IN THE REGION OF THE SUMMER STARS (1984)

The Enid

Symphonic Prog

4.25 | 249 ratings

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FragileKings
Prog Reviewer

First let me state that I am reviewing the 2012 remaster of the original 1976 album and not the 80's re-recording.

I am always excited to read about other symphonic rock bands of the 70s and when I read about the Enid in Stephen Lambe's book "Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock" I was eager to give them a listen. After some sneak peeks (or sneaks listens) to samples of songs on Amazon, I ordered the album and I was not disappointed.

Most surprisingly is that while Yes and some other bands were recording rock music in a symphonic vein, the Enid appear to have been recording symphonic music in a rock vein. All tracks except for "The Lovers" (a piano solo) feature symphonic instruments with drums, bass, and electric guitar being just instruments in the symphony and not comprising a rock band that is playing with a symphony. For a debut album, the music is remarkably bold and complex. From the beginning, Robert Godfrey wanted this band to do things differently from other rock bands.

Aside from "The Lovers" which is beautiful but a little dull to me, the album is very enjoyable to listen to from start to finish. I normally have great impatience when listening to a new album as I want to find the songs I like the most and listen to them a lot. However, with "In the Region of the Summer Stars" I had a difficult time whittling down the number of songs to three or four favourites. I can now say that I enjoy "Fool / The Falling Tower", "The Devil", "The Last Judgement", and the title track best, but mention should go to "The Sun" and "Death, the Reaper" which I also enjoy still.

This is not an album for everyone and I am surprised that I like it as much as I do. But this is one of those albums that really illustrate just how far progressive rock bands could go even in 1976 when prog is said to have been on its way out of fashion.

FragileKings | 4/5 | 2013-11-19

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