ECHOLYN

Though I enjoy this album, I would strongly disagree with folks who claim that Echolyn had already matured when this album was written. Though the musicianship is great from the get-go, the songwriting on this album is far from perfect, and I think Echolyn had a lot of growing to do (which they of course did!). But then, so did I when I was listening to this album for the first time, and this album spoke to me then with the voice of thunder. Even today this album holds a special place in my heart.

The song that clinches it, of course, is the long, melodramatic, perhaps even histrionic ballad, "Shades." It is a howl of frustration at love lost, and manages to be raw, honest, and just a bit precocious all at the same time--much like the rest of the album! Emotion aside, it actually is a well-crafted multipart song in true prog rock style--the parts work very well together, and there's no wasted effort. If you, like I once was, are a teenage male, desperately in love with someone unattainable or desperately trying to get over love, wondering if romance will ever work out for you--um, yeah, well, this is definitely the song for you. I can't say it will make girls like you, but it does offer quite a catharsis.

I have always had difficulty comparing Echolyn's style on this or future albums to other prog rock bands. Sure, the extended song forms and lyrical themes invite comparison to many other bands, but Echolyn had a quite original musical style from their inception. Not as synth-heavy as the neo-proggers, not quite as fiddly-odd as Gentle Giant, without the epic scope of vintage Genesis, or the shredding hard rock of Rush. What they make is a particular brand of accessible, punchy, and moderately complex rock, with excellent and balanced instruments and vocals, that aims to inspire and connect honestly and emotionally with the listener. I can testify that this album does all of these things... and it is just the start.