City of Echoes

Pelican | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 5, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hydrahead Records
• ASIN: B000PA9OP2
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,721 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

the band that brought you australasia and the fire in our throats will beckon the thaw (decibel magazine's album of the year for 2005) returns with opus number three, a series of (r)evolutionary instrumental ruminations on touring and the homogenous effects of globalization. with shorter songs and expanded catchiness, city of echoes is pelican's "pop album," according to guitarist laurent schroeder-lebec, a deftly executed reminder that these dudes can do whatever they feel like and still make those hairs on the back of our necks stand up like tiny little boners. which is a-okay by us, because whenever lsl and fellow guitarist trevor de brauw join forces with the now-la-based herweg brothers--larry (drums) and bryan (bass)--to form the ultimate instrumental quadrangle, it's all shazzam! and the next thing you know, they're dropping so many suckas with all those sweet, victorious riffs that it begins to feel like chicago in july, when everybody's air-conditioners simultaneously shit the bed and the old folks start piling up like logs at the city morgue. when the heat wave passes and the humidity subsides, the pelican dudes stand on top of the proverbial heap, possibly hoisting a chalice of some type--maybe even a sword, but not in a manowar kind of way--as the reverberations from their own amplified gloriousness rain upon their heads (and all of our heads, really) like manna from heaven. amen.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, Just Different, June 26, 2007

By 

Shanghaied (Carrollton, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Echoes (Audio CD)

Compared to their last LP, "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw," City Of Echoes is a much safer release. Just looking at the track time and overall length of the album should lend some insight to this; the average track time of TFIOTWBTT was a whopping 8:20, whereas the average here is around 5:19 (admittedly, the latter's track count was greater by 1). The longest track in The Fire was over eleven minutes long, while Echoes longest, the title track, only measures in at 7. Also, City of Echoes is about 16 minutes shorter than TFIOTWBTT.

What this does to the sound is even more obvious; Echoes sounds much more organized and harmonic, even condensed when compared with TFIOTWBTT. Each song seems to sustain itself, though there is variation. For example, my personal favorite, track 3, begins with a simple, repeated piano note that in an almost symphonic progression is fleshed out into a full, more staggering chorus of guitar. The interesting aspect here is that it doesn't grow into a towering wave like, say "The Last Days of Winter" did on TFIOTWBTT, but has what you might consider checkpoints where the song grows. This could be anything from another guitar layer to a change in riffs. Either way the sound doesn't sneak up on you as it has on other releases, but rather jumps at you suddenly.

This album doesn't sound quite as epic; instead it sounds intelligent and meticulous, and I have to say that I grow more fond of its accessibility and forwardness with each listen. Perhaps you could slake it up to the band wanting a safer record as I already have, but the bottom line is that the music is still well executed and definitely exhibits movement and variation.

Personally, if I were to sum up the differences from previous releases I would have to say that structure has been emphasized in place of using space and tension. Not to say that these elements are entirely absent, they just aren't as dominant.

Either way, this is a very strong release with a satisfying albeit different sound. It may very well be that the band hoped to add some shorter pieces to their catalogue. If you were a fan before, the best advice (as always) is to listen to the album a couple times and personally decide about the differences.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different direction for Pelican, but it's still a grand CD, June 5, 2007

By 

Gobi Kalooki (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Echoes (Audio CD)

City of Echoes is much different than its predecessor The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw, but it triumphs beautifully. Many Pelican fans will write this off as "not heavy enough," but that would be an insult to the band. It still has the awesome sludgy riffs and dark melodies, but there is a different mood than their EP or their first two albums. From the rocking opener Bliss In Concrete to the gorgeous title track and to the epic album closer A Delicate Sense of Balance, this CD should please most Pelican fans and win over some new ones in the process.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trimmed & Tight Pelican, June 18, 2007

By 

Tom Chase (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Echoes (Audio CD)

"City of Echoes" is Pelican's third LP and continues the band's style of instrumental post-rock/metal. Gone are the drawn-out progressive pieces such as "March to the Sea" or "Nightendday" that took the listener on lengthened ten minute plus journeys. Instead "City of Echoes" delivers eight condensed and concise tracks, all roughly around the six-minute mark, and all keeping the themes and ideas trim and tight.

Obviously personal taste will have a major role in determining the result of this new direction. I can see it bringing in new fans due to accessibility, or perhaps reeling back old listeners who became bored with the old longer compositions. On the flipside I can also see it disappointing a portion of fans - those that liked the band's progressive approach. Initially I was quite firmly in the latter camp, irritated by my initial listens I thought Pelican had completely lost their song writing ability, as the album sounded like a confused mess of noise and heavy riffs. But it really did grow after a few more listens, and I began to pick out song structures that initially seemed scrambled.

I appreciate "City of Echoes" more by treating it as one large song, as this way I find it encompasses all of the old elements combined into a more dynamic and contrasting composotion - an aspect lacking in many of the individual compositions. This includes the rich and beautiful acoustic passages (represented by my favourite track on the album "Winds With Hands"), melancholy guitar motifs (evident throughout but most notably in the beautiful title track and "Far from Fields") and thundering riffs (something in plenty with the monstrous "Dead Between The Walls", and the fierce climax to the opener "Bliss In Concrete"). However, this seems slightly lacking as the older compositions would contrast dynamics more effectively and build up to climaxes in typical post-rock fashion, akin to Godspeed You! Black Emporer or Explosions In The Sky. With this new approach the elements are all there, but just divided and cut up into individual short songs.

This approach is certainly a risky development by the band, and is running the risk of the "hardcore" fans throwing the sold-out label at them. But, to Pelican's credit, I think they have done enough. "City of Echoes" is a detachment from the old progressive styling, and is not the ideal direction I personally want from them, but they retain enough of the old magic and formula for me to enjoy it, and give it a good rating.