Customer Reviews

The Story of Our Lives

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

 

 

This may be the 'single' for the song "Story of Our Lives," but this 10-song album carries more than the song and a radio mix!

The album starts with an 8-minute epic remix of the title track, with four more remixes by Echo Image, Syrian, Virtual Server, and Tecnoman SF. But you could tell that from looking at the song listing above. The epic's synthpop sound fills the room with even a modest stereo system, the other remixes take a little drum 'n bass and bring bouncing melody into the picture.

The 5 extra tracks include 3 more remixes. Sequencia took the somber "Winter" track and made it jump with a darkish trance sound. Variant made "Blind" see a whole new light with a halting groove that'll electrify the space between your ears. The harsh sound of the new "Fall Awake" remix by Random Access Memory rounds out the remixes.

And if remixes weren't enough, Joey put 2 pieces of new material on this album! Seaside is a gentle synthpop ballad in the vein of "Heidi's Song" from _Winter_of_Our_Discontent_. Whereas EG worked with Sheltershed to put together the dark and motivating "The Sparrows and the Nightingales" which makes you question your purpose in life.

A little darker than their early material, this Echoing Green release deserves more credit than just being called a 'single.'

Another amazing effort from one of the best (if not the best) Christian syth-pop/electronica bands. This album has a significantly darker feel than their traditional sound, but I think it's their best work yet. As always, the lyrics are deep and the the music's entrancing...a must have for any electronica fan.

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

The long-delayed single for "The Story Of Our Lives" turned into a quite excellent EP by the time it finally was unleased on the world. The disc contains five mixes of the title track, plus remixes of three other songs from the album The Winter Of Our Discontent ("Winter," "Blind," and "Fall Awake") and two bonus tracks ("Seaside" and a cover of Wolfsheim's "The Sparrows & The Nightingales"). The standout track for us would have to be "The Story Of Our Lives [Epic]," which adds a fantastic piano-based intro and outro (played by Leiahdorus' Jason Smith) to an expanded version of the song with some interesting changes to the layering of the electronics. This is an 80's style extended mix, the way that they're supposed to be made and that I've missed. On the other side of the coin, Variant's mix of "Blind" was a tremendous disappointment. It felt more like an exercise in "how much effort can we go to in remixing the song to retain as little of what made people like the original track as possible, while just keeping enough around to make it undeniable that it's a remix of that song" than it was an actual remix of "Blind"; this is the same problem I've had with many Nine Inch Nails remixes over the last ten years, and it's disappointing to hear that on an Echoing Green release. The remaining mixes were relatively flat - not enough interesting things to make them exciting, yet not really bad mixes at the same time. "Seaside" shows a different side of The Echoing Green, having a bit more of a rock approach to it than we're used to hearing from them; guitars take the forefront on this track in a way they rarely have before for the band, and it's a good thing.

I have always been into electronic music but all I have been introduced to lately is Joy Electric, and Code of Ethics which while good are somewhat underwhelming given their reputation. This however was an awesome album that I enjoy as much as Andy Hunter.

This EP is filled with great new versions of the title track - the "Epic" mix is over 8 minutes long and I really recommend to check this one out! Sound quality is also top notch here with full bass power. Remixes were done from DJs around the world! As a bonus you'll get the b-side "Seaside" which comes in a dance rock outfit with real drums (song was not on the last album)! Electronica act Sheltershed helped to make a new version of "The Story & The Nightingales" originally a Electronica/Gothic hit from Germany. Here it comes in a fast club sound with slightly shattered vocals which gives a nice "rough" feeling. All in all this CD is fantastic addition to any Echoing Green fan collection ...and beyond!

"The Story of Our Lives" is the best yet! I saw these guys play in Salt Lake City over Labor Day weekend 2004 and they were fantastic. I bought several of their CDs at the concert and highly recommend them. This is my favorite.

This EP is worth it just for the new song 'Seaside' which brings Dave adams back playing live drums. just gorgeous along with the EPIC version of "story". The remake of 'Sparrows and nightingales" Is quite good too!!