Discography

Earth & Fire (69) Song of the Marching Children (71) Atlantis (73) To the World of the Future (75) Gate to Infinity (77) Reality Fills Fantasy (79) Andromeda Girl (81) In a State of Flux (82) Phoenix (83) Storm and Thunder (99, Recorded Live At Zur Grille, Minden, Germany on March 21, 1974) ... many compilations ...

Reviews

Earth and Fire in 1970: (Foreground) Jerney Kaagman (vocals); (Behind her) Hans Zeich (bass), Chris Koerts (guitar), Ton van der Kleij (drums), and Gerard Koerts (guitar, keyboards) Song of the Marching Children is a good King Crimson-influenced Dutch progressive with a big Mellotron sound. Led by the Koerts brothers: Chris (guitars) and Gerard (keyboard) and fronted by singer Jerney Kaagman, who vocally resembles Annie Haslam as an alto. Only more powerful -- I gather Bjork from The Sugarcubes must have at least heard one Earth And Fire record in her time. :) Some of the shorter songs are pop-prog not unlike Kayak did in their later days, like the (apparently) big European hit "Memories" which leads off the album. The B-side features the 17-minute title track, with some really grand dynamics. The last section (in 5/4) "borrows" from King Crimson's "The Devil's Triangle." My favourite tune: "Storm And Thunder," which starts off with cathedral-like organ, then gradually builds to a lush Mellotron climax. To The World Of The Future finds the pop stuff ever poppier, but the progressive stuff getting undescribably weird. The eleven-and-a-half minute title song features seemingly random synth noises, a chanting choir a la Atom Heart Mother, and a delicious Chris Koerts guitar solo. "Voice from yonder" features a voice recorded at a seance within some of the instrumental sections. But this album is very accessible beyond all this gimmicry, "Circus" features powerful Kaagman vocals, and "The Last Seagull" is a pleasant instrumental. The first half of Gate To Infinity is apparently some kind of suite, having something to do with ancient Egypt. "A Princess In Egypt" has more of the chanted vocals that recall "To The World ..." "The Joyous Untruth" is a bouncy, guitar-propelled instrumental which sounds not unlike Focus. "Infinity" is a spacy instrumental with an electronically distorted speaking voice near the beginning and a tape-collage/freakout at the end; again reminding of something from To The World.... The side is bookended by the same song with different titles and lyrics. Kaagman's voice is becoming slicker, more pop-soul orientated. The B-side is mostly bland, ABBA-influenced pop music. Unfortunately, that's the direction they would take for subsequent albums. -- Mike Ohman

I think To the World of the Future is the best Earth and Fire album with extensive use of ARP synthesizers besides Hohner clavinet and Fender Rhodes; impressive guitar solo's against massive organ and Mellotron walls; the voice of Jerney Kaagman, but not only hers ... -- R. Ton

One of the great Dutch bands that created a very lush progressive in the early seventies with a very distinctive and facsinating female vocalist. All have been just released on Japanese CD and albums like Atlantis show why these guys were ahead of their field. Compare to Sandrose, Analogy or Edge.

Their female vocalist, Jerny Kaagman, has a husky tenor that I just love. The band started out more in the psych vein with progressive overtones, but later came a more developed symphonic style derivative of no one. Organ, Mellotron, and guitar are used along with Kaagman's haunting voice to create an atmospheric style of symphonic progressive. One of the essential listens from the Netherlands.

Earth and Fire from Holland have another record [previously omitted from the GEPR discography - Ed.] from 1977 [en]title[d] Gate to Infinity which is similar in style to Atlantis and To the World of the Future. Some beautiful symphonic based on guitars and keyboards and some more "pop" oriented songs. Compared to the others albums mentioned the songs are shorter being the longest one around the five and half minutes. While nothing too complex or wild is certainly a good album to listen. -- Julio Lopez

By the time of the release of Phoenix, the Koerts brothers had both left the band. Keyboard duties were shared by Ton Scherpenzeel of Kayak and Jons Pistoor on electric piano. The Koerts brothers went on to release a couple of new-age albums (Frames in 1988 and Escape in 1995) under the name Earth and Fire Orchestra, but these do not include Jerney Kaagman's vocals. Earth and Fire were very popular in their native Netherlands ... like some other bands from the old prog days, they frequently had songs that hit the top-40's charts on the same album with side-long Mellotron-drenched prog epics. A copy of the U.K. LP release of the Earth and Fire album featuring a Roger Dean cover was recently sold on Ebay for more than $1000. -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See Kayak | Scherpenzeel, Ton] Click here for the Earth and Fire web site (in English)

Dance (81)

Has been compared to early Roxy Music with Kevin Ayers on vocals!

Discography

Earthrise (77)

Reviews

Earthrise in 1977 - A very '70's picture Every album has a story behind it. This little-known progressive epic has one too. I just happen to know the story behind this one, so I'll share it with you before I get around to actually discussing the music. Around 1975, three guys named Kenn Pierog (Bass), Bill Drobile (Keys) and Greg DiDonato (Drums) got together to form Earthrise. This was an Emerson, Lake and Palmer-style band, with heavy Hammond organ and synths taking the lead roles. In 1977, they recorded an album in a small studio. The studio was using a Tascam 8-track recorder, but the band played mostly live with just a few overdubs on some songs. This was the studio's first "big project", so they hadn't had much experience with recording, and it shows in the "thin" sound of the album, and the questionable drum miking (even for 1977). The band had a total of 400 albums pressed. They were disappointed with the sound quality of the album, but were happy to have a pressing of their own original music. They ended up selling a few, and giving away many of them to friends and local fans. They continued to play together until 1979, then broke up without releasing another recording. As time went on, word spread among some in the progressive rock community that this was a pretty good band ... but their only album was very rare. This, of course, put the album in the category of "collectable", and has fetched prices of $800-$1000 in auctions. Much of this went on without the band members being aware of it, until they started to get calls from people who wanted to know if they had any more of the albums floating around. After a hiatus of over 20 years, the band decided to re-form and begin working on a new album of the same music, recorded with more modern equipment. This turned out to be a bigger project than they had anticipated, and people were still asking for copies of the album. With the master tapes for the original album gone, they had no choice but to remaster the recording from a clean vinyl copy. In July of 2000, they began to offer copies of this remaster on CDR from their web site. (This is the version I heard, since $800 is a bit out of my price range this month.) Sales are doing well enough that they are considering a standard CD run in the near future. As for Earthrise: Day Two, the new recording, this project is on hold for the time being, but the band members are still working on rebuilding their studio to complete this project. Maybe in 2001? That would be a good year to release a new version of this album ... Now, for a review of the music. The bottom line is: this is a pretty good album. Not worth $800-$1000 for the vinyl version, but well worth the $12.50 (including shipping & handling) they're asking for the CDR version. The sound, as I mentioned, is a bit on the thin side, primarily because the drums sound flat, and the keyboards are very stark and cold in their recording (I imagine they were jacked right into the mixer). These problems are probably due to insufficient experience on the part of the studio tech, especially setting up the drum mics. The tech obviously realized something sounded wrong and attempted to compensate by adding reverb. Unfortunately, this didn't fix anything ... it just added reverb. This is a common mistake made by neophyte recordists. Technical problems aside, just concentrating on the music itself, this is really good stuff! Earthrise contains 4 long pieces; "Eden's Child" and "Arcturus" include vocals while "Earthrise" and "New Clear Dawn" are instrumental. "New Clear Dawn" has a "bonus track" added, not on the original pressing. Retitled "Prelude: Before the Dawn", it immediately preceeds the old cut and flows into it. [Aside: "New Clear Dawn" is a lyric from ELP's Brain Salad Surgery (1973), "Guardians of a new clear dawn, Let the maps of war be drawn". "New Clear" is pronounced "Nuclear". I don't know if the tribute is intentional or unintentional ... the music is not particularly reminiscent of "Karn Evil 9".] The keyboards are slightly reminiscent of Keith Emerson (I guess any Hammond organ playing complex rock is to some extent), but overall this band probably sounds more like Schicke, Führs and Fröhling's Symphonic Pictures, though without the guitar and Mellotron of that album, or maybe earlier Le Orme, though without that "Italian" sound. Lots of changes and hard-driving prog keyboard work on both Hammond and synth playing against the backdrop of high-powered drums and bass make this CD an enjoyable listen. I'll bet these guys were a blast to hear play live. Nowadays, you can only hear them live at "WOODbineSTOCK", an annual picnic at the Pierog's house (on Woodbine Avenue, of course). They also have other local bands playing there for this all-day shindig. But unless you live in the Pierog's neighborhood, you're not likely to see Earthrise play live (photos available on the Earthrise web site). Too bad ... maybe they'll make a recording "Live at WOODbineSTOCK" one day so the rest of us can hear it too. In the meantime, I hope they get their studio rebuilt so we can hear more output from this talented trio. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Earthrise's web site

Discography

Salterbarty Tales (78) French Skyline (79) Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! (81) For Humans Only (81)

Reviews

Earthstar is a multi-national space-music ensemble masterminded by American multi-keyboardist Craig Wuest. Wuest's vision propels these two albums, his desire apparently is to create music that doesn't necessarily suggest a particular instrument, rather creates a new texture. Therefore, though there are credits for flute, guitar, bass, violin, viola, french horn, sitar and vocals, it's pretty hard to distinguish any of these from the ubiquitous synthesizers. (I managed to pick out guitars and sitar, but that's about it.) Thus, Wuest is successful in this endeavour. The two long tracks on French Skyline ("Latin Sirens Face The Wall" and "French Skylines Suite") explore slowly shifting, but discrete, passages. "Latin Sirens ..." opens with fiery choir-keyboard and guitar sounds which give way to a sequenced rhythm with energetic synth-soloing on top and ending in a swirl of synthesizer sounds. Produced by Klaus Schulze, who's an obvious influence on this album. Atomkraft... is an album of ecologically-themed programme-music. Wuest surrounds himself with nine guest players on piano, electric guitar, strings, piano, electronics and tuned percussion. The ten tracks vary from light and airy, like the piano-and-bells-heavy "Golden Rendezvous," to slightly symphonic like "Sonntagspaziergang" or "Wind Mills," which include violin and cello in the instrumentation, to creepy electronic dreamscapes like "Solar Mirrors" and the pulsing "Cafe Sequence." A very different, but equally enjoyable album. Also issued in 1981 was a final album entitled For Humans Only. -- Author Unknown Although Craig Wuest was indeed the founder and driving force behind Earthstar, he is not German but instead hails from the small city of Utica, New York. Wuest was among the first musicians in the Utica area to own a synthesizer, and he was strongly influenced by the German electronic music scene of the late 1970s, in particular Klaus Schulze, with whom he struck up a correspondence. With Schulze's encouragement, Wuest moved to Germany, where he spent the next several years. Earthstar was essentially Wuest plus whomever he asked to participate in his projects. The first Earthstar LP, Salterbarty Tales, was released by the Nashville-based Moontower Records prior to Wuest's departure for Germany and is nearly impossible to find. The first Earthstar release on the German Sky label, French Skyline, was recorded partly in Utica, partly in a number of German studios, and featured a mixed crew of American and European musicians. After its release, a number of Wuest's former collaborators in Utica joined him in Germany for the recording of Atomkraft? Nein Danke! A fourth Earthstar LP, For Humans Only, was basically the result of a partnership between Wuest and Utica guitarist/songwriter Dan Hapanowicz. The group dissolved soon after, though Wuest later created an unreleased Earthstar recording titled Axiom. In the 1980's Sky Records released two compilation CDs, Schwingungen and Schwingungen II, which feature cuts by Earthstar; this marks the first appearance on CD by the group. An unauthorized CD version of French Skyline was eventually released by a German label but is now out of print. -- Dennis Rea (a former member of Earthstar)

Links

Click here for Earthstar's Wikipedia entry

Discography

Seed (94)

Reviews

Opening with a mechanized drum roll is not the way to win my heart. The all too steady drum beat is my biggest complaint about, Seed, an album that is otherwise kind of different and unique. But I'm ahead of myself. Earthstone is the work of Chris Phillips and Chris Bond. Phillips does most of the instrumental work and vocals, but Bond contributes some keyboards and co-wrote most of the songs. Mark Richards plays guitar on one track ("Whitlingham Lane"), but otherwise guitar, bass, keyboards, programming and vocals are handled by Phillips and Bond. One third of the nine songs are instrumental. Earthstone are self-described techno-pagans, using digital technology to create music that is, they say, influenced primarily by nature. Their love of earth is evidenced by their support of environmental pressure activities of Greenpeace and Earth First. Their influences range from King Crimson through Atomic Rooster, Rain Tree Crow and the Art of Noise to Ozric Tentacles. I can pick out some Ozric influences, as well as Rain Tree Crow, but I never did pick up on much of a Crimson influence. Phillips' voice sounds a good deal like Peter Gabriel and much of the music (e.g., "Seed," "Unicorn Home" and "The Splintered Sky") sounded to me like a more electrified version of Peter Gabriel's solo work. Keyboards dominate a bit more than guitar. Though digital, Phillips and Bond made good use of the programming tools to create searing, sawtooth tambres that are fat and chunky. "Breathy" pads are rarely heard. "Llid the God" is a brooding, atmospheric work that thankfully leaves the drum machine turned off. "Whitlingham Lane" is another atmospheric mix of acoustic and electric guitar sans drum machine. Again, Earthstone's love of nature is evident throughout the lyrics, but is summed up in the final line from "E.L.F.": Life needs no reason so set it free. In all, Earthstone have created a unique mix of sounds that draws from the '70s as well as the '80s and '90s. The steady beat would work in a techno club of acid ravers, while the changing meters will satisfy many fans of Progressive Rock. -- Mike Taylor

While Mike Taylor is sensitive to drum programming I didn't really notice it that much - I thought the absence of a live drummer didn't overly detract from the overall performance (obviously there is a certain lack of energy and so on...live drummers are definitely preferrable). Musically this is a great album with excellent composition and thematic development. The only distraction for me on Seed is the vocals. I didn't particulary feel like the vocals added to the otherwise strong performance. I may simply be biased towards instrumental (like Ken Watson, Ozric Tentacles, Univers Zero, etc) music, but I would have actually preferred this to be an all instrumental recording (the background chanting is fine and adds to the mood) instead of layering the Hillage style singing on top. In some places it appears to me that the vocals seem to have been an afterthought and don't fit well with the rest of the music. Overall I'd say this is a great album - the instrumentation is dark and brooding at times, and highly textured throughout. It is readily apparent that the two member of Earthstone have loads of musical talent and original ideas - they are influenced by many other groups, but are striving with a high degree of success to be more than a clone of those other bands. I'd like to see them either move towards more instrumentals or spend a little more time developing their lyrics and vocal styles. Obviously that is a personal preference, and many of you out there may really enjoy the vocals as they are. Overall I think this is an excellent album, well produced and performed. -- Jim Watts

Links

[See Stealing the Fire] Earthstone used to be available from Kinesis, but it no longer seems to be in their catalog.

Discography

Játékok (81, aka Blue Paradise) Hüség (82, aka Faith) Rések A Falon (83) Az Aldozat (Szodoma) (84, aka The Victim (Sodom)) 1986 (86) A Szerelem Sivataga (88) Taking the Wheel (92) Radio Babel (94) Két Arc (95, Live)

Reviews

Excellent Hungarian progressive band, similar to Solaris yet far more prolific. Best known for their stunning masterpiece and second album Hüség, East would go on to make a few more, and all of them very inconsistent. Basically the better the album, the harder to find. Huseg is a very lush symphonic fusion album that hints of Marillion (but never that simple) or Camel or even Eloy in their symphonic period. Symphomaniacs will love this! Now out on Japanese CD.

Formed around 1979, East got rather poppy later on. Their early stuff is better with excellent vocals on the first 2 albums. Sodom is instrumental.

East were a band from Hungary who released a handful of albums, but Hüség stands out as a masterpiece of the genre. The music is very symphonic, built on a strong foundation of keyboards and guitar, and comes off as music with the melodic style of mid-period Genesis, but with a more aggressive edge in terms of guitar and keyboard lead passages that clearly showcase the technical proficiency of the musicians. Non-English vocals are present at times, but they do not intrude and fit very well into the context of the music.

Many people speak of Hüseg as a progressive "classic" and a must-buy. If you love the symphonic style, maybe, but otherwise I don't agree. While East offers the technical profiency and style that I appreciate, the writing leaves me a bit thirsty. It's that old "You play rhythm while I solo then I'll play rhythm while you solo" approach that turns me off. The musicians have a fair amount of talent but the arrangements are simple enough for amateur songwriters to pull off. OK, maybe I'm being a little harsh but that's how I feel. If you like the symphonic style you'll probably like Hüseg. If you're looking for something new, look somewhere else.

Játekók is poppy and boring. I was very disappointed with it. Not really prog at all, more like '70s easy listening music with spacy keyboards. Hüseg is much improved. Far more progressive, it has a typical "high-tech" aspect that will appeal to fans of other East Euro bands such as Exodus, SBB, Autograph and the like. -- Mike Ohman

Discography

Mercator Projected (69) Snafu (70) The World Of East of Eden (71) New Leaf (71) Another Eden (75) Armadillo (9?) Kalipse (96, Reunion album)

Reviews

Mercator " ... is East Of Eden's first LP (sic) called Mercator Projected. Take one electric violin which blows rock and Bartok, add one flute from the East, mix in Sumerian saxophones, bass, drums, guitar and liquid word-pictures - mark East Of Eden." That is the claim on the liner notes that accompany this release from 1969. The music is very much in the early seventies UK progressive rock camp, organ/guitar dominated rock, with melodic ballads interspersed with more aggressive passages, using a variety of instruments. The music is similar in spirit to Gryphon, and, perhaps, groups such as Cressida, early Rare Bird, Fields, and the like.

About Mercator Projected: this is one of the best early prog albums, it’s quite good for times, when bands were swaying around, not actually know how to play or sound like. Perhaps the sound is not prog yet, but approach is. Tracks on Mercator are reminiscent of KC, Colosseum, the obligatory Moody Blues, etc. The track "Communion" is progrock remake of one Bartok’s theme and sounds very good even today. There are also some weird electronics in the begining of that Bartokian track. The track "Isadora" is also very good with very fine flute and sax alternated and unisono playing. "Northern Hemisphere" and few others has cool violin playing. One minus point is the "pleasant" reading (in Chinese or Japanese — I understand everything there) in the inlay of Deram CD, it seems that Euro-version does not exist. For the beginning, it was very successful and almost as good as In the Court of Crimson King. I didn’t hear other albums, but overall this is very decent album. -- Nenad Kobal

Pioneering British band whose music encompassed jazz, blues and folk influences (they had a minor hit with the Celtic-influenced instrumental "Jig-a-Jig"), and featured then-exotic instruments such as violin and flute (both played by Dave Arbus) and saxophones (played by Ron Caines). Mercator Projected and Snafu were their most adventurous albums. To me, the music on these sounds, at various times, a little like early Jethro Tull, or perhaps a tiny bit like Soft Machine (circa Third). East of Eden were more weird and jazzy than Tull ever was, though (... and not quite as weird and jazzy as the Softs, for that matter). Keyboards are pretty much absent, and there are quite a few instrumental stretches with lots of violin, flute and sax solos, (which is fortunate because the vocals are on the weak side). There were lots of personnel changes, and their later releases (especially New Leaf and Another Eden) were much more conventional. New Leaf is essentially a straight-ahead hard-rock LP, with some vaguely folky and progressive trappings around the edges. Think Uriah Heep with taste and chops. Both Snafu and Mercator Projected are fine albums of eclectic early British progressive rock. Dave Arbus played the violin solos on the Who's Who's Next album. -- Dave Wayne

Links

Click here to order Kalipse or Armadillo from HTD Records

Discography

East Wind Pot (06) Another Side (06, CDR)

Reviews

East Wind Pot is a new type of far-eastern marijuana. No it's not. At least as far as I know. In this case, I'm talking about a new Japanese jazz/rock fusion band. Dopey name ... great band! Others have compared them to Weather Report or Return to Forever, which I can certainly understand. But to me, East Wind Pot sounds a lot more like a Grand Wazoo-era Frank Zappa due to the mallet percussion. Woops! That's keyboardist Yuko Tsuchiya; it only sounds like mallet percussion. But then she switches to Hammond organ (or perhaps one of the electronic clones) and it sounds for a time like a jazzy version of Tarkus, but trading licks with sax. Woodwind player Daisuka Yamasaki smokes on his solos, whether he plays sax or clarinet, and bassist Yoshiyuki Sakmurai could hold his own alongside Jeff Berlin or Jaco Pastorius with his snakey fretless bass moves. And drummer Eiichi Tsuchiya manages to keep up with all of them (I don't know if he's related to keyboardist Yuko). The bottom line is that this is an excellent debut for a band of talented musicians I had never heard before, though fans of Theta will recognize Yuko Tsuchiya's name. But expect no Renaissance stylings in this band. First of all, EWP is all instrumental, and secondly they don't even have a guitarist. But believe me, you won't miss the guitars. High-energy but very refined fusion is offered in this Japanese hot pot, and you should check them out if you're a fan of this style. A second helping is also available in the form of Another Side, a CDR release with what I assume is more of the same. I haven't heard this one, and I can't tell you how to order it either. But if you read Japanese, you can probably find out from their web site, below. In the meantime, Musea Records is second-sourcing the original Japanese Poseidon release of their self-titled debut release so the rest of the world can hear these master musicians. Get it while it's hot! -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See Theta] Click here for East Wind Pot's web site, mostly in Japanese Click here to order East Wind Pot from Musea Records

Discography

Easter Island (79, only 300 LP's made) Now and Then (79, CD re-release of Easter Island w/ bonus tracks) MotherSun (99)

Reviews

Easter Island (2003) - Mark Miceli (Guitars, Synthesis, Vocals), Alfred Collinsworth (Bass, Guitars, Vocals), Richard Streander (Guitars, Vocals), Bob Chapman (Electronic Drums & Percussion) Easter Island is another US band whose only LP now commands vast amounts of currency from maniac collectors. For the rest of us, ZNR Records in Kentucky has re-issued this classic on CD, taken from the master tapes. As with the band Cathedral described earlier, Easter Island's music embodies the sound of the mid-seventies, with a slightly more aggressive approach. However, for lovers of that genre, there are enough keyboard/Mellotron and guitar leads, and variant time signatures to satisfy.

I was fortunate enough to catch them in concert many years ago, opening for UK, and at one time owned a copy of their LP. (And I could kick myself for not keeping it; I understand it's quite the collector's item these days!) Shades of ELP and some of the more cosmic Yes stuff, if I recall. The live performance was very precise. Good stuff all the way around, and uncharacteristic of an American prog rock band, it was easy for me to overlook their pretentiousness.

Easter Island was a one-shot American progressive band who released Now and Then. Easter Island was easily one of the best US prog bands to have recorded during the 1970's. The music places emphasis on excellent mini-moog and Mellotron work as well as guitar, like most prog bands from the mid-'70s seemed to do. At first, you may be reminded of Yes and there are indeed some Wakeman and Howe influences at work. As the album progresses the music becomes more original, alternating intense moog work outs with spacey sections complete with drum marches on the deep tom-toms, each musician playing with his own unique style. The vocals are nothing particularly outstanding but they aren't a detraction either. If you like Mirthrandir and Cathedral, two other excellent American bands, you'd do well to check out Easter Island.

Easter Island was an obscure American progressive band in the late 70s relying heavily on that mainstay of progressive rock, the Mellotron. They recorded Now and Then in 1977 and 1978 with the title track in 1991. Easter Island's two vocalists Rick Bartlett and Mark Miceli share the spotlight with one of them emulating Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad. His jarring voice detracted from the listening experience but thankfully vocals are secondary to Easter Island's music. On several songs Bartlett's and Miceli's vocal styling brings to mind Yes on their landmark album Close to the Edge. Strongly influenced by 70s Italian progressive bands such as Le Orme and Premiata Forneria Marconi, Easter Island created beautiful melodies and mood changes without resorting to the progressive keyboard and guitar pyrotechnics so evident in today's neo-progressive bands. If nothing else, you should buy this CD just for the Mellotron work. The classically inspired "The Alchemist's Suite" and "Winds of Time" are alone worth the price. Support domestic progressive band reissues, Easter Island will not disappoint.

When I listen to MotherSun, Easter Island's follow up to their self-titled '80 debut, I find it incredible to think that the 1st few times I heard this album, I didn't care much for it. I think perhaps I had some preconceived notions of how it should sound based on my having a copy of Now & Then. (Now & Then is basically their self-titled LP with a few extra tracks-one of them newer.) After a few listens though, this CD quickly became one of my favorite things to come out in recent years. The lineup has changed completely with only Mark Miceli remaining as the bands primary composer. He also is the only vocalist on MotherSun, unlike the first album in which he only sang a little. Mark also expanded his role by taking over keyboard duties, making this newer lineup a trio rather than a 5 piece band. Richard Streander joins and adds his unique lead guitar to the lineup, whereas Mark was the only guitar player on the debut. Richard also contributes some additional lead vocals and sings backup throughout. Perhaps this is why the music on MotherSun often consists of layers of rich guitar textures while keyboards often take a backseat. (At least in comparison to the debut album). The band utilizes a lot of modern electronics in their sound as well and the production is top notch-very crisp and clean. Drummer Bob Chapman is nothing short of incredible and never dull to listen to. His drumming stays complex throughout the CD and never stagnates into simple timekeeping. It's hard to describe the music on this CD (versus the debut which is comparatively easy) because nobody else really sounds like this. Suffice it to say that the music is very deep and atmospheric with incredible musicianship throughout. If your tired of bands that have too much of a style or have too many songs that sound similar, Easter Island's MotherSun is a great break! NO two songs sound alike on this CD. There are also some very interesting and diverse instrumentals, from the synthy ambient "Cosmosis" to the hard rocking "Tetrahedral Blues". The lyrics are very intelligent and add their own mood to the music. Standout tracks to me personally are: "Show the Way" for its depth and beautifully dreamy keyboard solo; "MotherSun" for its depth and sheer beauty; "DrawDown" for its relentless intensity & strangeness; "Everywhere I Go" for its dreamy spaciness and deep lyrics; ditto "Life Goes On". This is also an album in which everytime I hear it, I notice something new...a sure sign that a lot of thought was put into this release. My highest recommendation-just remember that its a challenging album and may take a few plays to get into it. (Of note: former Pre member Alfred Collinsworth has since joined the band on bass! Mark & Richard shared bass duties on MotherSun ... should make the next album interesting!)

Links

[See Pre] Click here for Easter Island's web site

Discography

Future force (82) Journey to Utopia (Live!) (83)

Reviews

Spacey prog.

Discography

Attack of the Martians (04)

Reviews

Still relatively unknown, this four-piece from Massachusetts are making some of the best synth-oriented prog on the planet. Consisting of leader and rockin' bassist Bill Noland, his wife Madeleine on wind-controlled synthesizer, Mark Cella on drums and Derek Roebuck on keys, they have single handedly redefined the American prog-rock voice and turned out a first CD that encompasses all the drama, musicianship, humor and kitchie science fiction themes that make an album like Tarkus so great. Their self-produced offering, Attack of the Martians (that's right), is a high-energy circus of syn-phonics that makes no appologies for its' fondness of both classical, ELP type jams and the sci-fi films of the 1950's. An absolute pleasure from beginning to end, Attack of the Martians is an instant classic of "technostalgia" and presents a still obscure band that surely will live someday in the hearts of all proggies. Check 'em out at their web site (link below). The drummer also runs a good progressive CD site called M&M Music (link below). -- David Marshall

A few pieces of additional info ... Bill and Madeleine Noland both played on the Gentle Giant tribute albums Giant Tracks and Mellow Records' Giant for a Life on the songs "In a Glass House" and "Just the Same." Keyboardist Derek Roebuck left the band due to other commitments and has been replaced by Ed Broms. Broms, among other things, also plays with the Blue Man Group and is music director and organist for a church in Holliston, MA. At this point, he is very busy with his other projects, but Bill Noland hopes his time will free up soon so that the band can begin work on a new album. In addition to running M&M Music, Mark Cella has also played on other progressive rock albums including The Gathering of the Krums by Pye Fyte and Between Cages by A Triggering Myth, as well as a track on Prog in the USA. -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See A Triggering Myth] Click here for Eccentric Orbit's web site Click here for the M&M Music web site

Discography

Apsilene (03?)

Reviews

Ian Eccles-Smith may not even call himself a "progressive" artist. I stumbled over his web site while doing some random surfing. His entire album Apsilene is downloadable in relatively high-quality MP3's from his site ... which is what I did. This is very odd music. I could easily see a hardened prog snob turning his nose up at it due to the soft, movie-soundtrack style of the music. But the arrangements are so strange, yet beautiful, that I would have to classify this album as prog. It's difficult to describe the music. It seems to be more about playing up and down harmonics in a rhythmic way than about melody. You could almost hear these "melodies" as being produced by tuned wind chimes, though the timbres are mostly organ, acoustic guitar and bass. Drums are used too, usually to create a rhythm that's a counterpoint to the rhythms being made by the tonal instruments. It's hard to describe, but easy to listen to; hypnotic and relaxing without being at all new-agey. The "melodies" might almost be randomly generated, except that there are places where some of the sequences are reprised or harmonized or counterpointed, meaning these strange sequences were composed rather than "found". Download ... listen ... give it a couple of spins before you make a call on it. It didn't really sink in with me immediately, but now I really like it. Very nice stuff, and not mainstream. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for Ian Eccles-Smith's web site

Discography

Echolyn (91) Suffocating The Bloom (93) ...And Every Blossom (93, EP) as the world (95) When the Sweet Turns Sour (96) Cowboy Poems Free (00) mei (02) Progfest '94: The Official Bootleg (02, 2CD Live) A Little Nonsense: Now and Then (02, 3CD Live) as the world (05, Reissue with bonus CD) The End is Beautiful (05)

Reviews

Echolyn - Ray Weston (vocals), Chris Buzby (keyboards), Jordan Perlson (drums), Paul Ramsey (bass), and Brett Kull (guitar). Photo by Mike Monti Echolyn is a five piece from Pennsylvania, whose sound is direct, tightly arranged and colorful. The lyrics take a prominent role, delivered with feeling and plenty of raw emotional content. Their sound is layered and complex, but not overly busy. The "Mellotron" sound is used generously, but the overall sound has more variety than usual and tends to be a little more experimental. Of their first album: Quite impressive is the album opener "Fountainhead," a very experimental collage type piece that leads into the first full length track "The Great Men," a thought provoking track about idealism and human nature. The balance of the album is equally exceptional. A second album has just been released Suffocating The Bloom, it's even more powerful than the first, with the band showing more musical maturity all around.

Echolyn represents the lighter side of progressive music: the Yes/Marillion influence, catchy tunes, repetitive choruses, mainstream style ... the list goes on. But I cannot deny that they are good musicians, the writing is solid, and that I like them. They take the style of Kansas (group voicings, power chords, overlaid keyboards) and make progressive rock out of it. Throw in some counterpoint, a busy rhythm section, and thoughtful, introspective lyrics, and you've got Echolyn. The band strides the fine line between neo-prog and progressive and somehow manages to capture the best of both worlds. While completely accessible to the average listener, *and* to anyone who isn't into progressive rock, they have enough going on to keep the attention of people like myself who need a little dissonance and/or complexity to stay awake. Prediction time: Echolyn is going to be big. Real big. They have all the tools to blow this brand of lite-progressive into the mainstream. But are they representative of the strongest aspects of the genre? Over time, they will achieve popularity, but only expose a small corner of what progressive music is and can be. Any attention brought to the genre will be lost on bands like Xaal, Deux ex Machina, and others that equal if not eclipse Echolyn in potential.

Suffocating The Bloom contains a lot of variation, but it is well contructed, like a really good concept album. I don't particularly like the singer's tone of voice, but it's OK, and he more than makes up for it with his convincing delivery of some good lyrics. There are plently great sections of music in this CD. This contains my favourite drummer of these 5: his drums have been tuned to make maximum excitement in fills, and he uses his china cymbal really well. One thing I don't like, especially on first listen, is the start of the album, in which the guitar player sounds very amateurish, although he later proves he's not. Mind you, it's amateurish in the same way that I think Steve Howe sounds amateurish in some bits of Asia! Overall, a very good album, although I can't listen to it lots of times in a row.

Compared to the previous albums, as the world is a much better recording. With as the world, they build upon the sound they established on their earlier albums where the music is characterized by a complex interplay of each instrument, then overlayed with thick vocal harmonies. Their composition does not follow the classic jazz format where one instrument breaks off for a solo before returning to the theme, but rather they adhere to the philosophy that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each instrument does something different and plays an integral role in producing the finished sound. They have strong progressive tendencies as evidenced by the rapid time signature changes, which bring to mind parts of Gentle Giant and Happy the Man, however I would not classify them as neo-progressive since they sound nothing like Marillion, IQ, or that genre. They have jazz overtones, a tiny bit of folk, and some classical moments. The vocal harmonies, which are one of the strengths of Echolyn, remind me of Steely Dan, especially in the types of chords used. Their lyrics are thoughtful, but not really deep. However, they're not cryptic either, which I find a plus. Overall, as the world is a very mature effort containing a good balance of songs: some with pretty melodies, some with discord, and most with comlex and shifting rythms. As such it may appeal to a variety of listeners, but by the same token there will probably be parts that each listener may not particularly like. My experience is that the album gets better with every listen as I hear new things and gain greater appreciation for where the music is headed. Because of this Echolyn has become one of my favorite bands. Unfortunately, the latest news is that they've broken up. It looks like another talented band falls by the wayside. -- Doug Hobbs

These five American musicians present the usual lineup with vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass and drums. Flutes and strings are used in some of the acoustic parts. The compositions on Suffocating the Bloom and As the World are based on introspective lyrics but never neglect the instrumental aspect of the music. The clever interaction between the voices and the other instruments introduces elements of complexity to this otherwise very accessible music. They actually pull-off an excellent fusion of the best elements from numerous influences. -- Paul Charbonneau

Links

[See Always Almost | Finneus Gauge | Grey Eye Glances] Click here for the Official Echolyn web site Click here for an Echolyn fan page

Discography

Eclat De Vers (91) Eclat II (92) Volumes Un & Deux (92?, Contains Eclat De Vers and II) Volume Trois (97) En Concert (98)

Reviews

I knew that I was in for a treat from the moment I saw the magic square on Eclat's new CD II. This Musea release contains 9 songs dealing with the Nornes, alchemy, the Celts, rhythmic cycles, Led Zeppelin, numerology, the magic square, the Grim Reaper, and the circus. A vast amount of territory to cover in 40 minutes! The lyrics and booklet are in French but the subject matter is so fascinating that I had to translate them to get a better understanding. Manipulation of numbers and letters is a key aspect of Eclat's songs. The second song Vitriol (the alchemist term for sulphuric acid) discusses the inner workings of man on his journey to wisdom. Each of the three verses contains seven lines, the first letter of each line reading down spelling Vitriol. Opera Magique uses the magic square as the basis for the song and for constructing its lyrics. The three verses consisting of six lines of six words each use the letters in the magic square as the first letter of each word. A very intriguing and mathematical approach to music! Eclat is a contemporary French progressive band of accomplished musicians: Alain Chiarazzo (guitars and chants), Fabrice Di-Mondo (drums, percussion, and vocals), Laurent Thomann (bass), and Pascal Versini (piano and keyboards). Eclat plays a varied music. Beautiful bucolic and acoustic melodies and lyrics alternate with jazzy progressive fireworks. This band really cooks! One high point (as if each of the nine songs isn't) is Page Orientale, a tribute to Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and traditional Indian music. Chiarazzo's acoustic guitar work is outstanding and sounds like Alain Markusfeld's classic Le Desert Noir. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Discography

Eden (78)

Reviews

Eden was a french canadian band who released only one very obscure album, in 1978. They were a quartet of bass/guitar/drums/keyboards. Their music was a nice mixture of Quebecois-styled prog/folk a la Harmonium, Cano or Le Temps mixed up with a few classical references, they even tackle Faure's "Pavane", complete with some nice vocal arrangements that gives the song a bit of their own personality. Whatever happened [to them] after the album was released remains a mystery. -- Alain Mallette

Aura (79)

French duo evidently sounding like SFF or Bo Hansson.

Discography

Erwartung (78) Perelandra (80) Heimkehr (81)

Reviews

Huge band with very complex style and long tracks, lots of folk and classical references. Erwartung is supposed to be the best.

Discography

On The Way To Eden (70)

Reviews

Rudimentary in both sound quality and instrumentation (guitar, organ/piano, bass, drums), On the Way to Eden (LP Katema KA 33.507; CD Musea FGBG 4404.AR) is an obscure but enjoyable collection of eight instrumental tracks covering many of the bases of early progressive rock. The title track is a beautifully melodious, rollicking rock number with a mellifluous guitar / twin-keyboard interplay and tight rhythmic accents that is a distant forebear to the mature symphonic rock style of the seventies. "Sad Dream", on the other hand, goes beyond the whiter shade of pale, as guitarist Jean-Pierre Alarcen melodises in blue against keyboardist/composer Henry Garella's Bach-cum-Percy Sledge organ figures. The short quote from "Frère Jacob" at the beginning of the track serves to remind that for these progressive musicians the concepts "eclecticism" and "fusion" often still meant flinging whatever was at hand at the wall and seeing what would stick. The rest of the songs are basically blues-based rock jams with jazzy flavour and many Hammond solos, obviously influenced by Vanilla Fudge, Traffic and even early Deep Purple. Drummer Michel Jullien at least shows his debt to Ian Paice, especially in his mandatory solo on "Reinyet Number". The style is very dated, but the playing is vigorous and melodic writing on the better numbers (e.g. the slickly mellow sixties-style melodising juxtaposed with wailing guitar solo in "Walking in the Sea" that compares favourably to early Camel) lively in the way that makes this engaging even to those of us who don't much care for the style. In any case, the album nicely encapsulates the essence of certain early-progressive musical approaches, even as they were about to be superseded by the more ambitious styles. [Contrary to] what some sources claim, this CD re-release does not include the band's only B-side "Under the Sun" as a bonus. After Eden Rose wilted, Alarcen planted another, more progressive specimen, the much better known Sandrose. Though the other three Eden Rose members eventually would join the group, its songs and approach came from Alarcen and reflect much more the new decade's progressive style, rather than the old one's. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Links

[See Sandrose] Click here to order Eden Rose from Musea Records

Discography

Celtic Worship (95) Celtic Psalms (96) Celtic Praise (97) Celtic Christmas (97) Celtic Worship 2 (98) Celtic Reflections on Hymns (98) Celtic Lullabies (98) All in a Life (99) Isle of Tides (02) In a Little Room (03, Live) New Celtic Worship (05)

Reviews

Eden's Bridge This is a wonderful Christian-Celtic-folk-Prog band, in the same style of groups like Clannad or Loreena McKennitt, and with ties to Iona ... their drummer was the drummer for Iona's first 5 records and Troy Donockley from Iona plays as a guest on several records. They're based in Yorkshire, England, and were formed by siblings Richard and Sarah Lacy, David Bird, Jon Large and Terl Bryant. Richard is a recording engineer, who owned his own studio and this is where the band recorded all their records. All the others members have professional careers and families, so music has to be divided in time with these other activities. The music in the first records is original praise and worship with a few covers by other Christian artists in each album with arrangements by the main composers being Richard, Sarah and David. The music is calm, with soft guitar, keys and drums almost ambient on some parts and more rock in others, creating a very relaxing mood where melody and nice arrangements are the focus point, these are well trained and skillful musicians and they try to work as a whole in benefit of the music than trying to impress with complexity or impressive solos, with the beautiful voice of Sarah Lacy who reminds me of Loreena McKennitt. Celtic Lullabies is mix of original material and arrangements of classic lullabies songs intended for children in a contemporary-celtic-prog form. By the album All in a Life they set aside the praise and worship lyrics and they concentrate in more of a everyday-life matters but always with a deep spiritual roots, the music becomes a bit more complex and elaborate. On the album Isle of Tides they create a masterpiece with all the above ingredients, celtic-folk-prog, in a perfect mix , sometimes soft and delicate, and sometimes more powerful and rocking with a big array of instruments (a common thing in all their records) with over 64 minutes of music that never gets boring or dull, it's has interesting changes of rhythms and where lyrics and music flows seamless perfect, and while I enjoy every album of this group this is the one I highly recommended. The New Worship album is a return to their roots an is again worship music with the same style of music, and it where it seems to have a change of members for the first time, where Richard and Sarah are the only original members. If you like Loreena McKennitt, Clannad, Iona, Karnataka and even Mostly Autumn minus the P.F. I'm sure you will like this band. -- Julio Lopez

Links

Click here for Eden's Bridge's (currently sparse) web site Click here for Eden's Bridge's MySpace page Click here for the Northern Lights MySpace page, Eden's Bridge's acoustic side-project

Discography

Generazioni (Storia De Sempre) (74)

Reviews

One shot Italian band with the rare album Storia Di Sempre Very good and solid melodic Italian progressive.

E.A. Poe's sole release, Generazioni (Storia di Sempre), is from around 1974. It's really grabbed my ears. While it's not quite up to the standards of PFM's Per Un Amico, it's at least equal to their Storia di un Minuto. Like most Italian symphonic, it's very melodic and refined and the vocals are nearly as tasteful (i.e., not harsh) as PFM. There's no musician credits given on the CD booklet, but it sounds like a quartet of drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, and keys (piano, organ and synth). The main focus is the interplay between guitar and keyboards. The guitar solos are somewhat blues-inflected in places. The music covers a variety of moods from rockin' to mellow and laid back. Nicely done and well worth a listen.

E.A. Poe is another italian group that tried to surf the progressive rock tide storming Italy in the mid 70's. E.A. Poe issued a single LP release named Generazioni (Storie di sempre) in 1974, being re-issued on CD in 1991. The CD leaflet does not provide any information on the group which seems to be a four piece ensemble made of drum, guitar, keyboard and bass. Wind instruments are surfacing on some song. The record fails on musical consistency and coherence, aimless pointing to different musical genres without settling on a specific mood. Some of their songs may effortlessly be mistaken as belonging to one of the first Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's record. Others have a more Floydesque psychedelic vein or spot a symphonic mood as PFM Storia di un Minuto. There is some political background appearing in the text of their songs, especially in the "Intro" song declaration. The male voice is weak and cannot modulate decently. E.A. Poe should be considered a minor italian group who produced non-seminal music. However, it's still worth the purchase if you like to make your italian prog rock collection complete. -- Ludovico Vecchione.

The identities of E.A. Poe members have been revealed! See link below for this and other interesting information. -- Fred Trafton

Links

Click here for E.A. Poe's entry on the Italian Prog web site

Suction 8 (86), Sarcastic Fringeheads (90)

Purportedly Earth and Fire-ish 80's English neo-prog

Very different from the standard UK so-called "progressive" fare; it's clear that Edge have distanced themselves from the rest of the pack, yet their music is still very accessible. Vocalist Frances Pearless fronts the sound, her voice having many of the same qualities as Tracy Hitchings in her adventures with Quasar, but without being as unyielding to the music; Pealess' voice is more subtle and generally works better in the band context. The flute plays an important lead position in many of the musical passages, conjuring up memories of Focus, Horslips and Tull. The band has no trouble shifting gears, moods and styles, and borrow and refine some of their better ideas from the jazz school. There are few shocks in their music: the signature, tempo and dynamic changes are well thought out and seem to have a purpose in support of the writing and the lyrics. This band has a level of sophistication rarely found in their neo-prog contemporaries. Highly Recommended.

Discography

Kick Off Your Muddy Boots (75) Paradise Ballroom (77)

Reviews

Moody Blues drummer. Solo albums are good, but not progressive.

Discography

Oriental Christmas (85) Still Dream (88) Astro Logical (91) Angel's Promise (97) Universal (98) The Bursting (00, recorded '81)

Reviews

One of the more simpler new symphonic French bands, with beautiful melodies and great guitar, yet they have a drummer who doesn't know the difference between a fast and a slow song. Very Genesis like and good for new prog lovers, but if you like great drummers, ignore.

80's progressive band from France who play instrumental rock similar to the new Djam Karet. Technically pretty proficient, their two releases are titled Oriental Christmas and Still Dream.

A French instrumental group on the Musea label. Their first album Oriental Christmas compares to Defector/Spectral Mornings era Hackett. Their second effort Still Dream is in the same vein, but with more of unique sound. Astro Logical their third effort has more of a new agey feel to it. Either of the first two are a good place to start. They also appear on the Musea Compilation CD (Enchantment).

Four piece instrumental band from southern France, featuring Marc Ceccotti (lead guitar,guitar synth,keyboards), Jean-Louis Suzzoni (rhythm guitar, keyboards), Noel Damon (keyboards), Jacky Rosati (Drums,percussion,keyboards). Their sound seems to be in an ongoing state of positive development, although the common thread is Ceccotti's Frippoid guitar and the emphasis on the top- end of the sound, while leaving the rhythm section (w/ pedal bass) powerful but merely functional. The first album had two facets: one was an electronic driven sound, typified by the title track, "Spring Road" and "Souvenirs"; the other was a more straightforward progressive rock sounding not far from Steve Hackett circa Defector, albeit with a stronger Fripp influence - in tracks like "Agatha," "Tepid Wind," "FD Smile" and "Absynthe." The album's best tracks seem to be those that straddle these two poles: "Ca...Li...Vi...Sco" and "Imaginary Dance" are probably the album's two most powerfut tracks. The weakness of Oriental Christmas is that, while the writing is quite good, the songs seem somewhat structurally underdeveloped, a problem which was taken care of on the second album. Still Dream moves forward with the band's basic sound intact, but with a more arty feel and sonic experimentation, with less emphasis on rock power and more on art-content, all in a very uniquely french way. Tracks like "October Dawns," "Butterflychild" and the title track illustrate this shift well. There are also more solo oriented tracks ("Gael and Selena," "Fee D'Hiver," "Twine"), and the CD bonus cut "Heart Door" is a dark and moody powerhouse that is among the album's finest. Overall this is probably their best album, and definitely the best starting point. Astro Logical is by far the most compositionally advanced of the three, but it relies more on synth and complexity than on the power and simplicity of the earlier stuff. It churns for a solid hour through a dense jungle of constantly changing soundscape of odd rhythms, unusual signatures, disjointed melodies, all twisting and turning and never settling down. few of the twelve songs have any recurring theme that the listener can take away from it. It's good, but not for beginners. Start with Still Dream.

Edhels are one of the bands to which many other bands are compared. Edhels are a four-piece progressive rock band from France, whose music combines very well the melodic sensibilities of progressive rock and the jazz inflections of fusion. Led by the able fretwork of Marc Ceccotti, this is progressive rock with the guitar at the forefront, unlike most bands, which tend to be keyboard-heavy. In some sense they could be regarded as a more accessible version of Djam Karet. Oriental Christmas was their first release, and one of the first releases to put the Musea label on the map. Their equally good, second and third works, Still Dream, and Astrological, respectively, are also available.

Similar to Djam Karet, but not as good, IMO.

Edhels, by way of some rave reviews, seem to have stolen some of the thunder from their Musea compatriots. I don't know why, they're pretty mediocre to be honest. On the plus side, Oriental Christmas has some nice guitarwork and pleasant melodies. On the other hand, the compositions seem half-finished, the musical complexity is very much on the amateur level, the keyboardist seems to have modeled himself after post-Duke Tony Banks, and the drummer comes from the Alan White school of bang-thudding. Still Dream shows signs of improvement. The band has learned to complete the songs they begin to write, and they have also learned ways to cover up their less-than-adequate drummer's playing--a neat trick. Unfortunately, one of the disguises they use is a lighter, almost new-agey tone, so most of Still Dream is pretty boring. The one exception is the seven-minute "Heart Door," a fine track which far exceeds anything else the band has ever done. I haven't heard the band's third album, Astro Logical, but I wouldn't expect the band to suddenly put out a classic release, so I'm not anxiously awaiting the chance to hear it. If you get an opportunity to hear "Heart Door," I'd say go for it. Otherwise, you can entirely pass Edhels by without feeling you're missing an essential chapter in the history of progressive music, because you aren't.

On The Bursting (1981): Entirely instrumental, like the first three Edhels albums released officially, the band's real debut album The Bursting compositionally is on par at least with the band's first official work Oriental Christmas. However, I haven't heard on the band's following albums such a mind-blowing, virtuosic and tasteful playing of the acoustic guitar that Marc did on "Russian Puzzle" (why have you stopped doing so in the future, Marc?). Believe it or not, but I think that even the two Mighty Steves (Hackett & Howe) were always proud of themselves when they demonstrated such guitar acrobatics. All the three tracks with the hints to Classical Music in their titles really contain the motives of European Symphonism in their structures and Edhels ("Symphony No. 1") is especially filled with them. On Angel's Promise: There are twelve compositions on the fourth Edhels' album, and four of them feature vocals. Each instrumental piece on Angel's Promise, in spite of their structures becoming more accessible, contains some wonderful, magic, really innovative arrangements, apart from the traditional Edhels' originality. Each vocals based composition also contains some interesting instrumental parts, but on the whole, the basic (vocal) themes are quite simple there, and what's the main thing, each of these four songs features different male and female vocalists (read: very different styles of singing). On Universal: By the way, Universal is the first and the only Edhels album with a strong vocal presence throughout. But while all the vocal parts on the album are excellent, the instrumental palette of Universal is one of the strongest for the band in general. Also, if the previous Edhels opus Angel's Promise, despite the presence of a certain magic in several tracks of this album was composed mostly in the vein of Neo Progressive, all the musical structures of the new one are truly Classical. Also, in my view, Universal contains some raw yet positive power, that I previously haven't heard in their music at all. Quite diverse vocal parts were sung by Jean-Marc Bastianelly (original people live in Monaco since their first names are mostly French and the last are almost totally Italian) whose strong male voice sounds very appropriately on this album. Mostly hard-edged Classic Art Rock structures with just a slight fusion feel that Edhels use in the arrangements of Universal look refreshing on the contemporary Progressive scene. -- Vitaly Menshikov

Links

Click here to read Vitaly's reviews in their entirety on the ProgressoR web site

A Space Between Ever And Never (90), Ice (91)

Italian neo-prog band, they actually have a unique sound pretty much defined by the stylized guitar of Antonio Moschetto and the vocals of Mario Gulisano, which overall could draw comparisons to the first album by Galadriel, or based on the vocals - to Nick Barrett of Pendragon. The first album was a little thin, although it did have some powerful moments evidenced throughout, but no more so than on the intro to "Be Yourself," where Moschetto, keyboardist Fiorentino and drummer Bisignani prepare a blisteringly complex polyrhythmic attack leading ever-so-smoothly into Gulisano's vocals. The CD has an annoying bonus track that's recorded at about half the volume of the other six tracks. The second album Ice is far more cohesive overall, but gets a little poppy towards the end.

Ice is the second release by Italy's Edith. A band firmly entrenched in the neo-progressive mold, Edith offers a more conservative approach than classic Italian bands of the seventies. One of the reasons I tend not to appreciate the neo-progressive bands is that many of them sound way too much like Marillion. Some lack any originality altogether. While Edith does sound primarily influenced by Marillion, their music does have its own style, albiet highly derivative. The new-agey cover is representative of the feel of the music - Rothery styled guitar riffs backed with keyboard washes. The rhythm section seems capable of doing a lot more than the snare-bass plodding and occasional fills that it does. Sung in English, the vocals sound vaguely like Fish or Peter Gabriel and tend to fit the music well. While not un-talented, the band seems to avoid making their music overly complex. Some listeners will appreciate this approach, but I fall into the camp that grows bored with straight-forward, lyrical writing. After the fifth or sixth song I have trouble listening to the rest of the album, because there is little change or variation. After several listenings Ice hasn't grown on me, though I find some of the songs catchy. Catchiness in music tends to lead to a short shelf life. There is nothing unpleasant about this band but I still can not recommend them to anybody but the neo-prog fans. Ice isn't a bad album, but when compared to the progressive classics of the past and their contemporaries, it still falls short. Even compared their fellow countrymen, Nuova Era, Ezra Winston, or Eris Pluvia, they don't stack up. Edith seems capable of much more as a band, and I hope they achieve their potential some day.

[See Atmo]

Discography

Allee des Tilleuls (76) Aliquante (77) Horizon Digital (78)

Reviews

French fusion/prog band featuring a sublimely talented female keyboardist (Ann Ballester) and a fine John McLaughlin-influenced guitarist (Marius "Mimi" Lorenzini). The quartet is completed by the nimble rhythm section of Josquin Turenne des Pres on bass and Alain Gouillard on drums. The music often resembles the Canterbury fusion of Hatfield and The North or middle-period Soft Machine. Lorenzini's deftly rendered guitar runs, alternately electric and acoustic, are just what the doctor ordered. Ballester uses an amazingly clear and ringing tone on her ARP synthesizers ... I'd be hard pressed to find someone else with a tone so rich. She is also a fine pianist. In composition, the songs are almost equally divided amongst Ballester, Turenne and Lorenzini, with Turenne writing the English lyrics to two songs. The songs themselves house some intricate time-signature shifts which make the songs consistently interesting. The track "La Fille du Ruisseau" is an especially interesting composition: the first half alternates between consonant bossa-nova styled verses and slightly dissonant synth interjections, the second half being a tasty synth/guitar solo duet. I'd highly recommend this one to fans of Isotope, Soft Machine, Gong, etc.

Updated 12/20/04: About a year ago now, I received Allée des Tilleuls from Musea Records for review. I was not that impressed. I wrote the following review: Musea Records has remastered and re-released Allée des Tilleuls on CD with three bonus tracks from a 1976 demo recording. It just goes to show there's no accounting for tastes. Reading the above entry's glowing report, I can scarcely believe we are listening to the same band. Although vocalist Ann Ballester is OK, I certainly don't consider her "sublimely talented", at least not in any way I can hear on this album. The guitarist, far from being "McLaughlin-influenced", sounds to me like a lounge jazz guitarist who sometimes also plays funky lounge jazz and psychedelic lounge jazz. The keyboardist has a few tricks up his sleeve, but they seem to be heavily practiced solos delivered multiple times with no variation between executions. The compositions are all two chords with jamming going on over the top, and not particularly inspired either. Then on to a chorus ... another two chords, then back to the original two again. I'm just not that impressed. I don't know, maybe I'm being too hard on them. Obviously others hear charms that have eluded me. But I can't say this album did a darn thing for me. It's not terrible, especially considering it was 1976. But there were MANY better bands around then, so for my tastes I can't really recommend this one. -- Fred Trafton However, recently (a couple of months ago now), I received the second release from Edition Speciale from Musea Records, Aliquante. I'm really glad I heard this before going to press with my previous review, because it was extremely unfair to this band. After hearing Aliquante, I now understand the previous reviewer's statements about Edition Speciale. It's hard to believe this is even the same band! The guitar and violin interplay are indeed reminiscent of Mahavishnu Orchestra, and this is an exciting and innovative album of world-class fusion. Yes, I can also see why the previous reviewer compared this to various Canterbury bands as well. This is an excellent release and I absolutely can recommend this one. -- Fred Trafton Updated 11/04/07: And now it's late 2007, and Musea has just released Edition Speciale's third album, Horizon Digital on CD. I don't think I've ever heard of a band that changes styles so dramatically from one album to the next. This album is also good, but I'm not at all reminded of Mahavishnu Orchestra this time around, though "fusion" is still a reasonable description. But this time it sounds like a mix of 60% Frank Zappa (The Grand Wazoo era), 30% Weather Report and the last 10% is (unfortunately) influenced by late '70's easy listening jazz (particularly the vocal harmonies). But all in all, still a fine album and worth hearing (in spite of the vocal harmonies and some muddiness in the drum recording). This album does have some personnel turnover since the previous album. Josquin Turenne des Pres (bass) left to join Magma for a while after the release of Aliquante, and was replaced for Digital Horizon by François Grillot, whose influences include Stanley Clarke and Jaco Pastorius. In addition, Gong's Mireille Bauer joins ES for this album, her next band after leaving Gong post-Expresso II (1978). In addition to the original songs from Horizon Digital, this CD re-release also contains five bonus tracks which were demos for a planned fourth album that never saw the light of day. The line-up had again changed for these recordings, but the sound is similar to the rest of this CD. Perhaps I would change the influence percentages to 20% Zappa, 60% Weather Report with 10% '70's easy listening jazz and another 10% blues. But these five titles certainly coexist well with the third album material on this CD from a stylistic standpoint. The recordings, particularly of the drums, are better sounding too, though they're overall a bit more austere given their "demo" production level. But very good recordings nonetheless. In fact, these may be my favorite songs on the re-release. All in all, the CD re-release of Horizon Digital is welcome, and I can certainly recommend it to those who like fusion and don't mind having it served up with some Zappaish stylings. -- Fred Trafton

Links

[See Gong | Lorenzini, Mimi | Magma | Triangle] Click here to order all remastered albums from Musea Records

Discography

Eela Craig (71) One Niter (76) Hats of Glass (77) Missa Universalis (78) Virgin Oiland (80)

Reviews

Initial band featuring Bognermayr/Zuschrader. They were a very synphonic progressive rock group. Their music was very lush and majestic, build on a foundation of keyboard sounds. They released five albums, none of which are available on CD, which are now collectors items of some value, commanding upto $30 for the last four and upto $500 (!) for the first self-titled one.

Austrians Eela Craig have released a handful of progressive albums in the symphonic vein. One-Niter is an excellent release and is vaguely similar to late 70's symphonic German bands like Eloy.

Eela Craig were perhaps the best-known progressive band from Austria, and one of the few bands I can think of with three (!) keyboardists. (Utopia and Savage Rose are the only other two such bands I can think of.) Their first album was released around 1974-75 only in Austria on the ProDisc label, and is today very rare and expensive. (Does anyone know when it will ever be reissued?) The second album, One Nighter arrived in 1976 with much wider distribution and to much acclaim in proggressive circles, although I haven't heard this one either. :-( Hats of Glass was the band's third album. Although I'm usually wary of albums that start off with cover versions, Chris deBurgh's "A Spaceman Came Travelling" seems an inspired and unexpected choice, and one that lends itself well to the triple keyboard attack. Hubert Bognermayr, Harald Zuschrader and Hubert Schnauer are all creative synthesists, and their piano and organ tones are rich and full sounding. The interplay between the three keyboards is well illustrated on the fine "Holstenwall Fair," my favourite song on the whole album. Guitarist Fritz Riedelberger (who sings on most of the songs on this album) gets a chance to show off his Dave Gilmour-influenced playing on the ten-minute title-track, while on the whimsically-titled instrumental "(Remove another hat of glass and you could easily find assorted kinds of) Cheese," his guitar rebounds quite well off of Bognermayr/Zuschraders' synths and Schnauer's electric piano. The other songs aren't quite as notable, with the possible exception of "Caught on the Air," a nice ballad with great vocal harmonies strongly suggestive of Yes. The band's 1978 album, Missa Universalis was conceived as a "rock mass," an idea I thought had died with the psychedelic sixties. Given the concept, not to mention liner notes like ."..for young people, modern religious music provides a bridge to God," it doesn't seem very encouraging. Surprisingly, Missa Universalis went above and beyond the call of duty. Again the two longest tracks form a centrepiece for the album. It starts off with the amazing "Kyrie," percolating with triple synthesizers twisting around each other and building to an electric climax into a majestic rock finale with soloing guitar. Brilliant! The "Sanctus" (this album's only song to feature guitarist Riedelberger on lead vocals) is really a two-parter; Part One based on a Bruckner mass, Part Two is a rock piece with rotating keyboard solos a la "Holstenwall Fair." The one thing that makes this album so delightful is the impeccable production. Note the piano in the "Gloria," the acoustic guitars in "Agnus Dei," etc. All the instruments are imbued with a luscious sound that makes the album interesting to listen to on so many levels. The one thing that ruins both albums for me, though, is drummer Frank Hueber, who seems only to know the most skeletal rock riffs. If Eela Craig only had a better drummer, Missa Universalis would be nearly perfect. Still, this is one that begs to be reissued.

Eela Craig were one of Austria's few multi-album progressive rock bands in 1970's. Their debut album came out in 1971 in an edition of 1500 copies and was rated higher than Tarkus by the critical establishment. Though I'm not a fan of that sympathetic armadillo-cum-main battle tank, I would say that this opinion has been coloured by patriotic pride, but it remained the accepted truth for years because until the CD re-release in 1997 (Garden of Delights CD019), next to no one had actually heard the album. Eela Craig is essentially well-made but rather standard psych, with four longish tracks steeped in the blues scale and unhurried, jazzy rhythms. The focus is on Heinz Gerstmair's skilful but turgid electric guitar soloing, which ploughs through the inevitable cliches of blues-based psych improvisations, and Wil Orthofer's similarly inclined vocals; piano, slightly Procol Harum-ish organ and Harald Zuscharder's occasionally inventive flute complete the picture. Some of the jams or small instrumental ideas take off rather nicely, but there is a general air of mundanity hanging over it all and some of the sections sound not only dated but even amateurish ("Selfmade trip" is a good example, especially in the lyric department). Also some of the psychedelic cliches are clumsily thrown into the melee, such as the completely unmotivated, "Careful with That Axe, Eugene"-style primal scream that appears one and a half minute into "New born child" and fades out with maximum awkwardness. "New born child" does include a delicate piano section played by the song's composer Hubert Bognermayr and featuring some truly mellifluous flute from Zuschrader that hints at their still latent classical-symphonic tendencies. For a more rivetting psychedelic workout from Austria, I'd recommend trying Paternoster's only album instead of this, though its four bonus tracks (see below) are of more interest. The division of musical interests within the band resulted in a 50-50 split in 1972, with half the band leaving to form a more conventionally bluesy Ice Planet, while the faction of Bognermayr, Zuschrader and bassist Gerhard Englisch continued in the more progressive direction. Their first recorded appearance was on Dimensionen zwischen Pop und Klassik, a rock/classical fusion concept album composed by New Music composer and Eela Craig's initial mentor Alfred Peschek. The two short tracks from this album that appear on the CD version of Eela Craig, "Irminsul" and "Yggdrasil", seem to mainly explore the dimensions between vapid and disposable, dispensing with static percussion noodling, dated organ effects, piano minimalism and attractively spacey but ultimately too slight guitar/bass interplay that may have sounded revolutionary at the time, but now seems mostly prophetic of the ambient music vistas about to unfold over the next two decades. A more assertive Eela Craig is revealed on the final two bonus tracks, "Stories" and "Cheese", which appeared as a single in 1974, and make this CD worthwhile. "Stories" introduces a melancholy, Mellotron-assisted atmosphere and silky vocal style that evoke pathos in its positive sense and which would dominate the band's next few releases (in fact, a rewrite of "Stories" would appear on their third album Hats of Glass under the title "Grover's Mill"). "Cheese" has a slicker, rollicking instrumental opening, with the first appearance in Eela Craig's music of a typically of-the-period funky rhythm guitar part, which only serves to deepen the Mellotron melodrama of the vocal section by contrast. In 1975 the band were finally signed up by Vertigo and the next year saw the release of One Niter, perhaps their strongest individual album. Consisting of two long medleys of segued tracks and three unaffiliated songs, the album is a smorgasbord of sumptuous symphonic sounds, a few precious, ethereal vocal sections, and surprisingly sweaty, funk-tinged electric piano and rhythm guitar licks. The album achieves lot of its power through delicious contrasts between these elements. For example, "Benedictus" and the short Bach quote "Fuge" are soaked in classical sanctity with lavish orchestral smears and baroque, harpsichord-like electric piano arpeggiation, but are immediately followed by the profane "V.A.T." whose throbbing bass and dirty guitar jamming makes one expect a shrill female chorus to blast out any minute with the cry of "SHAFT" (doesn't happen, of course). The expanded line-up with no less than three keyboard players is used for good effect, never overcrowding or overblowing the arrangements, yet creating a rich and sophisticated sound that stays generally closer to the mellow side. Despite excellent individual moments, the album has an episodic quality about it, racing from a symphonic outpouring to a funky jam without much actual long-range development, a string of exciting but ultimately isolated one-night mini-dramas. Still the band obviously got their rocks off with this One Niter, as none of their subsequent albums were quite as rocking or consistently strong as this one. Hats of Glass cuts down on both complexity and funk to create a still symphonic but more uneven album. Among the best cuts is their wide-screen version of Chris De Burgh's originally voice-and-acoustic-guitar narrative of von Däniken-esque theology, "A Spaceman Came Travelling" (far better than the cloy sentimentality and middle-of-the-road banality of the likes of "The Lady in Red" that would eventually weigh him down), which successfully decorates the original's folksy vocal melody with bubbling, crystalline synthesizers and electric guitar that lend the song a darker, cathedral-like ambience, while heightening its emotional urgency. The title track is mainly a vehicle for Fritz Riedelberger's orgastic guitar wailing, his lavishly harmonised lines razing melodic trails across the day-glow facade of string-synths, while drummer Frank Hueber does his best to cover his lack of technique by trashing around his toms. Most of the other material is in the vein of contemporaneous German symphonic bands, replete with effusive keyboard chords and gauzy vocal harmonies, but somehow fluffy and inconsequential, lacking the melodic and emotional depth that lifts the romantic dirges of Novalis and Pell Mell from mere minor-key mire. They do pull a couple of more good moments out of the hat, like the whirling synths/guitar dogfight on "Holstenwall Fair" or the more polished, instrumental reworking of "Cheese" (inferior to the original, but quite nice just the same). The only way to find Hats of Glass on CD is to get Symphonic Rock (Erdenklang 50832), which crams both One Niter and Hats of Glass on to a single disc, but unfortunately omits one track from each album ("Venezuela" and "Caught on the Air"). Missa Universalis (Erdenklang 50822) was Eela Craig's most ambitious, though not their most successful work, a "universal" mass fusing progressive rock with Catholic church music. In practice this means that apart from appropriating a part of an Anton Bruckner mass for "Sanctus", the band turn lot of the music into programmatic background to songs of praise in Latin, French, German and English, a seemingly naff idea that yields surprisingly diverse results. The nadir is "Gloria" where the pristine, yet plodding instrumental parts are subjugated to a dull vocal melody sung in fey harmonies that turns the music into mere sonic tapestry. On the other hand, "Kyrie" has an otherworldly vocal sound of icy ecclesiasticism which, in a perfect example of progressive rock's drop-of-the-hat soft/hard pendulum swing, is replaced by an exclamatory rock snarl that briefly transforms prayer into almost profanity. Musically this album is more stately, mellow and electronic than its predecessors, rife with exquisitely polished, at times almost sterile synthesizer textures, frequently enlivened by touches of lustrous acoustic guitar, piano and flute. The music seems most tentative near the beginning, with the aforementioned "Gloria" and the first of part of "Kyrie", which relies too much on nothing more than harmonically static droning for backing tracks, before giving way to Riedelberger's extended solo. There are few enough outright solos otherwise, the main exceptions being the most traditionally symphonic "Agnus Dei", and the album's highlight, the alternatively devout and dazzling "Sanctus", which splurges with rich orchestral tones, surges with a torrent of synthesizer cavorting and builds to a rapturous, if oddly stilted climax. An unbalanced album, burdened by the demands of its unwieldy concept, Missa Universalis is still the most original of Eela Craig's albums and intriguing enough to warrant a listen. What it undoubtably also was in 1978 was an anachronism, and Eela Craig were not immune to the change of musical season. Bognermayr left in 1979 to form the electronic label Erdenklang, and later, with Zuschrader, to continue exploring Eela Craig's pop/classical coupling in a more exclusively electronic setting. Eela Craig came up with Virgin Oiland in 1980, apparently a staler concept album about the history of Earth and the human race (not quite your average pop stuff yet). The band gradually fizzled out, but unfortunately the name Eela Craig was resurrected in 1988 by keyboardist/flautist Hubert Schnauer (onboard since the "Stories" single) for the pop album Hit or Miss, which is apparently strictly of the latter sort, and seems to have been disowned by the public and the remaining band members alike. 1995 saw the band reunite for a one-off concert, but any longer term reunion is unlikely to happen after Bognermayr committed suicide in 1999. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Links

[See Bognermayr and Zuschrader | Blue Chip Orchestra]

Discography

Mosaic (85) A Touch of Light (88) Beyond Words (91) Freedom Town (01)

Reviews

Former bassist with the Pat Metheny Group. Had some solo albums and the went on to form a group called Elements. His solo stuff is a good blend of light fusion and world music influences. Mosaic is a good place to start.

Just say no!! Blech!! Gag!! The only thing he's ever played on that I can listen to is Pat Metheny's American Garage. He has a very "soothing" bass sound that puts me into a coma.

Links

[See Metheny, Pat]

Discography

In The City (87) The Killing Silence (91) Him, the Snake and I (93) Nebula (96) Rarities (99) Live at Last (00, Live)

Reviews

Very symphonic Dutch band that borders neo-prog very often. Some of their songs are good, some aren't. Depends on how much you like symphonic/neo prog. Basically this is mediocre music that is just rehashing trite ideas. Try The Killing Silence.

A Dutch band that compares favorably to Pendragon, although they don't necessarily sound like them. Heavy keyboards and very melodic vocals give them a somewhat haunting sound. They have two releases out, and their second The Killing Silence is definitely worthy of attention.

The little that I have heard by Egdon Heath has been good neo-prog rock. Nothing exceptional, but worth copying your friend's CD.

This dutch neo-band relies more on the standard extended pop structures of bands like IQ and Pallas, but with a sound that seems to synthesize from the likes of later Pink Floyd and others. Some of the tracks are very interesting, while some are almost mainstream. The vocalist on the first album is lame, but the new vocalist on the second album is outstanding. Despite being more poppy, I'd still reccommend TKS for starters.

Egdon Heath are a Dutch progressive band whose newest work, The Killing Silence is finely crafted, very melodic, progressive rock, and has influences of Genesis and UK rock bands of the seventies. The vocals are in English, which adds to that impression. The music is very much centered round keyboards, and the CD contains over 60 minutes of prime prog rock, complete with long tracks.

More decent neo-prog. Should appeal to fans of Castanarc, Galahad, and Magellan. At least 2 releases: In the City and The Killing Silence. Start with the second one.

Discography

No recordings

Reviews

Egg - Standing, L to R: Stefan Renström (bass, flute and keyboards), Per Lindblom (guitar), Mattias Lundeberg (vocals and acoustic guitar), Johan Wallén (keyboards and backing vocals) and Ricard Nettermalm (drums and pyrotron). Sitting: Jenny Söderqvist (saxophone and backing vocals). Nothing is recorded by this Swedish band of the 90's. Their style is a mix of King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator and UK. They have toured together with Landberk. In 1993 their bass player Stefan Renström left the group to form Simon Says. Their drummer Ricard Nettermalm is a Jamie Muir like manic, and IMO one of the best drummers in Sweden. Both Renström and Nettermalm have played in The Moor. -- Gunnar Creutz

Links

[See Moor, The | Paatos | Simon Says]

Egg (70), Polite Force (71), Civil Surface (74), Seven is a Jolly Good Time (85)

Early Canterbury band. Polite Force was their best, yet for classical rock bands I'd try Le Orme or Trace first. Dave Stewart, of course, is on this - and this should be a reason if any to buy all three of them. They can be quite cold, though.

Their first release is an old classic from the Canterbury scene, featuring the brilliant keyboard pyrotechnics of Dave Stewart (*not* the guy from the Eurythmics). Mixing progressive rock styles with the complexity of jazz, filled with unusual time signatures, and adaptations of Bach and Grieg, this is one of the masterpieces of prog rock. The Polite Force was Egg's second release, and was better developed musically from their debut, a style that was carried on to the subsequent The Civil Surface. It is quite revealing to see what kinds of complex rock music can be accomplished with a small three-piece band. Blending classical rearrangements with odd time signatures, they were one of the most adventurous groups to emerge from the Canterbury scene, prior to making way for ELP, etc.

Canterbury band that released three organ-prominent albums. The first s/t sounds very proto-prog, comparable to stuff like The Nice, but with a more jazz influence. Featured Mont Campbell and Dave Stewart, later of National Health. The second and third albums are purportedly much better.

Important early progressive trio that broke through many musical barriers no one dared to approach before. The first album features outright dissonance (as on the short-circuiting organ-solo "Blane") and askew rhythmic figures (like the 13/8 meter in the middle section of "I Will Be Absorbed") to a degree never dreamt of before. The band consists of Dave Stewart on organ, piano and "tone generator" (a very primitive, home-made synth), Mont Campbell on bass and vocals and Clive Brooks on drums. Very primitive-sounding by today's standards, and featuring some awful, hippie orientated lyrics by Campbell which date the music to a good degree. Still, this is light-years ahead of, say, the Nice as far as musical sophistication goes, although even here there are "rock" interpretations of classical pieces (Well, Bach pieces, anyway). Important more for the doors they opened for other progressive bands to explore than the actual music they produced themselves, still of historic interest as one of Dave Stewart's earliest bands, pre-Hatfield, National Health et al. The third album, The Civil Surface, was recorded much later, and is supposed to be much more Canterbury-like in sound, and as a result much less dated-sounding. -- Mike Ohman

One of the classic UK bands, Egg was Dave Stewart on organ, Clive Brooks on Drums, and Mont Campbell on bass and sometime French Horn. The music is very structured and composed, with little room for improvisation. A bit of humor is also evident throughout. It is also quite excellent. The band explored a variety of time signatures and key relationships, sometimes explored classical ideals, and even composed their own symphony. Egg is an essential part of any progressive collection. All are good, but the first one is a little raw and Civil Surface is maybe a little clinical (but it features guests Steve Hillage, Lindsay Cooper, Tim Hodgkinson and Amanda Parsons on a couple of tracks). Start with The Polite Force.

I have Civil Surface and wasn't terribly impressed even though I usually like Dave Stewart a lot. Somewhat symphonic and kind of boring.

Seven is a Jolly Good Time is a mid-'80s reissue of Egg's eponymous first album plus their first and only single ("Seven is a Jolly Good Time" b/w "We Are All Princes") on the "See- for-Miles" label. -- Dave Wayne

[See Arzachel | Campbell, Mont "Dirk" | Stewart, Dave]

Discography

Acid in Wonderland (81)

Reviews

Ego on the Rocks was a project by keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal, two Eloys who had left the group