The Lair of the Green Rob: Album of the Day - Darwin's Radio: Eyes of the World

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Album of the Day - Darwin's Radio: Eyes of the World

I mentioned recently that there were a lot of 2007 albums that I needed to spend more time with... well, I guess there are even more from 2006 that fall by the wayside. One of not is the album "Eyes of the World" from the band Darwin's Radio. Tonight I'm giving this one multiple listens, but only intended on one at first. I was so floored by how good this album was that I'm on my 3 play right now.

The disc kicks off in fine prog rock fasion with the nearly ten minute epic "Erase...Rewind". What we go here is a pretty hard rock driven tune with plenty of keyboard flourishes to compliment the sound that the band keep up with for the entire album. This tune is nothing short of incredible, and there is even a rather short keyboard run that really reminds me of the theme to the final fortress in the original Zelda. After the instrumental opening the song has a short piano interlude before the vocalist comes in. Vocalist Declan Burke (who also plays guitar) really fits with the music on this, and the rest of the album. I hear so many musical styles in here, from a very Genesis sounding part at around the 6 1/2 minute mark, to a very Flower Kings sort of style immediately following (not to mention some very rocking DT-esque interludes).

With an opening cut like "Erase...Rewind" one may assume that the rest of the disc goes downhill, but in my opinion the whole disc is an incredible piece of music from start to finish. The second cut, "Stronger", is a more straight-forward rock tune (with plenty of keys of course). There are some very Derek Sherinian-moments in this very cool song, which is held together by a pretty consistant bass lead. Once again the vocals are very fitting with the tune, and the chorus is a melodic monster in every sense of the term.

"Windows To Your Soul" is the first ballad on the album. It's a beautiful piece with mostly keys and drums, with some emotion drenched vocals from Declan. This song really shows the bands diversity, and actually flows nicely with the rest of the disc, while often-times the slower tune seems to drag the disc down (ie: Dream Theater - "Repentance").

The fourth track, "Glass Tiger's Eye" is another straight-forward rock tune, with a guitar lead that harkens back to the arena rock of yesterday. "Lapse of Sensation" is a very Marillion sounding prog tune, while "Eccentric Orbits" is a balls to the wall instrumental track that kicks my ass. "Amber Skies" is a gorgeous ballad that gives me goosebumps. One of the best ballads I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.

The album closes with the near 12 minute epic tune "The Vast Within". Like any good epic tune there is a bit of an intro section that eases people into the song, a very ballad-esque section, before stepping up the tempo only slightly by the 3 1/2 minute mark. After a brief guitar solo the song finally launches into the prog-fest I was really hoping it would be. Some great guitar/keyboard trade off's, and the rest of the song only gets better.

I don't know how this song missed my top of 2006 list, but I guess it's proof that things like top 10 lists can not be written in stone. I highly recommend this disc to any prog fan.

posted by Rob Mallory @ 12:11 AM

1 Comments:

At January 9, 2008 at 3:12 AM, Janae Loves Rob said…

Ok I got it. I'm not very smart. That's why I'm glad I have you.