New Eden Orchestra Any Man 2003
оригинальная и интересная группа, практически ни на кого не похожа.
Очень достойный вокалист-барабанщик, тембр голоса напоминает вокалистов из групп: Zello, Drama
а так же Гарри Брукера.
Играют, красивый и в меру навороченный прог.
С кем сравнить? Даже ума не приложу.
Однозначно группа будет интересна всем фанам групп: Spock`s Beard, The Flower Kings, Marillion.
На диске представлено 18 треков, связанных между собой. То есть одна вещь является
логическим продолжением предыдущей.
Очень красивые партии клавишных.
Рекомендую!
На 13 вещи поёт баба с очень красивым голосом(а баб я не очень то жалую в проге)
Оценка 9 из 12

Недавно, некий таинственный незнакомец, навяял(или навалял?) в гостевой, что мол, 
когда в следующий раз буду слушать этот диск, то должен вспомнить о Styx, 10cc, Kansas.
Ну, это к тому, что мол ты типа(в смысле я) тупой ублюдок, что
не в состоянии заметить такой простой истины, как похожесть на эти группы.
Подозреваю, что писавший, вообще не слышал этого диска, а начитавшись рецензий в инете, 
приподносит это, как услышанное лично.
К сожалению,этой болезнью(ну в смысле того, что не слышал сам) страдают
большинство любителей потрепаться языком.
95% этих трепачей обитают на русскоязычных форумах и оскорблениями, унижениями
и хамством самоутверждаются...


New Eden Orchestra (USA) - 2004 - "Anyman" 
(64 min, 'NEO') *****1/2


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TRACK LIST:

1.  Jihad 8:01
2.  That's Life 4:42
3.  Ode to the Ex 3:07
4.  Siren's Song 1:14
5.  The Golden Fleece 4:48
6.  Daydreams 2:41
7.  Build a Better Mousetrap 4:08
8.  Boll Weevil's Flea Circus 1:01
9.  Through the Looking Glass 3:22
10. Savannas 3:58
11. The Maelstrom 2:20
12. Death & His Half-brother Sleep 1:43
13. Full 4:40
14. Catacombs 2:53
15. Deja vu 5:41
16. Anyman 4:01 
17. Echoes 1:10
18. Back to the Tribe 4:59

All music & lyrics: by Lunn.
All arrangements: by NEO.

LINE-UP:

Mike Lunn - keyboards; guitars
Dave Marion - vocals; drums
Scott Schrecengost - guitars; vocals
Bill Hankins - basses; vocals
Marc Reynolds - drums & percussion

Produced by NEO.
Engineered by Reynolds.


Prolusion. "Anyman" is the debut album by the US quintet NEW EDEN ORCHESTRA 
(NEO hereafter, especially since the band uses the abbreviation as well, and I 
believe it's not without intent). According to the CD press kit, this is a concept work 
"in the style of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", "The Wall", and "Tommy". 
The individual tracks depict the various emotional states of an ordinary man 
confronted with the everyday drudgery of his life." 

Synopsis. Indeed, "Anyman" is a full-fledged concept album with good music and lyrics. 
But although the band asserts that a wide variety of musical styles are represented on it, 
I will dare to disagree with them on the matter. There are a wide variety of compositional
 and performance particularities. Stylistically, however, this is a rather coherent album, 
which, in my view, is always better than vice versa (read motley), especially with regard 
to the works that are submitted to a unified lyrical concept. In a general sense, the 
music is Symphonic Art-Rock, and as for the details, I'll point them out below. Another 
aspect of the band's view on their brainchild that I am going to call in question concerns 
the principal sources of their inspiration. There are episodes and the entire songs as well 
that arouse immediate associations with "Tommy" by The Who, Pink Floyd's "The Wall", 
and Genesis. The Genesis influences dominate the album, but the band should have referred 
to "Duke" (which is also a concept album), and not to "Broadway", as "The Lamb" never 
stepped on these fields. A typical Neo, done much in the style of "Duke", appears on 
That's Life, Savannas, Full, and Back to the Tribe (2, 10, 13, & 18). 
The distinctive, immediately recognizable sound of Pink Floyd is present only on Ode 
to the Ex (3), which can in many ways be regarded as (yet) Another Brick in the Wall, 
and that of "Tommy" can be heard on many songs, but only in places. What's interesting, 
however, is that on any of the tracks where NEO displays who, including the Who, are their 
benefactors (here: teachers) in absentia, the band used only compositional archetypes of 
the music from the aforementioned albums. In short, you won't hear on "Anyman" any solo 
that would remind you of Tony Banks, David Gilmour, etc. Even in the vocal parts the guys 
don't allow themselves to imitate the 'corresponding' singers too frequently. Besides, 
each of the said songs contains the band's original ideas, too, while the other compositions 
are either absolutely free of influences or are very close to the status of complete originality. 
The latter part of the remark concerns only the vocals, which, sometimes, have much in common 
with Genesis, especially on tracks 1 and 5, and those in The Who on some others. 
Daydreams and Build a Better Mousetrap (6 & 7), the first of which was performed without drums, 
are the remaining two songs representing Neo Symphonic Art-Rock without any stylistic makeweights 
(or in pure form, if you will). Something average between Classic and Neo Symphonic Progressive 
with elements of Prog-Metal is the music on Jihad, The Golden Fleece, and Deja vu (1, 5, & 15),
 though the first of them is also notable for the Saz-like solos in particular and some shades 
of Arabic music in general. The other eight tracks are instrumentals. In most cases, 
Through the Looking Glass, The Maelstrom, and the album's title track (9, 11, & 16) 
follow the direction of the three songs that I've just described, but these are the 
representatives of the genre's classic manifestation and, apart from the latter, are free of 
heaviness. 
Brilliant works. 
The music on Catacombs (14) is made up of exclusively orchestral arrangements, 
and Death & His Half-brother Sleep (12) is a classic acoustic guitar piece. 
The remaining three tracks: Siren's Song, Boll Weevil's Flea Circus, 
and Echoes (4, 8, & 17) are too short to consider them real compositions. 
Nevertheless, being symphonic by nature, they fit the overall musical picture of the album. 

Conclusion. Neo fans rejoice: your day has come! Despite the fact that the music on 
"Anyman" is accessible rather than complex, at least for the most part, it is very 
tasteful and has plenty of the other merits, all of which weren't ignored by yours truly. 
Although NEO presents itself as an independent artist, I would highly recommend them to 
immediately contact the people at Inside Out Music, who, I believe, will be happy not only 
to sign them, but also re-release "Anyman". This way, NEO might have a really radiant future. 
Otherwise... The band's potential audience is inconceivably large, but I am certain that they 
won't be able to reach many of their possible fans on their own. The band has every prospect 
of success to be at the head of the new millennium's Neo movement, and by the way, 
its name is also of help, - all joking aside. 

VM: June 1, 2004 
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