Eden Test

A typical organ-led instrumental rock album from 1970, On the Way to Eden was Eden Rose's sole LP. Despite the strong filiation between Eden Rose and Sandrose (both groups have the same lineup), the two of them could hardly be more different. Instead of the latter's symphonic progressive rock, Eden Rose's music is a bluesy kind of rock influenced by Procol Harum, Savoy Brown, and early Atomic Rooster. Keyboardist Henri Garella runs the show, penning down all the tracks and playing lead. A very good organist (and already a sought-after session man at the time), he plays fast solos, knows how to make his chords sound dirty (and/or cheesy), and how to groove on the Hammond, but his writing cruelly lacks originality…

By the time this third album came out, little was left of the original spirit of East Of Eden and only violinist Dave Arbus of the original line-up. They had changed from one progressive label Deram to another Harvest, but also lost their experimental edge in the process. As a matter of fact, aside from more conventional song structures, this album has a slight country music feel. This album is quite far removed from the experimental forays of their first two albums, but the album has many charms and holds some interest for progheads.

UK act Eden Shadow started out as the creative outlet of composer and instrumentalist Ryan Elliott, instigated while he was still in high school if the official biography is to be understood. While initially revolving around Elliott only, Eden Shadow have now developed into a full fledged band project as well with Alex Broben and Tim Burgess joining the ranks.
Their material is dynamic, passionate, often memorable, tracks are long with multiple sections and the atmospheres are usually quite vital. Again some Porcupine Tree-styled sensibilities and a few surprising jazzy manouvres on guitar are welcome. A nice one to say the least.

It may be hard to believe, but this is the CD premiere of this little-known, underrated, but quite important 5th release from such an amazing British progressive band! It was recorded in February 1974 (a whole year after violinist Dave Arbus departure, and now with Jo O'Donnell from Irish folk-rock band Mushroom on board) but released a whole year later by German Harvest label in striking, nude cover. Without a doubt it deserves for recognition. The band has offered a varied and well-arranged progressive-jazz-blues-rock songs stylistically similar to some of the tracks from the previous two albums (from 1971), but done in somewhat simpler and more consistent form. This CD has been expanded with many rare & unreleased live tracks.

"Gan Eden" (Hebrew word for "Garden of Eden", "Il Giardino delle Delizie" in italian language) is a new studio project put together by keyboardist Angelo Santo Lombardi with other musicians helping out to give the record a true band sound. Classic 1970s style Italian progressive rock is what they wanted to create. A fantastic new italian project, in the tradition of the best italian symphonic prog of the Seventies (ref: Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso , PFM, Le Orme), this band follows the footsteps of "Torre dell'Alchimista" and "La Maschera di Cera". "Lavori in corso" is a majestic keyboards driven epic, with a melodic and very passionate vocalist, very extremely long tracks and probably one of the best italian instrumental tracks ("Riflessi di una Spada di Fuoco") of the last years. Il Giardino delle Delizie will become a future classic. Highly suggested.

Eden Brent hails from Greenville, MS, a place steeped in the Delta blues, but she's only 300 miles from New Orleans, and it's that city's carefree rhythms and happy-go-lucky attitude that informs the music on Brent's second album. Brent is a piano player with an impressive groove anchored by a strong rhythmic left hand and a playful way with the high end of the keyboard. Her vocals are just as strong, with a smoky, sultry feel that often brings to mind Janis Joplin, but a mellower Joplin who doesn't have to strain for the high notes or growl to get her point across. She's also a first-class songwriter, using the blues as a jumping-off place for her ironic musings on the familiar subjects of good times and no-good men. She cut this album in New Orleans and is joined by some remarkable players, including ex-Meter George Porter on bass, producer Colin Linden on guitar, and ace Americana drummer Bryan Owings.

When Clémentine Delauney (Visions of Atlantis), Anna Brunner (League of Distortion), Marina La Torraca (Phantom Elite) and Amanda Somerville came together to form Exit Eden, topped by the release of their first album, Rhapsodies in Black, in summer 2017, it became immediately clear that this combination would be powerful and magical alike! With their debut entering the German album charts at #15 and rocking the stage at the legendary Wacken Open Air, these four outstanding and independent female vocalists proved how symphonic heaviness can go hand in hand with pop music - dressing well-known classics in a yet unheard soundscape, evoking more than just a cover album! Now, more than six years later, Exit Eden are back to mesmerize audiences with their second offering, illustrating strength and female empowerment while appropriately entitled Femmes Fatales, set for release on January 12, 2024 via Napalm Records…

East of Eden's second album had to be one of the least commercial albums ever to enter the British Top 30, as well as one of the most stylistically diverse. The term "progressive rock" fit as well as any, yet much of it was rather along the lines of early jazz-rock fusion, with lengthy hard-to-hum instrumental passages. But there was a lot of Eastern influence as well, especially on those pieces that highlighted Dave Arbus' violin and flute. Some of the absurdist humor along the lines of Frank Zappa and the Soft Machine makes itself known too, though East of Eden were more serious than Zappa and less whimsical than the Softs. Indeed, it's a rather sober affair that sometimes approaches gloominess, and like the late '60s/early '70s Soft Machine, it's more oriented toward virtuosic instrumental sections than vocals and lyrics…