyable listen.

After being amazed by their excellent 2006 release I went backwards to get other EDERA's albums and stumbled with that one: their debut named "Settings For A Drama"; and so we can testify the significant band evolution when we compare this work with their more recent. Even the accent of the Italian singer dealing with the English language evolved clearly; although his singing ability was noticeable then.

The atmosphere ever-present in "Settings For A Drama" fits almost perfectly the album title: it's really dramatic, nearly operatic sometimes but appreciable unless you're in a depressive mood 'cause it won't help you - the ambience stricken throughout this album is basically sad, sorrowful, somber. I also like things that way but it's not everyone's cup of tea. Also EDERA perform basically between the symphonic and the neo-progressive spectra, not venturing to other styles, a feature that made "And Mouth Disappears" so glorious.

But here one might find great moments, beginning with the powerful opening track, 'Left in the power of the storm', continuing with the meaningful 'Lain on wet grass' and finishing with the last three tracks, the similar and well-crafted 'Where you don't exist' and 'Paper world' and the soft 'In seeing hands', the album's closing act. All other songs are average and fairly audible and EDERA provide it with fine instrumentation and some interesting ideas, which are better perceived once you have the chance to hear their entire output.

Being "Settings For A Drama" slightly above the average line; a nice deed if you consider it's their debut, the rating option is a clear and honest good, but non-essential.

EDERA are a band with no less than 15 years of history,despite being known for the last 5 or so years.Being formed in Milan in 1994,the band overpassed the numerous problems of line-up changes,performed live now and then and entered the new millenium having recorded two demos (''Edera'' and ''Apart'') and over 40 compositions.13 out of these tracks were chosen for their debut ''Settings for a drama'' from 2002.

From the very first to the last note,one band comes to mind listening to this album:SYLVAN...All compositions,mainly of short-length,are characterized by the theatrical vocals of Valerio Valentini,the dominant piano work and the sharp guitar riffs.Especially Valentini's voice is very close to Marco Gluhmann's from SYLVAN,with a wide range and a strong ability of delivering high emotions...superb English and non-accented vocals.The keyboard passages are grandiose and have a symphonic flavor,while the piano parts are even heavier and more intense,creating a beautiful atmosphere.As mentioned,the guitar work has a sharp edge,reminding more of melodic metal bands like SAVATAGE and QUEENSRYCHE,but do not expect to face any kind of a ''metal thing'' in here.''Settings for a drama'' is definitely a progressive/art rock album,which blends the grandiosity of keyboard/piano prog rock with theatrical vocal performances,resulting some very good moments for the listener.Recommended and highly enjoyable!

EDERA are from Milan Italy and this is their first official album after making some demos earlier in their careers. I like their sound,it's slightly dark with lots of piano, bass and drums standing out. The vocalist might make or break it for a lot of people. He's quite theatrical at times and his voice will quiver on occassion, but he can sing. I do get a little tired of his vocals after a while as they do dominate the sound often. By the way he does sing in English.

Some of the highlights for me include the short "...A Needle Fell" which sounds so good as it starts with piano and bass before guitar and drums join in. Man I wish they just ran with this sound but the vocals come in and the mood for me changes for the worse. "Walls" is good too as they contrast the more laid back sections with the more powerful emotional passages. The guitar to end it is excellent.

This may not be four stars for me but it's an enjoyable listen and an album that's well worth checking out.