PARADOXES

OK probably a 3 stars and an half score should be righter (if naturally you're into their commercial "pomp rock" in the vein of Saga or Asia...instead-in any case- if you are not involved into their mainstream music, stay away from the first part concerning the fertile production of the early years, which is not so complex!!). But coming back to the present issue, this is their best album of such "Pomp-Rock", along with the discontinuous "Fantasma" (this latter much heavier and sometimes also more inspiring too), even though actually a certain discontinuity in their songs is hidden behind the corner. The first track is a New-Progressive mainstream tune, in the middle between SAGA and ASIA, but with an interpretation of their own. Not all the vocals parts are convincing and sometimes the melodic lines can not be kept in mind easily; instead the production is exceptional and the other compact and melodic tracks confirm this opinion. Moreover the programmed keyboards are often tasteful and as for this important reason, this album can complete your "Mainstream" collection in the vein of Saga, Styx and a few (fortunately) AOR albums by Kansas!!

Recommended for the lovers of this particular genre only, even though -as an album of "Pomp-Rock"- it is not completely essential, and obviously I prefer the majority of progressive music without commercial compromises,for sure much more than this kind of works...that's a completely different story, but it never minds!!

This is the first Everon album, and like how many nascent bands they were still trying to get out their personal style...

But here we can find some of the facts that make Everon a very special band for me... The powerful Moschus's drums sound, the great keyboards and guitar played by Oliver Phillips, along with his magnificent voice (althouhg his deep german accent...), and the storng bass lines. Maybe the thing I like most from Everon are the Oliver's guitar solos, and in songs like Face The World, Circles and Shodowboxing we can here these fantastic solos... I really love that!!!!

It's true that this album sounds a lot in the 80's style of bands like Saga, Asia and Rush, nevertheless it's still a different and personal work, in a heavier way that will be explored more deeply in future Everon's production. But here we can already hear the incipient genious of one of the best man in the progressive world in my opinion... Oliver Phillips: guitarist, keyboardist, singer, composer and producer.

Best tracks: Face the World (great keyboard intro, powerful drumming and catchy chorus...), Circles (marvellous guitar solo) and Paradoxes (the guitar intro is very proper from the band, like the intrincated instrumental sections...)

Conclusion: very recommended for bombastic 80's prog rock lovers, but very recommended too for progressive hard rock/metal lovers and people who wants to enjoy one of the most amazing and beautiful guitar playing I've ever heard!!!!

My rating: ***1/2

Very nice debut album by Everon.

An idea of what they sound like on this album? Imagine late 80's Rush (Power Windows and Hold your Fire) merged with Saga,Queensryche (Empire)and even Enchant, and you won't be far. By now, you have guessed that this is a keyboard driven affair, but in no way does this mean the rest of the musicians are less interesting. The rythm section is heavily influenced by Rush but manages to remain original enough to not be called copycats. Energetic, creative and precise rythm section. We are sometimes treated to nice electronic drums and percussions patterns, only the sounds used sound a bit dated today (and probably so even in 93, though not as much as today), which is a little downfall. Guitarist Ralf Janssen's style is similar to Alex Lifeson and Ian Crichton, therefore textural, technical and unpredictable. Band leader Oliver Philips handles lead vocals, keyboards and lead guitar. Keyboards are his specialty, providing beautiful textures and catchy patterns. His solos are also very good, he seems to be a very competent guitarist but chooses to stick to what he does best. His voice is what I consider to be a love-or-hate thing, especially at this stage in their career. He makes nice melodies but is not yet in complete control of his singing apparatus, and lacks a bit of confidence. He could be compared to a cross between Saga's Michael Sadler and Queensryche's Geoff Tate, but not as competent as either of them.

Every song on 'Paradoxes' but one is above the five minute mark, and even though they are all interesting, it takes a while for songs to stand out. Rooted in the 80's, Everon's approach on this album can be a bit cheesy (very few moments, but moments nonetheless) and pompous, but this is prog, isnt'it ?

So yes, a very nice debut album by a band filled with promise and competent players, but the best is yet to come.

Three and a half stars, very close to four.

This is my first review of an album by this German band and since I'm an owner of all of their studio albums there are quite a few others to come. I'm not sure if all those reviews will be very interesting because there's not so much to say about this bands albums. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing because in this case for instance it's a matter of being very consistent with a very recognizable own sound that is mainly caused by the vocals of Oliver Philips. This man has a unique voice, I think it sounds really distinguished especially in the more quiet songs so anyone who are into vocals like that can certainly give this band a try. Another feature of this music is that it's plain neo prog although this bands music has also heavy prog elements and since they hardly make epics one could even question the fact if this is true prog. I believe it is but it could also be seen as prog related in a way.

Enough about Everon in general, now about this debut album. It's an album without really moderate or weak tracks so that's a plus. On the other hand there are no real highlights either. It makes this album a very nice listen for almost an hour and if that's what one is looking for I think it could be given a try. As I said this band is hard to compare with another band but if I have to relate it to a band with the same style I would say Enchant and then I mean the fact they produce shorter songs, sometimes ballad like but mostly a lot louder. If you compare them in detail there will be many differences (vocals !) so it's just in general.

Leaves us the question of the rating. I don't think this is their best effort after I heard all of their releases so far so I think 4 stars is a little overdone here. This album easily deserves three stars and in fact some more (3,3).

Paradoxes is the debut studio album from german prog rock band Everon. I emphasised that they are a German band for a reason which I´ll get back to later.

The music that Everon plays is a mix of neo prog and soft progressive heavy metal. I think there are many great moments on this album when it comes to the compositions and equally when it comes to the playing which is above average for conventional neo prog bands. The songs are a bit too similar in dynamics though.

The worst problem here is the vocals from Oliver Philips though. As such he has a good voice but his german accent is terrible and totally ruins my experience. I can´t look past it even though I try hard. It´s not that I normally can´t accept accented singing. It can actually be quite charming sometimes. Listen to a band like Nosound where it works wonderful even though the singing is strongly accented. On Paradoxes it sounds horrible though.

The musicianship is as mentioned excellent and I´m especially happy about the drumming from Christian Moos.

The production is really good. Crystal clear and grand.

The cover artwork suits the music well.

I hate to be negative when the music is as promising as it is on Paradoxes but there are simply too much of my listening pleasure which is dependent on the vocals. Had the vocals not been so heavily accented I would have rated this album 3 stars, but with the heavy accent ( which reminds me of II world war movies where american and english actors are instructed to speak with a german accent) I can´t give this more than a 2 star rating. I´ll probably receive hate mail for this review but this is my subjective opinion.