ECHOLYN

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.

"Radio Waves" with an ominous off-key sound, definitely a US series; we find the catchy charm of ELO, the Beatles, Barclay James Harvest, Bowie, Kansas, and Jethro Tull for the progressive soaring on the carefree spirit of youth. "Silent Years" with its piano and spaghetti western guitar, vintage sound and lush harmony, the finale with the phrase from the previous track making the connection. "Cul-de-Sacs and Tunnels" is a mawkish pop love song, meaning simple-minded in appearance; the melody is reminiscent of Inspector Gadget and the voice of Tears For Fears with a tune catching up with ELO in overdrive prog. "Boulders on Hills" changes style, aggressive with the syncopated riff worthy of Jethro Tull and the nervous vocals; a tonic tune that changes the game with a solemn piano outro.

"Our Brilliant Next" is a piano-driven track for the soft ballad, swelling with vocal lament, moving from acoustic to frenzy before the captivating jazzy finale; a beautiful progressive exercise. "On We Blur" is a rock ballad with Joe Jackson-esque melodic piano in the background and ELO's backing vocals, repeat; from serene we move to bucolic Charisma, inventive hints of XTC, a zest of Supertramp then a nod to Genesis, you'll recognize it. The exuberant track typical of Albion, enjoyable until its prog-like finale. "Tiny Star" ends the album; besides Big Big Train and ELO as reminiscences, knowing that BBT is much younger than them, this track is simply Echolyn. The musicality, Katie's fresh, catchy, feminine refrain "All you need," a true melodic delight enhanced by a stellar progressive drift. The musical diamond shines even after the finale; a final solo in Pink Floyd style for the split double album of the month.

Echolyn has recorded a very good progressive double album with two great singers; a musical breath of intertwined songs, polyphonic vocals, and chiseled Beatles and Steely Dan choruses; Yes, Haken, and Opeth also manage to create harmony that is both simple and complex. Progcensor origin.

"Time Has No Place": a symphonic, cinematic intro, a train station feel, a melody based on Big Big Train, the Flower Kings, and Gentle Giant, a touch jazzy. The vocals appear with Brett and Ray, a touch of XTC, fresh and varied. The lively piano for the second of the four parts, harmony, an invading Mellotron, a marshmallowy return with the melting sound of ELO. The instrumental, the return of the vocals, the choirs, and the air sinking into a divine space with Ray at the helm. The nostalgic, yet not soporific, vintage prog moment; the intermission and the Beatles-esque vocals all at once, somewhere between pop and prog rock with a hint of Canterbury. The sound of King Crimson, the heavy riff supporting the choirs; a musical festival, a fusion of opera, nursery rhymes, and pastoral sequences, bordering on the styles of prog rock.

«'Water in Our Hands, Pts. 1-4» singular, fruity intro; the sound of the 70s for the voice and the musical structure; already lost in this musical maelstrom where we feel the deconstructed prog of Jethro Tull, technical, invasive. The vocal and instrumental mix makes us lose track of time; a compendium of rock with a captivating jazzy tessitura with bewitching voices; an entertaining space that seems to burst with discoveries in every drawer, like this rapped section, this passage on Genesis with the organ making the hairs stand on end. An acoustic piano interlude à la Joe Jackson with the tenacious guitar riff that flirts with «The Lamb». The six parts go from the epic to the moving for an adventure that took ten years, with many nods to Yes, Genesis above all, on Big Big Train narrating the inevitable passage of time. The Beatlesian finale, fruity and enjoyable xtcian and thirty minutes out of this time. The album that recalls "mei" for its impromptu continuation. Origin progcensor.(4.5)

Legendary U.S. Symphonic Prog band Echolyn has emerged after a ten-year absence with not one, but two new albums, their 10th and 11th (released not as a double album, but 2 separate albums), returning with their unique rockin' prog sound, mixing classic melodic rock and power pop with sumptuous symphonic prog for a wonderful set of albums. TSRii consists of 2 epic-length tracks (16 and 29 min.), whereas TSRvii has 7 shorter tracks (that's where the titles come from). The two lengthy tracks ebb and flow and take their time to develop through multiple musical sections and themes, but never lose focus, remaining consistently enjoyable and entertaining throughout their musical journeys. I prefer TSRVII over this disc, but this is still quite wonderful prog. It is just not quite as consistently brilliant throughout as the other disc is. Echolyn's music may have many varied influences throughout, but yet they have created their own unique style, as they don't sound quite like anyone else. I'm not all that familiar with the band's earlier catalog, but I really like these 2 albums, and will be returning to them often throughout the year. Best Tracks: Water in Our Hands. Rating: 4.0

Legendary U.S. Symphonic Prog band Echolyn has emerged after a ten-year absence with not one, but two new albums, their 10th and 11th (released not as a double album, but 2 separate albums), returning with their unique rockin' prog sound, mixing classic melodic rock and power pop with sumptuous symphonic prog for a wonderful set of albums. TSRvii has 7 shorter tracks (that's where the titles come from), and is the better of the two albums, as the songs are brighter, punchier, with more emphasis on melody and catchy rock tunes, but still with plenty of proggy goodness throughout, with great vocals, instrumental passages and arrangements. All the tracks are great (but my faves are listed below). Echolyn's music may have many varied influences throughout, but yet they have created their own unique style, as they don't sound quite like anyone else. I'm not all that familiar with the band's earlier catalog, but I love this album, and will be returning to it often throughout the year. Best Tracks: Tiny Star, On We Blur, Boulder on Hills, Radio Waves, Cul-de-Sacs and Tunnels. Rating: 4.5

The Tool's of Echolyn

Echolyn has been one of my favorite bands since their early days, with albums like Echolyn (1991), Suffocating the Bloom (1992), As the World (1995), and Mei (2002). They have a fascinating discography, but after Mei, and speaking objectively, the band started to lose what made them interesting. The music became boring, lost its charm, its dissonance, its madness?it became bourgeois in sound, in the best sense of the word.

Then came The End Is Beautiful (2005), which had some flashes of brilliance, and their self-titled album in 2012, which starts off devastatingly strong but then fades away, returning to the same patterns without truly transcending.

At the end of 2024, I received an email informing me that Echolyn would be releasing two albums in March of this year: Time Silent Radio II and Time Silent Radio VII. This news sparked a lot of anticipation. To make the release more appealing, the band offered several options, including green purchases with downloads, special prices, and limited editions. Finally, the release arrived. The first thing I heard was Time Silent Radio II.

And here is the review. The truth is, the album generates more expectation than it actually delivers. I think the band's mistake was in creating such high expectations in the first place.

The album consists of two long tracks and runs for almost 50 minutes. It moves through different atmospheres and sounds, gradually building up flashes of intensity and power. I've never fully grasped the concept behind it, but the music envelops you and takes you places. The first track, Time Has No Place, is incredible, evolving in an excellent way. Something similar happens with the second track?the band knows how to jam and play. The music is exceptional and perhaps the best thing Echolyn has done since The End Is Beautiful. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot. All the elements that make us love this band are here.

While it's a great album, it can't be considered a masterpiece?but it is an excellent record, made with dedication and passion. Echolyn reminds me of a band like Tool in the way they build expectations around every release, but in the end, it's just another record.

The Tool's in Echolyn

Echolyn has been one of my favorite bands since their early days, with albums like Echolyn (1991), Suffocating the Bloom (1992), As the World (1995), and Mei (2002). They have a fascinating discography, but after Mei, speaking objectively, the band started to lose what made them interesting. The music became boring, lost its charm, its dissonance, its madness?it became bourgeois in sound, in the best sense of the word.

Then came The End Is Beautiful (2005), which had some flashes of brilliance, and their self-titled album in 2012, which starts off devastatingly strong but then fades away, returning to the same patterns without truly transcending.

At the end of 2024, I received an email informing me that Echolyn would be releasing two albums in March of this year: Time Silent Radio II and Time Silent Radio VII. This news sparked a lot of anticipation. To make the release more appealing, the band offered several options, including "green purchases" with downloads, special prices, and limited editions. Finally, the release arrived. I think Echolyn made two records?one more progressive and the other more commercially oriented.

Echolyn's earlier work had a youthful energy and a more immediate impact, while their recent material leans heavily into introspection and intricate composition. Some might find that this shift has made their music less urgent or engaging.

It's not necessarily a case of declining musicianship?their technical skills and songwriting depth are still there?but the spark that made their earlier albums feel fresh and adventurous might not hit the same way anymore. If you feel they've aged badly, it could be because their approach now feels too careful or lacks the raw emotion and drive they once had.

In the end, this record feels inferior. If you look at it or listen to it, you have to like or dislike something immediately. But Echolyn is still a very original band, and this is a more mature album?one that reflects a time when people listened to the radio and didn't have social media. It's a slow album, but if you give it time, it will eventually pull you in.

So close. Echolyn delivers an album consisting of only two tracks, which excites me as I enjoy when a band lets loose and dedicates itself to developing its music over a long period. However, the main issue with the album becomes apparent right away: the music doesn't develop much. I keep waiting for the band to do something unexpected, to wake me up or take the music in new directions. But it doesn't happen.

Don't get me wrong, the music is great; I enjoy the melodies and the vocals. But there's a limit to how many times you can hear the same verse or riff. When you take a song that should be a maximum of ten minutes and stretch it to over 16 minutes without allowing it to develop, it becomes close to boring. The second track, "Water in our hands," has a first ten-minute period where I want to turn it off every time I listen because they repeat the same music and riff for too long. Just after ten minutes, they make a change and move in a different direction, but it's a period of music that should have been a maximum of five minutes.

There's a lot of good on this album, but to make it better, they needed to shorten each track by at least 30%, or make changes in the songs to break up the music or introduce something unexpected to keep me engaged. Here, it barely happens, and the music chugs along at a similar tempo and in a similar style. The production is brilliant, the music is fantastic, and the band has never sounded better. But it's too drawn out for me to handle. So close to being fantastic, but it doesn't work when I feel like I want to fast-forward the music. Making long tracks requires a special group, and few can do it well. Echolyn is close but doesn't quite get there this time.

Early thoughts....subject to editing

Echolyn is a band I have long struggled with. Are they really progressive? Yes, on the face of it but there is such a strong focus on songwriting that, for me, it ceases to be progressive except in a neo sense. I've always felt they were too weighty on the vocals and had a certain self-indulgence that was off-putting lyrically and vocally. Yet, there were certainly flashes of brilliance. The Fountainhead for instance, opening track of their 1st album, is epic and timeless for me. An all-time great track.

Regarding this new release, I am still absorbing it as it is a lot. On first blush, that length seems wholly unjustified. Just tighten everything up and make it a single album, I say. It loses distinction in its length. I also find it wearying in its conscious effort to create "hooks". Are they trying to write hits? Certainly the production is A+ for the most part and it seems radio-friendly. But just considering it on its musical value I find it confusing though fairly compelling most of the time. Clearly my struggles with this band continue. I want to like it. There are plenty of things I dig but they often become meaningless in short order.

You can't have your foot in both worlds. Echolyn is a band that seems to be facing backwards while trudging forward.

Extremely listenable. Great as what I call "Progzak"...stuff that sounds good but with little that is going to grab my attention away from bill paying, bookkeeping, etc...Don't get me wrong. I kind of like my "progzak" playlist as it crackles with proggy vibes and ideas , which is great as background. But, when I attend to it it bores me to revulsion. Strange how that works.

There is a lot of Progzak out there these days. All the nauseating Neo stuff is everywhere. Echolyn is better than most of that and the general arranging skills are quite good if not groundbreaking.

I give it 5 stars for its sound and production. Honestly, I'm on the fence between 3 or 4 stars musically. It's a solid 3 with lots of 4 star splashes, shall we say!

For fairly obvious reasons, the first two paragraphs of this review are the same as for another Echolyn release, but it does change from there on, honest! In March 2025 Echolyn released (or releases, depending when you read this) two new albums on the same day, this one, and the companion album, 'Time Silent Radio vii'. This contains just two long tracks while the other contains seven shorter ones, and the band have also made available artwork which combines both releases so if one wishes to keep them listed as one double album then it is easy to do so. I first came across Echolyn many years ago when they released their third album, 'As The World' in 1995. This was their first (and last) release to a major label as they were signed to Sony for a period, but after more than 250 live shows, three full length albums and one EP the band broke up.

The band have reformed and gone on hiatus a few times since then, but the first reformation in 2000 saw founders Brett Kull, Christopher Buzby and Ray Weston get back together, this time with drummers Jordan Perlson and Paul Ramsey. There have been five albums since 2000, with slight changes in line-up, but Brett, Chris and Ray have been the constants and now they are back with their first releases since 2015's 'I Heard You Were Listening', since when there has been another line-up change with Brett Kull (guitar, lead vocals, backing vocals), Ray Weston (lead vocals, bass, backing vocals), Chris Buzby (keyboards, backing vocals) welcoming back Jordan Perlson (drums & percussion, backing vocals).

The two songs are "Time Has No Place" (16:37), which is broken into four parts, and "Water in Our Hands, Pts. 1-4" (28:51). Playing this album straight after the other one it is interesting to see the similarities and also the differences, as the pop mentalities are again prevalent (The Beatles being an obvious influence), but there is also the impression that the guys are more relaxed. There is a famous quote from Blaise Pascal (often wrongly attributed to Twain and others), "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter." Here they have been able to expand on ideas which would have necessarily needed to be curtailed if they were going to reduce the length, but at the same time they have not extended songs needlessly. There are plenty of bands out there who could do with some judicious editing on some of their releases, The Flower Kings spring to mind, yet here there is a relevance and continuity which takes the listener along for the journey.

All the styles we hear on 'Time Silent Radio vii' are again present but somehow are just "more". It makes it very difficult indeed to pick a favourite of the two as they are so close yet also separate, and I can certainly understand why the band made the sensible decision to make them available as separate albums as opposed to one lengthy one. Personally, whichever of the two I am listening to is my favourite, with its combination of wonderful musicianship, vocals and melodies, so currently it is this one but at the back of my head is the niggle that I really enjoyed the other one as well. The only solution for progheads is to investigate both: you will not be disappointed.