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Artist: Eden |
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Eden are the band formed by Bob Catley/Pulse/Alibi guitar wiz Vince O’Regan and Kick/Wildkard vocalist Nick Workman and never has a duo been so meant to be, with O’Regan’s quite exquisite guitar playing and Workman’s outstanding vocals, the pair along with Al Mills on bass, Paul Rodgers on drums and James Screaton on keyboards and additional guitars, together they are Eden. Although this album was released last year we recently caught up with the band at their Gasworks show in Bradford earlier this month and the band were kind enough to give us a copy for review, as trying to get promo copies of albums from this particular label is like trying to get on the seating arrangements for the last supper. But enough of the gripes back to the album which opens in spectacular style with ‘Close Your Eyes’. If you were expecting anything other that pure British hard rock from this band then you’ll be bitterly disappointed, as that’s just what this band are all about. Forget the AOR styles of O’Regan’s other bands, this is pure British Hard Rock at its finest. As Workman shows what a real tour de force he is vocally and well Vince is just magnificent on this album (as he is on all his endeavours) and really shows what he capable of in bucket loads on this release. Things continue with ‘Love/Hate’, a real hard funk line is taken with this one with Workman doing his damnedest on this one with O’Regan spewing out that funky guitar vibe and the rest of the band bringing forth that Hard Rock feel, with Mills and Rodgers thumping out the back beat. There is a little Melodic edge brought into the mix with one of the finest songs on the album the quite superb ‘Fools Parade’. This is where Workman comes into his own with one of his finest vocal performances on the entire album, with the band taking somewhat of a back seat on this one to give Workman full reign vocally. It's back to the full on Hard Rock with ‘Incomplete’, (something that this band certainly aren’t), as the head bass of Mills gets things underway along with Workman, then O’Regan comes in with some simple but sublime guitar work to really put the icing on the cake. As the album progresses it's plain to see that the partnership between O’Regan and Workman is what O’Regan has been a long time waiting for, as this lets him loose to do what he does best and it's plain for all to hear on this fine debut. The album continues with ‘Chase The Sun’, another slow builder of a track that once again shows what a great frontman Workman really is. Then things really start to heat up with one of my favourites off the album and the one that got the recent Gasworks show started, ‘Head Up’. This is balls to the wall Hard Rock like it used to be with O’Regan showing he can shred with the best of them. This I think is where Vince is the most comfortable, like a caged animal he just wants to be set free once in a while, so just unchain the beast and listen to it roar! The same uncompromising Hard Rock is continued with ‘Coming Back For More’, another riff filled extravaganza before the band really bring it down a little with the only ballad on the album ‘How Far You Are’. Even though this is a ballad the song still retains that gritty feel. A song that reminds me very much of Harem Scarem. After the gentle interlude it's back to the real meat and bones of the Eden sound with the heads up ‘All Fall Down’, another vocal lesson from Workman here as he parades his prowess once more, with O’Regan shining once more, with the rest of the band laying down the foundations for these two to build on. ‘On A Day Like Today’ takes the Hard Rock sound and brings it kicking and screaming into the now with Workman’s power enthused vocals and O’Regan’s mighty guitar solo’s. This is the prelude to the final track on the album ‘Erase And Rewind’ which is a monster track to finish off a great Hard Rock album and after hearing some of the new material from the forthcoming release 'Karma Coming' at their recent Gasworks show, if you liked this album then you’ll be blown away by the new material.
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Tracklisting:
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