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COSMOS

Neo-Prog • Switzerland


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Cosmos picture
Cosmos biography
Swiss outfit COSMOS can trace it's roots back to 1990, when Reto Iseli (drums, vocals) formed his first band, at that time called Glacier Eagles. Late in 1993 they decided that Cosmos was a better sounding and describing name for their Pink Floyd influenced musical ventures, and the following year saw them release their debut album The Deciding Moments of Your Life.

The album was met with a fairly good reception; and for the next few years Cosmos enjoyed a fair degree of success in their native country with live shows combining their own original material with Pink Floyd covers. However, in 1998 internal tensions saw to it that the band broke up.

Come 2003 and a solo project started by Heiko Garrn (bass) and Olivier Maier (guitars) invited Iseli to join them; and with the addition of Silvia Thierstein (vocals) and Daniel Eggenberger (keyboards) it was decided to scrap the solo project, and to revive Cosmos again.

So far this has lead to a live album in 2004, and in 2006 a new studio release, Skygarden, was issued.

A third studio effort from the band is planned for a 2009 release.

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COSMOS discography


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COSMOS top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.92 | 75 ratings
The Deciding Moments of Your Life
1994
3.86 | 64 ratings
Skygarden
2006
3.69 | 66 ratings
Mind Games
2012

COSMOS Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.45 | 11 ratings
Live
2004

COSMOS Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

COSMOS Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.25 | 4 ratings
In the Dark of the Night
2016

COSMOS Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.81 | 16 ratings
Different Faces - demo 2003
2003

COSMOS Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Mind Games by COSMOS album cover Studio Album, 2012
3.69 | 66 ratings

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Mind Games
Cosmos Neo-Prog

Review by tszirmay
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Cosmos is a Swiss group that has a particular fondness for classic Pink Floyd, perhaps close to Airbag from Norway, which only continues to prove that Floyd has a way of inspiring musicians the world over. All the specific details are there, the bleeding guitar smothered in blues-effects, the rolling organ and synth backdrops, a muscular yet simple bass guitar and a metronome beat that only wishes to obey the pulse. The vocals are generally hushed giving the female vocalists a fairly large chunk of the spotlight. The result is a most pleasant journey into a musical land obscured by a few clouds and reverential disposition. If you are looking for some newfangled 'flavor of the month future sound of rock', this will not be your stereophonic paradise, so please move on. If you are okay with overt influences, then be my guest and indulge in some "Mind Games".

shrouded "Contact" starts off impressively, axe meister Oliver Maier has the Gilmour deal down to a science, while keyboardist Daniel Eggenberger sweeps his colorations along. Drummer/vocalist Reto Iseli thumps loopingly along as his confrere Heiko Garm carves some thick bass lines. Moody, atmospheric and ethereal, the spirits bloom in a slow motion that seduces inexorably, in definitely comfortable expanses that we all know and love. There are some genial moments here such as the scavenging bass amid the vocoder vocals, which though hardly original, is still riveting to these ears. The mellotron outro is super cool.

The following "Skygarden" is almost a segue, a similar flowing mood keeps the cross hairs on the target, the male voice (Iseli) very near David Gilmour territory, as Maier shows off his learned skills on the guitar. To be frank, his tone is a tad more concrete and hard that the Floyd man.

On "Lost Years" the shift is definitely blues-based, lyrics about 'rock n roll stars playing a mean guitar', drenched in both nostalgia and melancholia, the infusion of electric piano and hushed female backing vocals give the extended axe solo even more emphasis, tortured strings and sizzling rhythms. Garm propels this piece nicely yet firmly, a delightful ride.

Pinging synthesizers and scuffling guitars certainly shift this into unPink territory, "Freak Show" offers choppy beats, gurgling rhythms and all kinds of variations that turn this into another guitar solo spot, where the tradition comes through the clouds. The female lead vocals come as a pleasant surprise, a jaunty affair that again delivers some interesting reactions.

Electric piano leads the jazzy urban cool of "No Point of Living", making one believe that this is some lost 10cc track, until that massive wallop guitar enters the fray, shoving this into the stratosphere with flaming despair, mattressed by some dense choir vocals. This confrontation between jazz, pop, blues and space is enjoyable and fun.

The brief "Hollow Man" is probably closer to PF than many of the other tracks, though it does own a harder delivery, chugging riffs notwithstanding. This is almost like a potential single for FM airplay, a superb song that has all the goods needed to stick in one's mind, especially the incredible lady vocals and the searing solo that only confirms the bliss.

The highlight track for many listeners will be "Paranoia", a thickly distinctive beat, ticking and tocking incessantly, a sense of Kafkaesque numbness, with a slowly morphing electric guitar appearance, pools of echoing e-piano, rippling synths, pained voices and forlorn vocals that hint at Waters. Play this to an unsuspecting friend and he would have bet his shirt and tie that this was part of the Endless River sessions. Maier unleashes a doozie and we all wonder who the hell is behind our back, ready to strike.

The sizzling "There Are a Million Reasons" is quite incongruous in that its starts off in uncharted territory, an original build-up that fuses smoky jazz and more urban blues, forming it into a heady concoction that flashes through, unafraid. I was thinking classic Manfred Mann's Earth Band there for a while until that darned e-piano really got my attention, a delicious innovation that shows off incredible versatility. Maybe my favorite piece here. "Close to the Edge" is not the Yes track, though the thought was exciting for a second. It's in fact a somber piece, doom and gloom not shying from the attention, a quirky guitar phrasing, low key piano insanity and guest Mirjiam Heggendorn's sweet vocals. The Garm bass steadies the star-ship, perfectly balanced and resolute.

The longest and perhaps the finest piece here is the finale "Sequences", clocking in over 8 minutes, and it has that menacing rumble of "One of These Days", easily one of PF's classic tracks, certainly in terms of build-up, spiraling into a radical guitar exercise that has all sorts of delirious benefits. Iseli and Garm push this along with sturdy determination, a most enjoyable voyage indeed.

This is an album that will engender a complete cross-section of opinions, eschewing any kind of conformity, some will love it, others hating it , while some just agreeing to its natural delivery. In lieu of Floyd's recent activity, this should not come across as either plagiarism or hindrance, just a quartet of Swiss musicians who really dig the Flying Pig and enjoy wearing their idols influence on their sleeves.

4 head toys

 Mind Games by COSMOS album cover Studio Album, 2012
3.69 | 66 ratings

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Mind Games
Cosmos Neo-Prog

Review by Progulator
Prog Reviewer

3 stars If I ever heard a band that was very thoroughly Pink Floyd inspired, the Swiss progger's known as Cosmos would be it. Every single nuance is there, from chord changes to textures and guitar solos. It's all spot on, and there were moments that I seriously could have been fooled that this was not a Pink Floyde album. This isn't to say that Cosmos doesn't add any unique elements; there are little bits of jazz and funk sprinkled in that are not so Floydian, as well as some astoundingly beautiful female vocals making appearances. So, how does Mind Games hold up? Compositionally, it's very good, there are never awkward moments, and just about every section counts. The entire album has a bit of a dark and dreary atmosphere to it, which I really dig (see the intro to "Close to the Edge" to see what I mean), and the performances are superbly executed. If you're a fan of Pink Floyd and don't get disturbed by bands mimicking the style, and doing a really good job at it (so good, in fact that you may prefer this over some Floyd albums), then Cosmos is a band for you.
 Skygarden by COSMOS album cover Studio Album, 2006
3.86 | 64 ratings

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Skygarden
Cosmos Neo-Prog

Review by robbob

3 stars Well .Cosmos.Space Rock. Sky garden.

This is the most clone band of Pink Floyd in the hole world.

This album is totally inspired in Pink Floyd s Wish You Were Here to The Wall period.

If you don t see the cover and you listen to it you ll say ow! a good new album from PF.

They sing like PF,they play like PF and sounds like PF.

So this is a good album.Very good songs,good arrangements ,very well recorded...and is in the line of my favourite Pink Floyd period from Wish You Were here..passing to Animals and finishing with The Wall.

So I insist if this work had been a work of PF at least 4 stars..but this is a Cosmos album...a clone album and this guys are not ashamed to be clones.

RPWL for example is quite a PF clone band but mainly in their last albums they have made some work that has nothing to do with Pink Floyd ans is more in the line of the crossover prog more than in the line of the psychedelic space rock.

Thanks to windhawk for the artist addition.

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