AS THE WORLD

This one is perhaps my favourite of the major echolyn albums of the 1990s, charting as it does an intriguing middle course from the neo-progesque accessibility and catchiness of their self-titled debut album and the more esoteric complexity and experimentalism of Suffocating the Bloom. They do not, for instance, go all-out for the intricate Gentle Giant-esque vocal interplay that they dabbled with on Suffocating the Bloom, but they do show the influence of that band. In particular, they have masterfully managed the same knack that Gentle Giant had, especially in their early years, of balancing technical complexity with beauty and accessibility.

It could have been a wonderful gateway drug to prog for so many - and for quite a few, of course, it was. But it's a tremendous shame that Sony refused to help promote the album at all, leaving echolyn to handle that by themselves; what, after all, is the point of signing someone to a multi-album record deal on the strength of releases like the far less commercial and far more oblique Suffocating the Bloom, only to abruptly get cold feet as soon as the musicians produce an album for you? But hey, it works for me.