Happy 20th Birthday - echolyn : "As The World"

[eporter66]

I am a huge echolyn fan, and I cant tell you how important this record was to me. I was introduced to progressive music through a very good friend of mine, and eventually we formed a Prog band together playing progressive covers sprinkled with his originals in the late 80's and early 90's - when prog was rather dormant (pre or very early internet years).

Anyway - he introduced me to the classic bands (I already knew Yes and Floyd) such as King Crimson, Early Genesis, UK and some others. As I began to listen and love this style of music, I started to explore. I went off to college in 1987 and joined the radio station, and began finding albums by bands such as Camel, Frank Zappa, Saga etc... I started to read and research about progressive music. Gentle Giant was one of the first bands I was able to share with my friend that he had never heard of. I continued to explore, but most, if not all of the bands I was getting into were from the 70's, and outside of Marillion, there were no 80's or current bands (at least that I knew of at the time) that I really was getting into.

I think (though the memory may be a bit foggy) that echolyn was the first "modern" prog band that I could say was something I discovered on my own and had a very strong connection to their music. I had become a regular at a local independent record/cd shop in my area, and he had copies of "ATW" and all he said was - Eric - you've got to hear this band. He put on the CD, and I stayed in the store while we listened to the whole CD together. I have been a fan ever since.

Thank you echolyn for all the great music over the years, you are truly one of my all-time favorite bands!

Eric

[progmeister]

I'm proud to say I was involved in the making of this record and it was truly one of the highlights of my career. It's amazing how great it still sounds today. Prog on

[rickawakeman]

Hard to believe it's been twenty years since I picked this up at the now-defunct Media Play. One of my desert island discs.

[JKL2000]

Definitely have fond memories of those early days, seeing Echolyn at Progscape and chatting with the guys, who were so friendly and eager to talk.

Happy Birthday, As The World. Crazy that Echolyn must be as old as Tull was when the 25th anniv set came out.

[gpeccary]

My intro to the band, I haven't looked back! Such a great band, totally love these guys. This is a great great record. Happy birthday!

[jgprogbear]

One of my all-time favorite discs by anyone EVER. I had already heard the first three Echolyn discs when this came out, but nothing could prepare me for the genius of ATW. For the first 10 years of its existence I don't think a single week went by that I didn't play the CD. Even to this day it's in pretty steady rotation, and each time it amazes/delights/entertains/satisfies me. Thanks you gentlemen for enriching my life so deeply with this disc. I wish there was a way to return the favor.

[undergroundrailroad]

A rich tapestry of courageous, heartfelt music. So much to savor. Great, great keyboards, drums and vox especially. Such cool songwriting.

[miamiscot]

Together with Suffocating The Bloom and Mei, As The World represents some of the finest American-made Prog I've ever heard.

Very solid record indeed.

[No Pride]

A great album that took about 15 years to click with me (not that I was consistently trying to "get it" all of that time). I heard the title track from Musician Magazine's monthly CD of compiled tracks from new releases; somebody had gotten me a year's subscription as a present. That's also how I first heard Dream Theater and Spock's Beard, but don't assume it was all prog... far from it! Anyway... I liked that track enough to buy the album, but I wasn't too taken with the album at first. I can hardly remember why; I think I initially didn't like the lead vocals (though I DID like the harmony vocals) or the way the drummer approached the tunes; I felt like he was busier than he had to be, which I guess is a little strange coming from a fusion fan. I think I didn't dig the guitar or keyboard sounds either. But there was a lot that intrigued me too, so I hung on to it, perhaps knowing that it'd click with me someday. And it did bigtime, after a thread here at PE inspired me to check it out again. Well, they say good things come to those who wait...

But yes, it's a great album, high on my list of post '70s prog albums and interestingly, none of the things I initially didn't like bother me at all now. Fantastic writing and arranging, great musicianship, sweet vocal harmonizing and best of all, they managed to make great prog rock with a style of their own. Sure, I hear the various influences, but they had their own thing.

Sorry to say that out of the Echolyn albums I have heard, I haven't liked any of them nearly as much. I have TEiB and the s/t (most recent one) and have heard Cowboy Poems and Mei when I had a streaming service. I've heard it said that their style "matured," but I liked it better when they'd throw everything including the kitchen sink in there (like a good prog band should ). I'm guessing I would like StB, but I haven't heard it.

[PotatoSolution]

Echolyn (specifically this album) was my gateway drug into "new" prog.

I went to ProgFest '94 because I had read in the L.A. Times that some crazy guy (who turned out to be Kevin Gilbert) was going to play "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway". I was a big fan of old-guard 70s prog and was completely unaware that there was a bubbling "new" prog movement underway.

While I was there I was handed a 3-song sampler of "As the World". I couldn't believe that this was a relatively "new" band making this kind of music, so I sought out and bought the whole album. Eventually this led me to discover IQ, Marillion, Anglagard, Spock's Beard ... twenty years later, all of this amazing music has become and integral part of who I am and how I enjoy life.

[Digital_Man]

It's a very, very good album. I don't think it's perfect and it's not my personal favorite but it has some really great tracks on it and some of their best. Would I nonetheless say it's a classic from the nineties? Absolutely.

It's interesting that your exploration of the lesser known prog bands parallels mine(approximately 87 to early 90's). That was a time when prog was pretty dormant and maybe just starting to gain a following(small one) again.

[Digital_Man]

[I'm guessing I would like StB, but I haven't heard it. ]

Oh yeah, I highly recommend that one if you like AtW. It's maybe a tad more in the traditional symph direction and less GG inspired but if you are looking for the kitchen sink you'll find it there.

[eporter66]

It's interesting that your exploration of the lesser known prog bands parallels mine(approximately 87 to early 90's). That was a time when prog was pretty dormant and maybe just starting to gain a following(small one) again.

It was tough being a prog fan back in those days. Not that it was a bad thing discovering all that great 70's music, but the bands were long gone. I wanted to connect with bands that were out there. I played in a band during my college and post-college years that played prog, and met a guy who came to most of our gigs, and he was another gateway into prog. He gave me some Happy the Man (of which I am in great debt to him, they are one of my favs), I think he also introduced me to Camel, but he also loved the 80's stuff, I liked Marillion but not much else. He gave me IQ, Abel Ganz, Pallas, and some others that never really connected.

I began going to record/vinyl collectors shows that came about 3-4 times a year. This is when I started getting video, and connecting the dots and finding the more obscure prog. The internet got going, and then my addiction really took off. Searching vendors for all this great music, and I still am buying CDs to this day.

I'm sure we have a lot in common if we were both finding our way during the same time - it's been a great ride!

[Digital_Man]

It was tough being a prog fan back in those days. Not that it was a bad thing discovering all that great 70's music, but the bands were long gone. I wanted to connect with bands that were out there. I played in a band during my college and post-college years that played prog, and met a guy who came to most of our gigs, and he was another gateway into prog. He gave me some Happy the Man (of which I am in great debt to him, they are one of my favs), I think he also introduced me to Camel, but he also loved the 80's stuff, I liked Marillion but not much else. He gave me IQ, Abel Ganz, Pallas, and some others that never really connected.

I began going to record/vinyl collectors shows that came about 3-4 times a year. This is when I started getting video, and connecting the dots and finding the more obscure prog. The internet got going, and then my addiction really took off. Searching vendors for all this great music, and I still am buying CDs to this day.

I'm sure we have a lot in common if we were both finding our way during the same time - it's been a great ride!

Some of the events for me were discovering the Harmony Encyclopedia of Rock(around 1986), getting a how to play guitar book which had Robert Fripp in it and mentioned King Crimson(mid 85 maybe?), going to a Yes convention in the summer of 87 where I picked up a flyer from an obscure US prog band who's mailing list I subsequently joined and found out more about prog through that, discovering goldmine magazine via an ad in the back of Rolling Stone(89). That goldmine magazine had an add for the fledgling Laser's Edge catalog which introduced me to much more obscure prog. As you can see I discovered the lesser known prog from different sources just like I got into the the mainstream bands(Yes, Rush, Genesis, Pink Floyd etc)through different people(most who weren't even really prog fans). The only current band I know about at the time as being prog was probably Marillion. I didn't hear about IQ, Twelfth Night, Pendragon and the other bands until later through the catalogs. One thing is that at the time I felt like a total musical outsider because I didn't know anyone who knew about any of these bands and very few who were even into the mainstream prog bands. These days most people, especially music fans, seem to at least have heard of prog. Anyway, I first heard about Echolyn through the ZNR catalog who were also a label at the time and released albums by Mastermind among others. I'm sure you remember Mastermind.

[eporter66]

I do remember Mastermind, the Berend brothers (spelling?) - I think they were from Jersey as well, more of a metal flavor to their music?

[Digital_Man]

Yep. Sort of like a cross between ELP and Dream Theater. Yeah they were(are)from NJ. They never really got the respect or credit they deserved and now are kind of overlooked. However, I think they were a pretty important band in the prog resurgence. Apparently they were the very first band signed with Magna Carta although they never released anything through them.

[The Fantastic Progo Rican]

As The World holds a special place in my heart as well, it was the first "modern" prog record I bought, also my first online purchase ever. Great album, still very relevant.

[Garden Dreamer]

Happy birthday to a great recording!

[Werbinox]

Geoff Logsdon (Plsntgrn) and I befriended the guys in the band back in the post Suffocating days, and went twice to Nashville to visit them during the recording of that album. O the beers that were consumed! We were privileged to witness the group screaming section near the end of "My Dear Wormwood", and watched Ray do his lead vocals for "Uncle" (a little known fact about the muddled voices in the intro to that tune: part of what is being said is "Tom is still recording his bass parts", an allusion to the many takes necessary to complete the album) Our presence catalyzed more drinking than usual and I recall producer Glen Rosenstein getting slightly pissed about it, tho he was generally a fun cut-up kinda guy in the studio. Our second visit happened to coincide with the mixing of "Uncle", so that song still encapsulates that whole period for us. We were privileged to hear the playback of the newly mixed "The Wiblett" and "Audio Verite" and "The Cheese Stands Alone".

I never got to play in the greatest band in the world, or to play with the greatest musicians, but I did get to hang out with some of the greatest musicians in one of the greatest bands ever, and watch them record one of their greatest albums. For that I am extremely grateful. Happy Birthday As The World!

[Digital_Man]

Having hung out with them backstage at Progday I can tell you they do indeed like their beer! No surprises there(at least not from me). Of course I had at least one beer that weekend too. I'm not sure beer and recording sessions mix though. LOL.

[FredOCal]

I remember picking up this CD during my senior year of college. I was into Yes and Dream Theater and Marillion at the time and this began my deep dive into prog. Here I am 20 years later and I still love the stuff. Ah the memories. Time to take this one for a long overdue spin.

[JAMOOL]

I said a lot about this album here, I still believe this is as good or better than many of the 70's classics (it is like 70 minutes long after all! and not a duffer in the bunch!) IMO it has the hallmark of a lot of truly great albums, in that your favorite song constantly seems to change - I've flipped between "The Cheese Stands Alone", "Settled Land", "Never the Same", and "Short Essay" as my favorite, now I seem to like "Entry 11-19-93" the best. Awesome album, though the band really have yet to disappoint - Cowboy Poems and Mei are just as good IMO, and I'm starting to really dig The End is Beautiful - to say nothing of their s/t album from 2012 which is maybe their best yet !??

[undergroundrailroad]

I said a lot about this album here,

That was a nice article. I especially like your point about the line “the mail was late again today.” For all the weltschmertz overlay of mei and the ensuing albums, they haven't been able to match the heartwrenching depths of the way Ray wails "the mail was late again today" over a sunny, relaxed shuffle in a major key.

[Scrotum Scissor]

It's a fine record, but it tends to drag on a bit and I personally think it's marred by some rather cheesy keyboard sounds. I prefer the band from after they reformed, also in terms of the writing.

[Garden Dreamer]

I too tend to prefer the "mature", reformed band's work but ATW still stands as a unique-sounding album. Like a few others, it took some repeated listens before I could wrap my head around it (it was my first exposure to Echolyn). I heard blustery drumming, turn-on-a-dime tempo changes, clever instrumental bits, etc.... so it was definitely "prog" to my ears. But at the same time I was puzzled by the lack of "pomposity" or "grandiosity" in the sound of the instruments and the vocalists - seemingly the antithesis of prog. Definitely challenged my notions or expectations of what prog "should" sound like, but eventually I accepted the whole package for its uniqueness and that's when it began to shine.