SUNDIALER

Sundialer is a bit of an oddity in The Enid's catalogue. It contains five tracks, four of there are reworkings/remixes of previous compositions, only the title track is a new piece. They have introduced a dance/electronic element to the music. When it was released in 2005 there was a mixed reaction from Enid fans and it is commonly regarded as one of their weaker works. However, I quite like it and it remains one of my favourite Enid albums.

Sundialer the title track and the only new composition starts off as a typical classical sounding Enid track then evolves into a more modern sounding piece with a dance beat - Enid music you almost could dance to if so inclined!!!! Although interspersed with some bursts of lead guitar and more classical passages.

Track two is Chaldean Crossing originally appeared on The Seed and The Sower from 1988. A nice mellow track.

This is followed by Dark Hydraulic one of my all time favourite Enid tracks. This was original on their previous album Tripping the Light Fantastic from 1994 (another superb album) I saw them play this live last year and they performed a blistering version of it - it was outstanding. The version on this album is a bit more subdued again with a bit of a dance beat but nevertheless it is a fine piece of music.

Track 4 is Ultra Violet Cat which was also from Tripping the Light Fantastic. This is a more of an electronic composition and is a mellow dreamy piece.

The final track is Salome 95 from of course the 1986 album Salome. This has some vocals but more as a sound effect than as song based lyrics and again has the dance beat in the background. Some may find this off-putting if they know the original well but it gives the track a different feel.

Overall it quite a relaxing mellow album.