Customer Reviews

Fall Awake

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This review was originally written by my husband, Daniel Aeschliman, who has given me permission to post it here:

"Fall Awake" is the lead-off single for the Echoing Green's sixth full-length studio album, The Winter of Our Discontent (not counting remix and rarity collections). The single contains five versions of the title song, plus three versions of the Christmas song "Little Drummer Boy" and three versions of Leiahdorus' "Jupiter." Lyrically, "Fall Awake" is from the perspective of someone who sees a loved one living in a self-destructive manner, and trying to reach out to that person to help them. The original mix of the song switches back and forth between slow, haunting moments of the speaker seeing what is happening to their loved one, and the surging, anxious moments of pleading with that person. It is this dichotomy of emotion that gives the song its strength; and why many of these remixes ultimately fail. The Virtual Server mix is a good example of this - the energy level that carries the chorus is maintained throughout the entire track, conflicting with the emotion of the lyrics. Halovox, on the other hand, have turned in the strongest remix ("Catcher In The Rye Mix"), by trying to reflect this same sonic dichotomy that the original version had while putting their own twist on it. The strangest moment on the CD turns up in the middle of the Sheltershed mix, when a spoken word section is inserted, with a comment about dreams coming true being like "open sores." This seems to go against the emotion of hope in the deepest despair that is prevalent in the original song.

"Little Drummer Boy" is a rather straightforward version of the song, with a strong synthpop sound. The Dance Mix is a relatively good mix of the song which incorporates some new percussion sounds, and isolates some of the backing vocal tracks. However, the Little Gothgirl Mix is a tremendous disappointment, as it is mainly a loop of the new percussion sounds from the Dance Mix. What freshened up the remix version becomes very tedious when listened to by itself in repetition.

The disc closes with three versions of the song "Jupiter" from an album by Leiahdorus. This album was produced by The Echoing Green's Joey Belville, and Leiahdorus' Jason Smith has filled in on keyboards at The Echoing Green's most recent concert appearances. The album version of the song is included here, and is a strong synthpop track in its own right. Run Level Zero provides the first remix, and try taking the song in more of a darker vein. However, the resultant mix ends up faltering due to the softness of Jason's vocals being lost behind the wall of bass and percussion sounds. The disc closes with a mix by DJ Introvert, which falls into a category of remix that I personally don't care for as much. The music itself is quite good and interesting - however, the slashed up vocal track proves to be more of a distraction than anything else. A different mix by DJ Introvert was posted at Leiahdorus' official website and is superior to the effort that is presented here.

In all, the disc is a bit of a disappointment - "Fall Awake" is a strong departure track for the band, showing a strong change in how The Echoing Green approaches music, and many of the mixes fail to live up to the expectations created by the original version.

When I bought this I really loved it.
I learned to love "Fall Awake" most of all the remixes of it.
I also enjoyed how they placed a song by another band and 2 other remixes The Echoing Green helped with at the end - It made me get interested in that band a little more as well.
Overall, it's a nice CD for Echoing Green fans and people who really enjoy remixes of songs. It's also great a cd for Techno fans.

As would be expected from the first follow-on to The Echoing Green's album Music From The Ocean Picture, "Fall Awake" has the poetic lyrics of "Goodbye" (one of the best tracks on MFTOP), but with a powerful vibe that is at turns melancholy, defiant and triumphant. Lyrically, I honestly think it might take top honors for any EG song ever. It's so melancholy in the verses, painting a picture of someone who is loved and cared about slipping away, and in that sense it reminds me a little of "She's Gone Tragic" (another MFTOP hit). But where "SGT" stays dark, and without a lot of hope - there's a "glimmer" at the end, but only just that - "Fall Awake" says "I care too much about you to let this happen. I'm going to fight this, I'm going to do whatever it takes. You have to make a choice, but if you're willing, I'm right there beside you." The depth of the commitment is plain - even though the recurring theme is that it's almost certainly a lost cause, that doesn't matter. For that reason, it's a super, super powerful song to me.

Musically, "Fall Awake" takes the layering, building progression that is the strongest feature of "Supernova" and gives it a bite that stops just short of "Liberation" while staying clear of the traditional synthpop sound - which is a good thing. The dominance of the electronic sound is clear throughout but the chorus adds some distorted crunch as counterpoint - yet from the first pulsing beat to the ethereal harmonic line to the grinding layers of the chorus, it all works amazingly well and alternately makes me close my eyes as I'm overwhelmed with emotion, and then pump my fist at the ceiling in determination.

In short, buy this for "Fall Awake", the excellent version of "Little Drummer Boy" and the bonus Leiahdorus track "Jupiter". I knock off one star for some dubious remixes of all of the above tracks, but a couple of them are quite good and the original versions make it absolutely worth the price.

The Little Drummer Boy remix is too awesome! I think it would be awesome of The Echoing Green made a Christmas album!

I was an avid fan of The Echoing Green in 1998, and instantly fell in love with his cover of Men Without Hats' "Safety Dance." I appreciate The Echoing Green's message and I like Joey's treatment of the Gospel. The music, however, leaves me wanting more. They had a refreshing sound in '98 but sadly it hasn't grown up much in the following years. This single only serves to remind me that even a good thing can be compromised by the passage of time, if it's not carfully nurtured. Such was the case with "Supernova" and now again with "Fall Awake." On the flip side, though, the "Evergreen Collection" was satisfying in its slight reinvention of The Green, and I still maintain hope that they will once again deliver something unexpected.