Review: Echolyn (album), by ECHOLYN

Echolyn: Echolyn
USA 2012
Release date: 9 July
Ray Weston - lead and backing vocals
Brett Kull - guitars, lead and backing vocals
Tom Hyatt - bass, backing vocals
Paul Ramsey - drums, percussion, backing vocals
Christopher Buzby - keyboards, backing vocals

1. Island (YouTube link)
2. Headright
3. Locust to Bethlehem
4. Some Memorial
5. Past Gravity (YouTube link)
6. When Sunday Spills
7. Speaking in Lampblack (YouTube link)
8. The Cardinal and I

Pennsylvania's pride Echolyn is generally labeled as a representant of symphonic progressive rock, which is the most common and easily accessible subgenre of prog. Much like before, on their new album they frequently border on regular mellow rock, not sounding much like prog at all. The more challenging sequences, on the other hand, become all the more surprising for this very reason. Echolyn is really not an easy album to access; it is only very good at giving such a false impression.

The group's previous release The End is Beautiful (2005) is already seven years in the past - a longer period of silence, recording-wise, than what was experienced when they broke up in the aftermath of As the World (1995) only to regroup for Cowboy Poems Free (2000). The long period of perfecting new material can be heard: overall, the new album is an improvement on its predecessor.

In comparison with the hard rock influences of The End is Beautiful, the new album gives an impression of serenity, calm and effortlessness. The previous album definitely had its moments as well, but the more mellow soundscape of Echolyn is not only easier on the ear, but also more melody driven.

The real centerpiece of the entire album is its opening track, Island. A brave choice, considering that a potential album buyer might be turned off by it. Island runs nearly 17 minutes and even though it begins with easy enough rock riffs, it soon delves deep into prog territory that might be a turn off for some potential album buyers. Even I wasn't too crazy about the song to begin with, until a few listenings later. Eventually I learned to appreciate the track which clearly is among the very best of the group's output.

The second track Headright is way easier, and also much shorter. In terms of form it is a much more traditional rock song. This also applies to the following track, the infinitely beautiful Locust to Bethlehem, which proves the maturity of Echolyn and I think it might just be my personal number one favourite on the entire album. This is admittedly a close call with track number 7.

Until now, we have been doing really, really well. But following the first three tracks, there is an additional three that, while still pretty good, are nowhere near as convincing. This is not to say that they are not worthy of the group or this album, but to me, they sound like weaker efforts than the previous three. The mellow, easygoing feeling persists but composition-wise, we seem to descend to only average instead of good or great.

The seventh track that saves the day, is the stunning Speaking in Lampblack, my second nominee for the best track on the album. Consisting of several, distinctly different movements that are linked together and running nearly 11 minutes, we are now again in melodic rock territory: easy to access, with only very minor prog influences.

And speaking of those, they make a magnificient return on track 8 which is the closing track of the double album. To begin with, I totally dismissed The Cardinal and I as a somewhat failed experiment of some kind. Hardly a discernible melody and little else of any interest. Boy, was I proven wrong upon repeated listenings! Now, the closing track is one of my definite favourites on the album: a real stress test for anyone's capability to stand progressive rock.

Echolyn shares the same title as the group's debut, released in 1991. This is a somewhat peculiar choice of title, as it is guaranteed to cause confusion between the two recordings. Already, iTunes informs us that the release year of this new album is 1991, and similar mixups will certainly reoccur.

Another strange choice is the decision to release Echolyn as a double album. The first four tracks have been stored on Disc 1 and the remaining four on Disc 2. This wouldn't be strange in itself, had those two separate discs been recorded nearly full. But no, they are both half empty. The entire combined running time of the eight tracks is just under 71 minutes which means that they would have been easy to fit on a single disc.

The double album status of course has its effect on pricing. The iTunes download alone costs a whopping 17,99 euros in the eurozone, and if you want to buy physical discs that will cost you well over 20 euros, depending on where you make the purchase. This is not very nice. Just look at Dream Theater, many of their albums are about as long but have been released on a single disc and priced accordingly.

Time for closing statements. While the new album's peaks are not as high as some of their previous albums', Echolyn is nonetheless an outstanding effort and what's best about it is its even quality. At best, Echolyn is great and even at its worst, pretty good. The quality "valley" that consists of tracks four through six is not a deep gorge that you want to jump across as soon as you can.

Considering all this, it is my humble opinion that overall, Echolyn is the second best album Echolyn has ever made. Sure, the peaks of As the World are way higher than anything presented here, but that album also contained several really weak tracks that you really do want to jump across. Echolyn has no such failures. It is like a Formula 1 driver that reaches the second place in the championships without winning a single race. It is one of those rare albums that has no really weak tracks. Only the second time for Echolyn.

Yes, that is correct. A decade ago Echolyn already released one album that also didn't contain a single weak track. In fact, it contained only one track. While the new Echolyn is a really, really good album it naturally pales in comparison with Mei (2002) whose title track is the eighth greatest Long Prog Masterpiece of all time. That is the album that the group will hopefully be remembered for, in the decades to come. Get your hands on both, and you have the best possible introduction to this excellent prog group who will hopefully release many, many more albums. I certainly hope we don't have to wait another seven years for the next one.

Strong recommendation: Variations on a Dream (album), by THE PINEAPPLE THIEF

Year: 2003
Country: United Kingdom
Spotify link (Entire album, 2011 remastered edition)
YouTube link (We Subside)
YouTube link (Vapour Trails)
YouTube link (Resident Alien)
YouTube link (Remember Us)

Variations on a Dream, by the British prog group The Pineapple Thief, can be considered a cult classic. The group was formed at the end of the 1990's and had at this point released two previous albums: Abducting the Unicorn (1999) and 137 (2001). It wasn't until their third album that they made their real breakthrough, and deservedly so.

Were the entire album as exceptionally great as its standout tracks We Subside, Vapour Trails, Resident Alien and Remember Us, it would easily have earned the honour of ProgActive's Very Strong Recommendation. But, even as it is, any album that contains four masterpieces clocking well over half an hour, is most definitely worth checking out even though the rest of the album varies only between very good and satisfactory. The album may contain ten tracks in total, but it is these four that use well over half of its running time.

Since their formation, The Pineapple Thief has really been one man's band. The founder, Bruce Soord has always been the unquestionable artistic leader. Under his direction, the group has until now released a further five albums: 10 Stories Down (2005), Little Man (2006), What We Have Sown (2007), Tightly Unwound (2008) and Someone Here is Missing (2010). Right now, we are less than three weeks away from the release of The Pineapple Thief's ninth studio album All the Wars.

While most of the recent albums have shown exceptional quality here and there, the group has never truly surpassed their third outing. The opening track of Variations on a Dream, We Subside, is one of the greatest masterpieces of the 21st century and is also a definite fan favourite. I must say that I don't really appreciate the silly lyrics but the music is unbelievable. At the beginning, The Pineapple Thief sounds like a classical music ensemble and while a guitar rock instumentation is added later on, we end the track as it began: as something that might have been composed by Bach or Beethoven.

In much the same way, the album's third track Vapour Trails suffers from almost meaningless lyrics but displays another version of the group's masterful sound. The beautiful melody is this time played with regular, acoustic guitar driven instumentation, with no classical music influences present. The sixth track, Resident Alien, is a beautiful instumental that once again employs string arrangements.

The original release contained only ten tracks and also had a different cover artwork from last year's remastered edition, pictured above. This is how the original release looked like:

The album's closing track Remember Us is the other undying masterpiece on it, in addition to We Subside. Clocking over 16 minutes, this magnum opus is associated with 9/11 for reasons I am not aware of. Yes, sure, the album was released two years after the terrorist attack that brought down the WTC in New York, and its tone is sad, sombre even, so I guess it may be a 9/11 song even though that isn't really mentioned in its lyrics. Here they are in their entirety:

I know everything
We say no
But it doesn't mean a thing
Follow everything
But we know
It doesn't mean a thing.
Come on, it's over
Remember us when we're gone
It's over, for sure

And that's it for a 16-minute song. I see no reference to one particular terrorist attack, but be that as it may, it certainly works as a sort of a requiem to its victims. The mood is extremely sad and the melody is incredibly beautiful. Variations on a Dream may end to a very sorrowful note, but is nonetheless one of the very best albums released during the new century.

Strong recommendation: Ibby it is (instrumental), by HAPPY THE MAN

Album: Crafty Hands
Year: 1978
Country: USA
Running time: 7 mins. 50 secs.
YouTube link

Happy the Man is an American prog band formed in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 1973. Their self-titled debut (1977) is considered one of the essential American prog albums of the 1970's and I definitely must agree, although Happy the Man the album is noticeably uneven. Great at its best, slightly embarrassing at its worst. Even so, overall, it is the group's best work.

Only one year later, Happy the Man released their sophomore effort Crafty Hands, which had absolutely no commercial impact and led to the dissolution of their recording contract. And, one must admit, it is a weaker effort than its predecessor. It starts out quite well, then slowly dwindles into mediocrity. At the very beginning, there are a couple of pretty good tracks. Then there is track number 3 which is an unbelievable masterpiece. After that, the only remaining decent track seems to be the only non-instrumental one, Wind Up Doll Day Wind.

The masterpiece in question is the nearly 8-minute instrumental track called Ibby it is, simply phenomenal both as a composition and an achievement in skillful use of musical instruments. It is one of the best examples of one simple truth that I am aware of. While progressive rock may be perceived as something truly serious and joyless by the general public, it is in fact the most fun musical genre there is. You simply cannot listen to the impeccable skill and fun the guys have playing this track, without a wide grin on your face. Prog equals FUN! Oh, yes.

Happy the Man's peculiar name probably originates from a relatively unknown Genesis song from the Peter Gabriel era - unknown due to the fact that it was never included on any of their albums. This seems quite fitting, as the group's sound is not very American. Instead, they sound a lot like the British symphonic prog groups of the era.

Gabriel played an important role in helping Happy the Man get a recording contract in the first place, albeit inadvertently. He personally met them in the summer of 1976, following his departure from Genesis, while looking for new musicians to be his new "band". Eventually, he decided against them, but it was this encounter that led to sufficient attention towards Happy the Man that they were able to sign a recording deal with Arista, and release their first two albums.

Following Crafty Hands, Happy the Man released only a couple of collections of their early recordings which sound more like rehearsals than proper studio albums (the 37-minute epic Death's Crown is an obvious standout), until 2004 when their third real studio album was finally released. The Muse Awakens contains mostly instrumental music, which seemed to be their strong suit also earlier on.

The main reason for the group's instrumentals always sounding better than their songs is that they never had a strong vocalist. One of the original members Stanley Whitaker handled the singing duties in addition to playing guitars, but was never really much of a singer. Although he could certainly carry a tune, most of the time he sounded really unsure of himself, almost apologetic. During particularly emotional passages he even tended to pipe a falsetto vibrato that may or may not have been fully intentional.

Ibby it is doesn't suffer from uncertain vocal work. It is an exceptionally well played symphonic prog instrumental that employs eccentric time signatures. When it really gets going, it gives you an impression of getting airborne and circling you with its complicated melodies that move and change shape rapidly. The group is working at the peak of their creativity, most of which went into their debut album, but some luckily still remained and gave us this undying masterpiece.

Strong recommendation: The Seven Dreams (album), by GOLDBUG

Year: 2010
Country: USA / United Kingdom
Spotify link

After having flirted with the mainstream for a short while, we are now back deep, extremely deep in progressive rock territory. I was unable to find Goldbug in YouTube and was actually rather surprised to find them in Spotify - hence the link above. Their first release The Seven Dreams from a couple of years ago remains a stunning and challenging masterpiece that really requires you to concentrate on listening instead of simply hearing.

Influenced by jazz and avant garde as well as prog, and obviously improvised for a considerable part, The Seven Dreams is the result of a collaboration between veterans of said genres. Arguably the best known of the group members is flutist and saxophonist Theo Travis, a former member of Gong and Soft Machine who has also worked with Robert Fripp of King Crimson fame. Another connection to King Crimson comes via drummer Eric Slick, a member of the Adrian Belew Power Trio, Belew obviously formerly known as the second guitarist of King Crimson since the early 1980's.

Together with bassist Barry Meehan and guitarist Tim Motzer, who, in his past, has collaborated with former Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit (sorry about the deluge of references here), they have created a truly astounding album that really begs for some sort of a continuation. I have no idea if Goldbug is going to continue to record following this initial offering, but would be truly excited about such a prospect.

On this album, the two longest tracks are arguably the least interesting, although far from mundane. The 11-minute-plus works Scratching the Third Eye and The Past is Still Present sound slightly underdeveloped in relation to their running time. Mind you, this is a very, very minor complaint: they are outstanding pieces of music but do not quite match the rest of the album which is nothing short of flawless.

The Seven Dreams is easily one of the most significant prog albums of the 2010's. It is not very easy to access, but extremely rewarding for listeners with patience and an endless desire to experiment, discover, and readiness to expand the boundaries of their musical taste.