Echolyn (USA)
Echolyn; Suffocating the Bloom; And Every Blossom; As the World; When the Sweet Turns Sour; Cowboy Poems Free (00); Mei (02); The End is Beautiful (05)
Echolyn rules. By far one of the greatest prog finds for me, I was blown away on first listen the day I stumbled upon As The World in the used bin. I was captivated by a song title, My Dear Wormwood, which I knew was taken from the C.S. Lewis book The Screwtape Letters. I was amazed to find Gentle Giant reincarnated for the 90's, with great musicians, an original sound, top-notch production (especially on ASW) and lyrics from a Christian world-view. The first album, impossible to find unless you get someone to tape it or burn you a CD-R, is pretty good and well worth finding. Things improve for their hard to find second, Suffocating The Bloom, which many consider their masterpiece. And Every Blossom is a rare, out of print EP release featuring some live and unplugged stuff. I happen to prefer the fourth, ATW, mainly because I heard it first, and I think the production is better than the rest. Sony set them up with a big time producer in a major studio, and it certainly shows. The release WTSTS features a Genesis cover, and some late demo style stuff. It and ATW are available through Syn-phonic music. Start with As the World, and look in your local used CD stores bins first since Sony blanketed the world with demos. I've bought over ten copies personally, and given all but two away to my friends (one was stolen from my car). You can also find some live Echolyn on the Prog-Fest CD's. Follow the links at http://www.ghostland.com/. See also Always Almost and Finneas Guage. In answering a question about the spiritual quality of their lyrics, Echolyn answered that all their members are Christians. Take that for what it's worth, but these guys are excellent. The band re-formed with Chris Buzby and released Cowboy Poems Free in June of 2000. Not as intensely progressive as earlier offerings, it was nevertheless pleasing and well played by echolyn fans. Available titles can be found through Syn-phonic music: http://www.synphonic.com or from echolyn themselves at http://www.echolyn2000.com {dt}
I've had my copy of Mei for a few weeks now, and I still play it almost every day, like a sad junkie needing a fix to make it through each afternoon. I confess, I'm addicted. Musically somewhat sparser than their earlier efforts, it is nevertheless a compelling, sublime progressive manifesto. This album is to echolyn what The Lamb Lies Down was to early Genesis - a literary work of untold depth and brilliance, their crowing achievement thus far. The lyrics, which were penned by Brett Kull and Ray Weston, are an epiphany waiting to happen to the unwary listener. Mei reads like a spiritual metaphor, a modern Kerouac-like Pilgrim's Progress, bathed in a brilliance of eloquence, melancholy, longing and discovery. It is combination of road trip adventure and tortured spiritual journey, a lost soul burned by love and tormented by despair and darkness, speeding toward something, be it destruction or redemption. Battling his pride and the enemy of his soul, he finally loses control and crashes even as he begins to fight back. Like a drowning man, the harder he struggles against his demons, the faster he sinks. He goes from the darkness where there is no forgiveness (no Lamb, no hope)); no future (no garden, no peace), to a place of realization (spike into flesh); to brokenness, and finally willingness to embrace divine love and forgiveness. In the end, out of the place of brokenness and defeat, the hero finally becomes ready to receive forgiveness and love, even from that place of glaring imperfection. Nowhere trite or condescending, it is written in a way identifies with 'everyman.' Whether we are on a similar journey or not, we can all relate to the themes of love lost, disappointment, disenchantment, pride, and the longing for love and forgiveness. The way the album touches on those very human emotions and challenges the listener to deeper and better things is sheer genius. The melodies and symphonic elements to the song are quite beautiful, ranging from simple, sparse melancholy ballads to dynamic, progressive post modern rock, with plenty of synths, hammond playing, hum-able choruses and and tasty guitar licks strewn around the palette and painted masterfully into a pastoral sonic landscape. This is a band that continues to evolve in a fresh, dynamic way. Not content to simply rehash past success, echolyn has forged ahead, plowing new ground, creating a new genre of music - post prog. They deserve every bit as much popularity as Radiohead, a band who's butt, quite frankly, echolyn kicks all over town. Mei has quickly become a desert island disc for me, and if you don't have it yet, what are you waiting for? Order it today from echolyn's website at http://www.echolyn.com. For more information on Mei and Brett Kull, see the recent Virtuosity interview, {dt 8-13-02}
The new album from Pennsylvania’s progressive king pins Echolyn is a stark, biting work of beauty. With more musical depth and creativity than both Mei and Cowboy Poems Free, The End is Beautiful hearkens back to a sound more reminiscent of their earlier work. Mixing trademark odd-time rhythms with soaring harmonies, flashy keyboards, and biting guitars, their music is genius. Haunting songs like Heavy Blue Miles, the funky So Ready, and the title track jump out at you and grab you by the throat. The lyrics, mostly penned by lead vocalist Ray Weston, are poetic and tortured. Georgia Pine speaks of descent into an alcohol fueled stupor. Others such as Heavy Blue Miles and Lovesick Morning speak of lust and heartache. Arc of Descent and Misery, Not Memory speak of suicide and drug addiction. In fact, as wonderful as this album is, there is indeed one important thing missing, something that infused their earlier works: hope. Suffocating the Bloom and As the World blossomed with faith and optimism as the young band found their way. That light was what initially drew me to the band and their trademark sound. Now, a decade later, apparently hardened and made cynical by life’s reality and failed relationships, numbed by drug and alcohol use, it seems hope is elusive. This is not a happy album. It doesn’t appear to be a concept album, so I can only assume the songs reflect where the writers are at in their lives. Gone are any meaningful references to the faith found on earlier records. Therefore, despite the complexity and depth of this record, and because of the subject matter and unnecessary use of profanity in one song (So Ready), it is difficult for me to recommend The End is Beautiful to a Christian audience. However, those willing to look past the bleakness and listen to the brilliant songs, relating to the true humanity expressed therein, will find that indeed, The End is Beautiful. {dt 10-05)
Erwartung (78); Perelandra; Spaetregen
An excellent German progressive band with powerful Christian themes and German lyrics. {dt}
Erwartung (expectation) is the best of their albums, as it comes closest to a concept album. For me it was as fresh as twenty years ago when I heard it recently, with the lyrics beautifully fitting into the music (or vice versa). There is rich instrumentation with violin and flutes dominating the brighter parts of the lyrics, as well as strong keys and guitars and varied drums. While the first two songs can be seen as a kind of introduction to what follows (a cry for God's mercy and the expectation of something better yet to come), the other three songs are constructed as a unit and deal with the basic biblical truths in chronological order: God's wonderful creation, temptation by the serpent (listening to the words of the snake in this song always gives me the shivers) and the fall of man, Jesus coming into the world, His work on earth, man's hatred towards Him and His death on the cross, and finally, in a triumphant manner, His glorious resurrection and the call to leave Satan and follow Jesus. Pure gospel and this time not in analogies but literally. Wow! This music meant and means a lot to me, since in Germany we are not as blessed with so many proggy good Christian bands as you are in the States. {Harald Pinkhall}
Since I don't know what else to do with them, I will post the English version of the lyrics of Erwartung here for those who are interested:
Latter Rain
Withered and dead lies the land, the lakes dried up and the fields burnt;
It's been some time since the last bird sang; it's long gone, its song has faded.
In the city the places are deserted, hunger and plague lurk in the streets.
Man, full of scorn, wanted to drive out the Creator, now the One they cursed is silent....
God, have mercy upon us and send the latter rain!
Have mercy upon your people and open up Heaven!
Malachi 3,19 (Note: In some translations it's 4,1 'For behold, the day is coming...'!)
Zechariah 14,7
Expectation
The glow of sunset is shining from the horizon, dusk settles on the land
The glow of sunset is shining from the horizon, dusk settles on the land
My soul foresees the morning glory
Our home is not on this earth ? the visible will vanish.
Quiet hope is whispering in the trees, deep longing fills the creation.
The day will come when He arrives
Our destination is not on this earth ? we will go home.
Our home is not on this earth ? the visible will vanish.
Eden (Part 1)
Land filled with sun, filled with love, God's paradise
Flowers are blooming, praising the Creator who let them grow.
Lions are playing with sheep, everywhere is peace.
Larches are singing and in the waters countless fish are swimming.
Man and woman, made in God's image, are glad about it.
There is peace, no tears, they are related to God.
God, Your creation praises You! God, Your works extol You!
God, You made everything marvellously!
God gave Eden to man to be there with him; here man should worship his Creator,
and his Creator alone!
Eden (Part 2)
Genesis 2, 16-17; 3, 1-7
Adam, Adam, driven out of the paradise! Have to live far from God now, since he expelled
you.
Cherubim with a flaming sword, guarding the door. Having lost Eden, mankind is destined
for death.
Land cursed and filled with murder, war and famine. No love, just tears, ours is only
death!
God, forgive us, the sinners! God, we are Your children! Father, deliver us from the
curse!
Another Country
Brothers and sisters, leave this country where for a long time the sun
hasn't been shining, where man builds his house on quicksand, where the
graves of the deceased are wept for; where the spirit is kept in a dungeon,
where you cannot take a breath.
Brothers and sisters, leave this country where foolishness and bitterness are at home,
where men, addicted and bound to their own minds, are ignorant of who is dwelling in them,
where children are fed with cruelties, where heart after heart is covered in ice...
Thousands of years ago a land blossomed out born from eternal love.
God and man knew each other as friends, a creature was chosen to be ruler.
Yet man decided to go his own way ? he never saw Eden again!
That very day pain entered the world, man had chosen Satan as king!
He became his slave and all his desires became entangled in the net of his selfishness.
Yet, God's love is unchanging for its origin is not time bound; and when He
saw the misery of creation, infested by hatred and strife, He turned to the
work of His hands and sent His Son into His own.
And the Son of God grew up in our world, yet sin didn't rule over Him.
He said: 'I am the way and the door to the Father, to the truth, to the light!'
He healed the sick and had mercy on the suffering ? but man nailed him on the cross...
You know what happened there, at that time on Calvary?
Our Lord died for you, shed His blood for you, paved the way back, the way to
eternal happiness, to the Father!
And when He had died, apparently defeated, they took Him off the cross and
laid Him into a grave, rolled the stone in front of it, thinking He had lost, game
over....
But as he had prophesied: On the third day He rose from the dead! He had
overcome and took His seat at the Father's right hand.
Hallelujah! Satan is defeated!
Hallelujah! Brothers and sisters, leave his country!
Hallelujah! Jesus was victorious!
Hallelujah! Brothers and sisters, take His hand and together we go to His country!
Hallelujah!
Isle of Tides (01)
Eden's Bridge is best known for their Celtic worship music albums that have been quite popular in America over the last several years. Some Celtic music I soon get bored with, but an exception is definitely Eden's Bridge. On “Celtic Psalms” and “Celtic Worship 1,” you hear high quality arrangements and even some prog-elements (like 7/8 beats). Guest performers on these are Iona’s Troy Donockley and Terly Bryant. Terl has recently become a full time member of Eden's Bridge. After four worship albums the band has now released a pop album, “Isle of Tides," which has some progressive elements. The influence of Iona is very evident. The production work of Richard Lacy is excellent. His younger sister Sarah Lacy has a honeysweet, crystal clear voice. There are some progressive pieces on the album, especially the long title song. But unlike Iona, Eden's bridge is more pop than prog. It's perfect music for the late quiet hours. Their website is www.edensbridge.co.uk {Patrick Vogelaar}
Vinegar and Brown Paper; Smilingly Home (live), Mirth and
Matter, Brink
Celtic style English progressive folk band, sort of a Christian Waterboys, with jigs mixing into modern rock. They do a smashing cover of His Love on the Geoff Mann tribute CD Mannerisms also. VABP is the best album, and is pretty cheery stuff. The live album is also recommended, but stay away from M&M unless you like the Pogues. I hear Brink, available only in the UK, their last album, has at least one proggy song that was similar to Jethro Tull. {dt}
Missa Universalis
This is a hard to find classic prog album. Here's a Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock review excerpt: "The band's 1978 album, Missa Universalis was conceived as a "rock mass," with liner notes like ."..for young people, modern religious music provides a bridge to God," 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." I guess this has been recently released on CD, and is available at Sonic Architecture, Laser CD, or Backroad Music.
I have a cassette copy of a few of the songs, and I must say, it is really a great classic prog album that glorifies God. {dt}
Mass in F Minor ('68)
Lat 60's Psych band The Electric Prunes released a latin mass concept album that was written by prog-fusion composer David Axelrod. It's not all that bad, both for its novelty value and for the pleasing imagination of much of Axelrod's arrangements. These match heavy organ with the usual heavy Electric Prunes guitar reverb, as well as choral harmonies, semi-acid freakout guitar soloing (which sounds like the Jefferson Airplane in spots), and dabs of horns and orchestral instruments. One song, Kyrie Eleison, was featured on the soundtrack to Easy Rider.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer (UK, USA)
Black Moon; The Hot Seat.
I'm not really sure if Greg Lake is a Christian now, but the lyrics on these (check out Footprints in the Snow for instance) are filled with such heavy spiritual imagery (they even cover a Dylan song from his born-again era), and are so far from the anti-christ sentiment on Tarkus that I had to include them here. Some people think they went commercial, but I loved Black Moon (check out Romeo and Juliet), and The Hot Seat has its moments, especially lyrically and the studio version of Pictures at an Exhibition that's thrown in for good measure. It might be more poppy than Trilogy, but its still prog music. If you loved ELP B.C., then you owe it to yourself to explore these two albums. {dt}
Ardour (76), Open Up (77)
Classic late 70's American prog, in the vein of Happy the Man, Yes, or Camel, these guys are excellent in a quirky way. The last song on Ardour has a bunch of allusions to scriptures, although the rest of their lyrics are pretty standard prog fare. I heard that they used to play at Youth Group functions back East. Someone else wrote to me and said that at one time some members were heavily involved in a group that some deem a Christian cult called The Way. Open Up contains the strange Pimp City, but also has a couple cool tunes like Sailing to Sadona, etc. See a review at http://www.calweb.com/~geprman/em.html. EMI released their first one on EMI Toshiba -catalog number TOCP 770 - Japanese pressing. {dt}
Eve and the Garden
Quiet Earth and Shining Stars
This is a beautiful CD. Overall, they're an original sounding band. It times they remind
me of Iona, and other times they remind me of Tull during their more
renaissance/Elizabethan sounding days. They write from a Christian perspective with
musical and lyrical English Folk overtones. {M.T.}
Everlasting Arms,
On Broken Wings, Strands of Life Suite, Rapture, Best of Eddie J
Everlasting Arms is keyboard whiz Edward Jerlin's band. Featured on the CPR Volume 1
compilation CD, Everlasting Arms combines solid scriptural or worship themes
with Yes-like synth-driven 70's progressive rock feel. There are a number of mp3's available to
download from
http://www.thundersongs.org , and check out on Everlasting Arms
web site as well for
exclusive free downloads and ordering information. Check out epic songs such
as The Mirror, an 11 minute extravaganza of Euro-pop vocals and Kansas like-
progressive meanderings from The Best of Eddie J, and New Song Suite,
from On Broken Wings. Great stuff to sink your teeth and your
spirit into. [dt]
What do you get when you cross a Christian southern-fried rock and roll band with a prog keyboard player? A schizophrenic record that has a couple of proggish instrumentals wedged around a bunch of good-ol-boy foot-stompin' classic rock songs. I find this album difficult to recommend, at least to the progressive rock crowd. Fans wanting a Christian version of 38 Special with a few spacey synths thrown in might dig it. {dt}
I have Ezekiel's Wheel, which I once got from the band for
radio airplay, but this albums is so terrible that I just couldn't find a tune to play on
my show. It really sucks! {Hubert Jakobs}