ERWARTUNG

Eden was a German progressive rock band dedicated to the Christian symphonic rock music. The band emerged from a hippie community in Germany that had joined the American Jesus People Movement in the first half of the 70's. As part of the Jesus People Movement, some of the members of that community founded in December 1972 in Eininghausen in Prussian Oldendorf, one of the first Christian communities in Germany. Among the board members of that community were some musicians that in 1977 started making music. So, a new music group under the name of Eden was founded. Between the years of 1978 to 1982 three albums were produced by Eden. So, their debut studio album "Erwartung" was released in 1978. Their second studio album "Perelandra" was released in 1980. The album was inspired by the eponymous book by the Irish writer C. S. Lewis. In 1980 it was released their third and last studio album, "Heimkehr".

So, long before Neal Morse, there was a group in the German lands, named Eden, which subordinated their music to the Christian faith in symphonic rock sound images. The band combined the European Art rock tradition with Christian lyrics. Eden represents a second wave of the symphonic prog rock from Germany. Unlike their Krautrock predecessors, they embrace the more traditional beauty of Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner as much as The Moody Blues, King Crimson and Genesis. Eden drew on a wide range of music in their complex progressive style, lots of folk references, adapted classical melodies. Aptly, in tune with their name, virtually all of the songs of Eden use texts taken from the Bible.

So, "Erwartung" is the debut studio album of Eden and that was released in 1978. The line up on the album is Anne Dierks (vocals), Markus Egger (vocals), Annette Schmalenbach (vocals), Hans Fritzsch (guitars), Dirk Schmalenbach (vocals, violin, piano, ARP and Moog synthesizers, acoustic guitar, sitar and percussion), Michael Dierks (vocals, organ, piano clavinet and strings), Mario Schaub (vocals, flute, clarinet and saxophone), Michael Claren (vocals and bass) and Hans Muller (drums and percussion).

"Erwartung" is a conceptual album, as its name indicates, about the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. Most Christian progressive albums are rooted in folk/rock, with fairly simplistic sing along material spiced up by tempo changes and classical frills. This is anything but, being genuinely complex and adventurous symphonic progressive, with everything from lush keyboards and strings to electronically treated vocals and prepared piano. The material is very well crafted, with some great hooks, and if the songs are occasionally a little disjointed the constant surprises more than make up for it. The band, which comprised eleven people and sounds like a full orchestra plus a choir, was the brainchild of the composer and multi-instrumentalist Dirk Schmalenbach, who excels on guitar, keyboards, percussion, violin and sitar.

"Erwartung" has five tracks. The first track "Spatregen" is the opener on the album. It convinces with wide synthetic rugs, on which the enthroned recited flute inserts are embedded. Very cautiously, a lighthearted romantic mood is built here in the still slight pathos. The electric piano rolls slowly away and smoothes the way for some pleasant vocal lines, which are still presented here in cautious praise. Very well accented guitar riffs enhance the balanced sound all over the track. The second track is the title track "Erwartung". "Erwartung" quotes a passage from the Bible, probably from the apocalypse. Unexpectedly, a Far Eastern element also enters inside the musical scene with a sitar. A beautiful choir singing emphasizes the religious orientation of the overall musical concept and puts the album in feather light symphony in the sacred climes. The third and fourth tracks are "Eden, Tail I" and "Eden, Tail II", respectively. This is a piece with great music, amazingly constructed all over the all piece. I can see here some influences of The Moody Blues and of the King Crimson too. The end of the piece includes a few bars from "Nights In White Satin" just to drive home the reality of the influence. The fifth track "Ein Anderes Land" is the lengthiest track on the album. Extravagant arrays of choral voices are favoured over lengthy instrumental runs. With this track, the album ends in a befitting exuberance.

Conclusion: "Erwartung" is an excellent album and represents a great surprise for me. It's consistently interesting and is a very cohesive effort. This is really a quality album with awesome arrangements and majestic parts. Every musician has the occasion to demonstrate their talent. Great vocal harmonies, brilliant instrumental breaks, apparently good production too. The album has a very interesting prog mix between the symphonic and folk styles. The album is very well balanced, as we can expect from any conceptual album. It has also great vocal male and female harmonies. The weakness may be the spoken word parts, but I think it's infrequent and tastefully done, and overall, I think the sound is quite unique. The singing is a treat and the flow makes for a consistently interesting album. The final result is very captivating. This is truly a great prog obscure stuff of the 70's. It's highly recommended, in the german prog rock scene.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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