SUNDIALER

Ah....a nice chair....a cold drink....and beautiful music..in this particular case,the music is delivered by the masters of symfonicprog. : The ENID...or ENID. With Robert John Godfrey (string arranger on the first couple of James Barclay Harvest records) .. at the wheel,nothing can go wrong..he´s a master arranger and composer. Sundailer,is one of the more..ahem...electronic of their many albums.Dont get me wrong it very very beautiful music...but there are not that many guitars on this one. Anyhow, its filled to the brim with dreamy floating sounds, that soothes your ear and your soul. So... do get a beverage of your choise,find your favorite chair, put this faboulos record on!! What´s that?? You havent got it!!? Well what are you waiting for...go get it!! Any serious prog collection should, at least contain 3-5 ENID records....OK OK..ive got 9 ENID records (but who´s counting)...you see they´re contagious..once you´ve heard them.....BAM...you are hooked!!! Mind you there are plenty of wonderful guitar playing on many of the other albums. In all its a wonderful band....and they´ll certainly bring you places you´ve never been to....in your mind that is!! YOU NEED ENID.

This was the first CD I had the opportunity to listen entirely to "The Enid". I was surprised by the strength of composition, but expected to hear some music somewhere between progressive rock and classical music as that which had previously had the opportunity to audition.

It's an album that featured some new material together with remixes of vintage material. Specifically the song "Sundial"is a new song and the rest "Chaldean Crossing", "Hydraulic Dark" and "Salome " 95 "are old works, but under a new musical concept.

Surprised but not disappointed, I found a CD that reminded me, especially the most recent compositions, the kind of jobs of kinder composers of symphonic rock. By the way, it is necessary to listen in a calm mood and the warmth and speed of the album so require

Maybe not the best option for listening to "The Enid" for the first time, but considering you can get for free through their own website so I encourage everyone to download it, listen and, if like, a buy their albums

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.