This is one of those albums resting untouched beside my CD-player, lying there for days, weeks and even months, patiently waiting to be reviewed. One way or another I couldn’t set myself to it. Why not? Well, I’m not negative by nature and I certainly don’t want to ruin the career of a band that newly started. Okay, what do we have here actually? A French band called Eidolon presenting the musical version of Dreamland, a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. According to the band’s information, they perform with a complete lightshow including a dancer - maybe Stacey from Hawkwind-fame? - but I guess we’ll have to wait for the DVD to see that with our own eyes. The album starts with a five-minute long spoken word accompanied by a soundscape intro. Nowadays, that is excessively long to keep the attention of the listener. However, the remainder of this opening track isn’t bad at all, because there’s some heavy riffling going on. The misery actually starts with track two with the introduction of a violin. This piece seems to be the centrepiece of the show. From now on the music is getting bored, but please, hang on a minute. I forgot to tell you that, almost immediately after the violin, a nasty sounding guitar joins in. As a result, we hear halfway a distinct part of Pink Floyd’s One Of These Days. Well done! It’s a bit of a shame that this track contains such a long soundscape as well. In the remaining tracks, traces of a lighter version of Anekdoten and Pulsar can be recognized, with often a leading role for the organ. Sometimes the sound of the organ reminds me a bit of Trace. I must have had a bad day when I first listened to this album; maybe I’m allergic to the spoken words that I think should be forbidden on music CD’s, but Dreamland is far better than I recalled. Therefore, I must apologize to the readers of Background Magazine for letting them wait so long for this review. I remain your humble servant who temporarily found accommodation in Dreamland. *** André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
