Review: Echolyn – As The World (1995)

As The World is the third studio album by American band Echolyn.

Echolyn was formed in Pennsylvania in 1989 and released its first untitled debut album in 1991. After a somewhat rough debut, the band stepped up a gear with 1992’s Suffocating The Bloom, and this third album, As The World, is even better.

In my previous reviews on this site, I have often referred to the progressive rock renaissance of the early 90s. New bands made up of musicians in their 20s and 30s started popping up here and there like mushrooms in the rain, but particularly actively from the USA and Scandinavia. I wouldn’t be surprised if this had something to do with the fact that these regions were also early adopters of the new innovation of the world wide web. Indeed, it was in the early discussion groups on the internet that the new generation of prog fans seemed to keep in touch, sharing information and arguing fiercely about their favourite music. The mainstream music press, on the other hand, was still more or less hostile to prog. Prog seemed to have become permanently stuck in the underground. While some of the old prog bands still managed to survive in the eyes of the major labels (often making less progressive music…), of the new bands, only Dream Theater had managed to sign a deal with a major label.

Even Dream Theater didn’t achieve any explosive popularity with their first albums, but probably ATCO’s gold-selling Images And Words (1992) in the US, combined with the grassroots boom of the prog scene, woke up the record companies. Could it be time to see if prog can be sold to the masses again?

Echolyn had self-released their first two albums and were persistently doing their own thing. The band’s young musicians put their all into what they were doing and toured extensively whenever possible. Often together with another fresh American prog band, Discipline. Echolyn continued to grow in popularity locally and in other nearby cities thanks to their energetic gigs. Echolyn had been rejected by several small record labels and, as far as I understand it, had little dream of mainstream success, even though the ambition was to make a living from music for the whole gang. Surprisingly, however, the world’s biggest record company contacted them.

In the mid-90s, Sony was the world’s biggest record company and it too was angling for the prog market. Director Michael Caplan had been on a mission to bring about a U.K. reunion, but at the time the hated each other John Wetton and Eddie Jobson couldn’t even get in the same room to negotiate. Frustrated, Caplan decided to look in the direction of younger and hungrier talent. Echolyn’s previous albums had piqued his interest and a small army of Sony reps had also visited the band at a gig to convince themselves of their potential. In the summer of 1993, Caplan offered Echolyn a multi-album deal on Sony’s Epic label.

Echolyn eagerly seized this opportunity.

Echolyn moved to Nashville for five months where the album, called As The World, was recorded at the high quality Woodlands studio. The band has reported that the total budget was as much as $200 000. This may sound like a lot for a record by a previously marginally popular prog band, but that budget includes not only direct studio costs, fees for a small symphony orchestra, etc., but also the cost of living for the entire band for the five months they spent in Nashville. The record company appointed producer Glenn Rosenstain to support the youngsters, but to Epic Records’ credit, Rosenstain did not interfere much with the creative side of the work, concentrating instead on the technical side of the recordings. Echolyn were free to express themselves.

Ray Weston, Tom Hyatt, Christopher Buzby, Paul Ramsey and Brett Kull.

Echolyn continued with As The World with the now established line-up of Ray Weston (vocals), Brett Kull (guitar, vocals), Christopher Buzby (keyboards, vocals) Paul Ramsey (drums, percussion) and Tom Hyatt (bass guitar). This was a talented group that stands out from many other progressive rock bands, especially because of their quality vocals. Weston and Kull handle the main vocals almost equally, although the raspier Weston’s voice is perhaps a little more prominent than Kull’s, who sings in a brighter voice. Keyboardist Buzby can also sing and together the trio conjure up some of the finest vocal harmonies of the 90s.

Read also: Review: Mike Oldfield – The Songs Of Distant Earth (1994)

Stylistically, As The World sounds a little more modern than its predecessors. The music is still clearly progressive rock, but it is relatively difficult to associate it with any of the older bands. Except for Gentle Giant, whose influence is clear in the music’s complex counterpoints and subtle vocal harmonies. A more modern touch is probably taken from the music of alternative bands like Primus, Faith No More and Phish, and the album’s vocals, at times quite aggressive, also show influences from grunge bands.

Echolyn already had a lot of energy on the first two albums, but now it’s really intense most of the time. Ideas are poured into the listener’s ears at a speed that makes the weaker one shudder. There’s a lot of speed and dangerous situations. Almost all the time. There are hardly any breathers which is the strength and weakness of the album. There is something truly intoxicating about the intensity of As The World’s music. Fortunately, there are a few slower and calmer tracks that give your ears and brain a rest. And at the heart of all the intensity and complex twists and turns are usually always strong melodies and the skilful vocal parts that carry them. The album also offers, at least for me, a few quite effective earworms. In principle, the album could even have had hit potential, but perhaps the musical climate saturated by grunge didn’t offer any real opportunities for that.

The album opens with a short orchestral intro ”All Ways The Same” which is tinged with airy wordless vocals. The album really kicks off with the title track, which is a really punchy number. The rhythm section is fast and intense, and the passage of polyphonic vocals and instrumental counterpoints in the middle sections is particularly impressive and like a modernised version of Gentle Giant’s complex music. This composition also has a lot in common with Gentle Giant: the way in which the only five-minute track has been successfully packed with an astonishing number of musical twists and turns. The double hit of ”All Ways The Same” and ”As The World” is a stunning start to the album.

For years I have wondered how hard should I try?
Now four years later I think I know why
Fortune smiles on those who never say die
How long I have waited…

”How Long I Have Waited”

As The World is such a dense and seamless-sounding 69-minute whole that it feels like a concept album. But that’s not what it is. This misleading impression is supported by the fact that the themes of the instrumental intro are returned to more than 60 minutes later in the cinematic closing track, where the beautiful music is accompanied by the band and an orchestral arrangement by the classically trained keyboardist Buzby. Although there is no real concept to the album, there is a certain defiant and idealistic ”we came, we saw and we won” pathos to several of the songs. Echolyn were clearly exultant in the fact that they were breaking through with their music on their own terms. ’How Long I Have Waited’ in particular seems to celebrate this aspect, and ’Cheese Stands Alone’, which defiantly roars the ’own vision to victory’ ethos, could be seen as Echolyn’s official creed.

I’ve been Banana’d, Cabaret’d, stuffed in a truck for days
Leathered out, flannel’d in, paid to play, thought we’d win
The talent show that would break the band
Wrote the words that hit the fan
Flogged and prog’d, revival’d to death
Released and reviewed and signed with the best!

”The Cheese Stands Alone”

As The World is extremely high quality material across the board, which is why it seems silly to complain about the length of the album, but 69 minutes of such intrusive music is a lot. Maybe the hidden, in itself great, five song suite ”Letters” which lasts 18 minutes should have been saved for the next album? Apart from the excessive duration, another minor weakness is the unnecessarily digital sound of Buzby’s synthesizers. On the other hand, they contribute to a more modern feel than would have been possible with vintage instruments.

Lue myös

Although Epic Records had happily stayed out of the way of the band’s creative solutions to the problems of making the album, the problems started after its completion. The record company mothballed As The World for nearly a year before finally agreeing to release it in March 1995. Apparently what has led to the demise of many other albums (and films) happened; there were changes in the management of Epic Records which led to a fizzling of interest in the moves made by the previous management. As The World didn’t get the promotion from Epic after release that Echolyn had expected.

Touring would have been a natural way to promote music like As The World, which relies on strong performances, but no touring support was forthcoming. Money for a cheap music video would have been available, but Echolyn didn’t think it would achieve anything and asked for permission to invest the budget for the video on a website. Epic agreed and Echolyn became one of the first rock bands to have a proper and comprehensive homepage (as they used to say in the 90s). Echolyn.com was certainly a good move because, as I said at the beginning of this article, the internet was home to the most passionate core audience in progressive rock. However, the site did not save As The World as it sank like a stone in the market. The album was enthusiastically received in progressive rock circles (although I have a feeling that in Europe it remained unknown for a long time, even in the prog scene), but the mainstream media did not pick it up. By the end of the year, Epic, disappointed with the sales figures, dropped Echolyn from their roster in 1995.

Echolyn’s adventure with Epic seems to have broken the backbone of the band, which had previously been vigorously independent.

A surprising setback took the wind out of the sails of the quintet. Conflicts arose between the band members and there seemed to be no clear vision for the future. The band released a self-released album of surplus songs and live tracks, When The Sweet Turns Sour, after which Echolyn disbanded.

After Echolyn, Weston, Kull and Ramsey formed Still (later renamed Always Almost), a more straightforward band that released two albums in the second half of the 90s. Weston also joined the prog band The Dark Aether Project. Buzby, for his part, founded Finneus Gaugen, a group that played even more intricate music than Echolyn and whose two studio albums were heavily inclined towards jazz fusion.

The 2005 reissue of As The World received an updated cover.

But the story of Echolyn was not over. The band returned in 2000 re-energised with the album Cowboy Poems Free and have continued to record ever since, right up to the present day. As I write this, in March 2025, the band has just released its 10th and 11th studio albums.

The band’s adventure in the world of major labels did not lead to a commercial breakthrough, but the quality of the music was not compromised. The intense and idiosyncratic As The World remains one of the highlights of Echolyn’s 30-year recording career, but also one of the most interesting and vibrant prog albums of the 90s.

Best tracks: ”As The World”, ”How Long I Have Waited”, ”Cheese Stand Alone”, ”Uncle”, ”Never The Same”

Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Read also: Review: Spock’s Beard – The Light (1995)

Tracks

  1. ”All Ways The Same” 0:36
  2. ”As the World” 4:50
  3. ”Uncle” 6:54
  4. ”How Long I Have Waited” 4:43
  5. ”Best Regards” 4:11
  6. ”The Cheese Stands Alone” 4:48
  7. ”Prose” 1:45
  8. ”A Short Essay” 4:34
  9. ”My Dear Wormwood” 3:34
  10. ”Entry 11-19-93” 5:33
  11. ”One For The Show” 4:31
  12. ”The Wiblet” 0:47
  13. ”Audio Verité” 4:27
  14. ”Settled Land” 5:42
  15. ”A Habit Worth Forming” 4:29
  16. ”Never The Same” 7:54

Echolyn:

Christopher Buzby: keyboards, backing vocals, orchestral arrangements and orchestral conducting Tom Hyatt: bass, midi pedals Brett Kull: guitars, solo and backing vocals Paul Ramsey: drums, percussion Ray Weston: solo and backing vocals

Other musicians:

Connie Ellisor: string section leader, violin Ted Madson: violin Catherine Ulmstead: violin Pamela Sixfin: violin David Davison: violin Cate Meyer: violin Katherine Shenk: violin Carol Ellisor: violin Jim Grosjean: violin Alan Ulmstead: viola Kris Wilkinson: viola Bob Mason: cello Sam Levine: piccolo, flute, recorder

Producer: Glenn Rosenstein
Label Sony Music / Epic Records

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