ESPERANTO ROCK ORCHESTRA

This is the debut album from Esperanto even though I first knew the band from their third album "Last Tango". Specifically I was impressed with the band's interpretation and rearrangement of The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby". I have never been a big fan of The Beatles but of course I knew some of their songs. When I heard "Eleanor Rigby" performed by Esperanto - it blew me at first listening! Wow!! What a wonderful and neat arrangement this band has made. After this experience I explored the other albums.

Put it at the right perspective when this album was released, it's a good album overall, especially being a debut album. Of course I loved the exploration of violin and cello featured by the band. It's become the band's trade mark: rock music with violin and cello. Most songs performed here are - as the name implies - a straight forward, simple structure rock music, and sometimes pop music. But again, with the right perspective, it was a very good music overall. Song like "Never Again" has colored my past days when I chased rock music albums like Led Zeppelin, Golden earring, Deep Purple, Babe Ruth, Popol Ace, etc. This song reminds me to Babe Ruth's "Duchess of Orleans". It's a melodic song with great female vocal. The band also explored some avant-garde music like the one in "Perhaps One Day" (track 3) - I like the combination of violin and cello performed during opening part.

"Statue of Liberty" is a blues influenced song with excellent guitar work. "Gypsy" starts off with excellent violin / cello solo - unfortunately when the vocal line enters it's totally a pop song with violin work. "City" is another excellent track with duo vocals and relatively complex arrangement.

Overall, it's not a bad debut album at all. If you enjoy violin-based rock / pop music, you may favor this album as well. But, you should buy the CDs of the next follow-up albums: "Dance Macabre" and "The Last Tango". Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours, GW