Sure, a full record with the intensity of that song would have been pretty impressive, but it also would have been insanely dull. Despite me describing this as progressive hard rock a number of times, the majority of the album wouldn't exclusively fit in either. When it needs to pull some hard punches, it does, and there are some truly monstrous riffs to be found here, and the 'prog' side is more of a 'it's not generic trite' than a 'it has billions of solos' style of prog.
The music here is tastefully written and arranged, which is a rarity for hard-edged rock music, even featuring soft, lengthy, piano led pieces, and a rather impressive acoustic instrumental piece, 'The Badger', focusing brilliantly on the harmonic play that many of the heavy riffs have, but with the acoustic instrument it takes its own form.
Jeff Martin's vocals really are the focal point of this album on the whole though, and I'm certain that without his romantic croon, this album would be nowhere near as impressive. He carries the music wonderfully through the album's otherwise pedestrian middle-run, with pretty much every song in this section being decent in one regard or another, often due to Martin alone. And I feel that this is the downfall of The Edges of Twilight.
Although within the context of the 90's, this is absolutely brilliant and nearly unheard of - a new band coming in with the sounds of the 70's that actually legitimately sounds great, take this out of context and it's not as incredible. And the same thing goes for its genre. This may be a fantastic progressive hard rock album, but when has progressive hard rock really been fantastic?
On the whole it is impressive, and definitely an essential album for any prog fan, but it's not quite as good as I want it to be overall.
Review by russellk Prog Reviewer. Look, these songs are great. Some are outstanding, and the band certainly take more risks than they were taking in But - and I am finding this difficult to put into words - there's an oily sheen of rock professionalism all over this album. Perhaps it's the overproduction, but I have the feeling it goes deeper. There's no rough hand reaching out from the speakers and grabbing me around the throat.
I am not compelled to listen. Actually, I like it. Heck, even 'Submission' fails to move me, despite the amazing intro. The only time I did a double-take was at the chilling electronic five-minute outro.
They have cleansed this record of anything that might irritate or hook the listener and, in so doing, have rendered it sterile. Have a listen to 'Cypher' to hear what I mean. But it just sounds incongruous here. He tickles my ear now, when back then he scorched. This album's good, make no mistake. But I think the band wanted to do better than good.
If so, they're probably a little disappointed. Was it worth them reforming the band? I'll find out in a couple of weeks' time, when I attend their Canberra gig. And yet. A surfeit of heavy rock riffs still stirs a faint pleasure in me. Stop it, 'Overload'! I don't want to enjoy this; I shouldn't! But - hee hee - it's still fun. The chorus to 'Wishing You Would Stay' is lovely, with the female voice lifting the song out of mediocrity.
Listened to in isolation - perhaps as part of one of their earlier albums - these tracks wouldn't be too bad. Well, 'The Watcher' is pretty bad, really. But put 'em all together and you have the same result you'd get if you forced Shakespeare to write a script for a Teletubbies episode.
No, 'Seven Circles', I'm going to resist your crude blandishments. You are a sellout, written to get heavy rock radio airplay, and I despise you for that. If I was the charismatic lead singer and had a desire to make more meaningful music I'd leave after such a limp effort - oh look, he did. Really, this review is largely interchangeable with any of their four most recent albums. And that's a shame: there's no surprises left. It happens to virtually every band - but one can hope Hard rocker to open, a couple of mid-tempo ballads as singles separated by a few stronger but interchangeable numbers.
After about five or six tracks, pull out a sequence of three excellent tracks lightly dusted in the glamour that made them a candidate for Crossover Prog: a bit of Arabic melody and rhythm, an oud or a sitar or a tambla drum, a flash of LED ZEPPELIN tinsel there's a guitar figure in 'Angels' that'll arrest your attention if you're a ZEP fan, and 'Must Must' is yet another return to that troubled Himalayan province, you know the one I mean. Save the most progressive track for the end.
Result: an album much more Crossover than Prog. Rinse and repeat. They are so very good at it. The occasional surprise the delicious, sumptuous horns in Exhibit B and outright brilliance Exhibit C: the entirety of 'White Water Siren', but especially the chorus riff, oooooh make this an album I play again and again, albeit in reduced form as a minute playlist.
Write more of this stuff, guys! To me, all this adds up to a solid three-star album. But with a more liberal sprinkling of prog dust it could have been so much more. Musically competent, full of excellent melodies.
What it's missing, however, is heart. The songs sound like inferior copies of what's gone before. The 1 Canadian single, 'Heaven's Coming Down', is stripped back soft rock This is an abrogation of what makes the band great. Dreams of Reason Raven Skies Haze on the Hills Fire in the Head The Bazaar Correspondences The Badger Silence Sister Awake Turn the Lamp down Low Shadows on the Mountainside Drawing down the Moon Inanna Coming Home The Grand Bazaar Inanna acoustic version Silence acoustic version Turn the Lamp Down acoustic version Time Temptation Army Ants Psychopomp Gyroscope Alarum Release Transmission Babylon Pulse Emerald Touch Underground Great Big Lie Heaven Coming Down The Halcyon Days The Messenger" Daniel Lanois cover Samsara A Slight Attack Taking Me Away These Living Arms Chimera Gone Walking Wounded Temptation Transmission
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