Once upon a time, keyboards ruled the airwaves. Then they vanished. Slowly they've been coming back, and one of the best examples lies in The Echoing Green. Once again Joey Belville has gone into the studio and given us a lovely piece of electronic ear-candy.
The Echoing Green, their 5th cd and third complete album, is full of the 80's retro sound, while looking ahead into the future. In what seems to be a conscious effort to ditch the Erasure comparison, the musical arrangements differ quite a bit from earlier releases. What results sounds superficially like a cross between Prodigy and Pet Shop Boys, but definitely stands out on its own. I invite the comparisons not in an effort to judge quality, but as a means to give a rough idea of a sound that is extremely difficult to describe.
The twelve song effort (11 songs plus one remix) opens with "The Power Cosmic," a slow building piece reportedly inspired by The Silver Surfer that kicks major booty once it gets going.
Next is "Empath," my personal favourite. Unfortunately, Joey has stated that he's moving away from lyrics dealing with pain and emotional turmoil. This song makes me want to beg him to stay with that type song because that's when his best work comes out.
Welcome to this place
They call the human race
But I just can't keep up
This little planet in space
This ship of human grace
Has gone bottoms up...
Tell me where have we come
When our compassion's out of fashion
Our sensitivity overcome
I feel so numb
'cause we don't cry for no one.
The next song, "Hide," is the only one I've never been able to listen to all the way through. If I could find a way to edit out the chorus it would be so much better. The verses are cool, good music, excellent vocals, but then the chorus kicks in and one starts to wonder if Joey has been spending too much time watching TBN.
Much anticipated is the cover of "The Safety Dance." I wonder what Ivan would think of this version? Personally I love it, and while not as good as the original, Joey puts his own spin on the song. My only regret is that he didn't get someone to do the little bits of French vocals.
The Echoing Green also has two instrumentals ("Elyon" and "Freak Out"), which prove that Joey's strength lies in songs with lyrics. Though good, there's nothing about them that jumps out and grabs me, and I usually end up forgetting them a minute later.
Final song mention should go to "Believe," a song that originally appeared on Science Fiction, in tandem with his cover of Joy Electric's "Candy Cane Carriage". When Science Fiction came out, the Echoing Green web page promised us that when he recorded a full version of the song, it was gonna sound different. And boy did he deliver on that promise. This new version of "Believe" is a beautiful minimalistic piece that has Joey singing his best ever. And with lines like "There was a time when all I did was cry/the fear it gripped my life/and all my dreams passed by ...and here comes the One who gave me strength when I had none/my broken heart is beating once again." This song nearly reduces me to tears when I hear it.
Is this the best synthpop album ever made? No...but then, not every album can have that honour. However, I would definitely place this in the top 20.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
7ball #20Reviewed by Derek WalkerJoey Belville, the mastermind behind The Echoing Green, has been playing his form of self-described "aggressive smile-pop" since his 1992 debut, Defend Your Joy. He's built a considerable fanbase since then. Now, with his self-titled fourth release, Belville is poised for breakthrough. His penchant for creating Euro-pop soundscapes covered with twitching hi-hats and catchy melodies is impressive,…The Lighthouse Unsorted 1998Reviewed by Stacey Lee FeldmanThe Echoing Green can be considered one of the foremost dance groups in existence, and the release of their self-titled third studio album finds Joey Belville & Co. once again on the cutting edge of music. Working with the ultra-talented Deepsky team of J. Scott G. and Jason has put a pure electronic spin on the Echoing Green's usual happy synth-pop sound, catapulting this album well into the…The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Steve WhiteIf you're sick of all the cookie-cutter grunge bands filling Christian bookstore shelves, but are scared of the faceless world of electronic music, The Echoing Green offers a fun and joyful musical option. Their high-intensity, melody-driven pop music has been gaining fans the past few years. They deftly avoid the problems that befall many techno acts, like overproduction and emotionless…
