As the World

Echolyn | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 1995)
• Original Release Date: March 7, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000029F0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,921 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. All Ways the Same

2. As the World

3. Uncle

4. How Long I Have Waited

5. Best Regards

6. The Cheese Stands Alone

7. Prose

8. A Short Essay

9. My Dear Wormwood

10. Entry 11/19/93

11. One for the Show

12. The Wiblet

13. Audio Verité

14. Settled Land

15. A Habit Worth Forming

16. Never the Same

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant CD, May 11, 2002

By 

x_bruce (Oak Park, ILLINOIS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As the World (Audio CD)

With the exception of an occasional stylistic (vocal and arrangement) nod to Gentle Giant Echolyn produces one of the most original progressive CDs of the 90's with As The World. The songwriting is excellent, songs like As The World, The Cheese Stands Alone and My Dear Wormwood develop while retaining melodic structure.

As a whole As The World is a consistantly entertaining album. While true that it may take a bit of time to get into the rewards are worth the effort. Some comments from prior reviewers make Echolyn sound overly complex and not accessible which may put some people off.

If you are familiar with progressive rock you will find a lot to be excited about on this CD. If you are looking for a super fast, prog metal album this might not be for you. There are plenty of dynamics and intensity but Echolyn are more similar to classic 70's progressive in terms of structure and sound. Don't let that scare you into thinking this is yet another retread or prog cliches as the music is contemporary. Another interesting aspect of the band are their American roots. On their next album, Cowboy Poems Free, they would develop an entire CD based on Americana. Some of that feel is here on As The World and is an interesting contrast to many of their contemporaries.

Some may find Ray Weston's vocals an aquired taste. They didn't do much for me initially, they are at times quite dramatic and seemed on first listen to be over the top. Through further listenings I've grown to enjoy his style.

These guys are excellent musicians that sing as well as they play. Their lyrics are also worth listening to. Sadly, this is the only major label CD by the band and it is their best. If you can find it get it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent, December 30, 1999

By 

Michael Toland (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: As the World (Audio CD)

Lush, complex progressive rock that uses familiar elements (from Yes, Gentle Giant, Kansas, jazz) in fresh ways to create their own unique sound. Impressive and beautiful, and I can honestly say I've never heard anything quite like it before. Recommended.

Note: they broke up due to their record company's utter indifference (not because they didn't become successful but, I'm guessing, because breaking up a band is often the only way to get out of a typical major label contract), but recently got back together with a new drummer and a new album on the way.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good choice for die-hard progressive rock fans, May 23, 2003

By 

woburnmusicfan (Woburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As the World (Audio CD)

I just discovered the progressive rock band Echolyn this year, and they've made a big impression on me. This 1995 album isn't quite as good as 2000's "Cowboy Poems Free". At first listen, I was disappointed, because "As the World" is the opposite of all the things I loved most on the other CD. "Cowboy Poems Free" was modern, didn't wear its influences on its sleeve, and the band played with restraint. "As the World" is (like most second-generation prog bands) stuck in the 70s, is more obviously derivative (mostly of Yes and Gentle Giant), and most of all, the band is overplaying, with cluttered arrangements that change direction every few seconds. Still, after 5 or 6 listens, it grew on me a LOT, enough to give it 4 stars. Fans of 70s prog-rock should like this one; those who want to hear something more up-to-date should try and track down a copy of "Cowboy Poems Free". This album includes a lot of Echolyn's best stuff, and would be a real classic if not for the attention-deficit-disorder nature of the arrangements. In this case, more is less.

Echolyn is a very good bunch of musicians, and they show off their chops a lot more here than on "Cowboy Poems Free" or 2002's "Mei". Their vocal harmonies are perhaps the best prog-rock has ever produced, even better than Yes. The ballads tend to work better than the rockers here, because the arrangements are less jumpy. "Settled Land" and "The Cheese Stands Alone" are good enough to work despite all the twists and turns; "Uncle", "My Dear Wormwood", and "Audio Verite" aren't. The best songs, "How Long I Have Waited" and "Never the Same", are given more room to breathe. The latter is the most comforting song about dealing with death that I've heard in many years. "Best Regards", "Entry 11-19-93", and "One for the Show" are also good songs. "The Cheese Stands Alone" reminds me a lot of Living Colour, while the title cut is pure Yes. "All Ways the Same" and "Entry 11-19-93" have string arrangements that sound right off of an XTC album.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)