SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

Everfriend are the sound of the 80s as prog was lying on its death bed. It is gratifying that at least some bands maintained semblances of prog that had the death rattles, but Everfriend decided to clone the ELP sound. What we have here is fairly much a very symphonic piano and synth dominated album.

'Ambience Won' has a lot of electronic tinkles, piano echoes, and tons of synth ambience from Bill Rhodes. It is a pleasant relaxing piece but forgettable as there is no catchy melody.

'Everfriend Overture For Piano And Electronic Orchestra' is the electrical answer to Beethoven. I remember all the albums churned out in the 80s of instrumental Moog with albums such as Switched on Classics, Moog Synth Greats or Synthesiser Themes; this sounds like one of those album tracks.

'Given The Time' has a nice piano motif and spaciness, with electric piano and sustained key pads. The bassline is excellent from Paul Kozub and Mike Jacoby's drums provide a strong beat. It switches time sig and launches into a jazz fusion rhythm. The drum solo leads to a similar melody to the previous tracks. This is perhaps one of the more accomplished tracks on the album.

'Music Means The World To Me' is a song that has some pleasant melancholy sounds. The rare vocals are rather subdued but I think this is one of the better tracks due to the classical nuances. I kind of like the sentiment in the lyrics as I agree with it. The vocals on the one song are okay but Lake did better, and they are often layered or processed to make them sound better. This is a good move as they are nothing to write home about.

'On The Fringe' has that ELP synth sound similar to 'Brain Salad Surgery' era. It is a decent melody but again offers nothing new to the table. The drumming is better and I kind of like the dramatic melodic vibe that it exudes. This is perhaps one of the best tracks overall with nice spacey atmospheres.

'Sonorplasm ' Birth' is a piano and synth instrumental with some spacey textures, not too bad in the scheme of things.

'Terra Firmus' is a rather naff track with lots of cheesy 'ba ba baba ba's' and a lot of 'oh oh oh oh oooohhhhh's' as we hear classical piano and synth maintain a weird melody. A real stinker. 'Theme of Peace' has fast ivory tinkling very well played by Rhodes. It is basically a solo on piano executed with dramatic staccato notes, and the synth lines augment the soundscape.

Overall this album has a few decent tracks but really is obscure due to the fact that the band does not offer anything new, the music does not progress, rather stays on the one classical note, and it is an example of a failed 80s recording. The album is a one off, the band are an obscurity, and they were never heard of again. No wonder it faded from the music scene as really the content is rather mediocre. 2 stars for the 2 or 3 good tracks.