WHEN THE SWEET TURNS SOUR

This is a remarkably good odds and sods album which was envisioned as the posthumous goodbye from this band after they broke up following the As the World tour. -100 Diversions, Currents of Me, and This Time Alone are demos from the writing sessions of the never finished fourth echolyn studio album. The sound quality is not perfect, and the harmonies are often rougher than they would have been, but the songs are still quite good, especially Currents of Me, which points in parts to the rockier direction Kull, Weston, and Ramsey would take with Still, and the jazzier direction Buzby would take with Finneus Gauge. -Another Day and Patchwork were aborted songs from the As the World sessions, finished to a similar degree as the aforementioned tracks. Their sheer quality even as outtakes says much about the quality of As the World. Another Day especially could easily have fit on that classic album, fitting in lyrically with the American childhood theme that much of it contains. -Where the Sour Turns to Sweet is a good cover of a mediocre song from the first Genesis album. It was bound for a tribute album, but Sony did not allow it. -Meaning and the Moment is a fine acoustic version of a song from Echolyn's first album. In its laid back feel and stripped down arrangment, it reminds me of the ...and every blossom... acoustic EP. -As the World and A Little Nonsense are two songs from (I think) their 1995 Progfest show. The performances are tight, while providing room for improvisation, especially on A Little Nonsense, where the song's running time is doubled.

This album seems to be out of print, but is availible as part of the A Little Nonsense 3-Disc set on www.echolyn.com