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EZRA - ‘Songs From Pennsylvania’ (F2 Records)
On a scale that runs from morose and pedestrian through to frenetic, electrifying and incendiary, then I guess this album comes in modestly as empyreal and engaging. It is the perfect accompaniment to a hot summer day, somewhere off the beaten track; indeed even the booklet cover (a photograph of the disused signal box at Cefn Junction) suggests the easy going, rural, sort of west coast nature of the sounds that typify most of this gorgeous album.
I didn’t get ‘Songs From Pennsylvania’ straightaway – probably because I was listening to it during one of those cold, wet spring days that we had this year. The mood was not right – or, rather my mind was not in the right frame to engage effectively with it. On a hot summer’s day (like the one on which I am writing this) it is an altogether different proposition, and it has made a pronounced groove inside my consciousness.
The history of this band from South Wales could occupy twice the space available for this review, but suffice it to say that they formed in the summer of 1990, have had two previous albums (‘Shapes’ (1994) and ‘Big Smiley Sun’(1999)) and several line-up changes. The band originally included Rob Reed before he went off to Cyan and thence Magenta…though the guiding force here has always been guitarist and vocalist Andy Edwards, who – along with rhythm section (Gareth Jones – bass – and Daz Joseph – drums) have appeared on all three albums. Colin Edwards (keys + vox) completes the quartet that recorded ‘Songs…’. However Jones and Edwards have subsequently departed and live you will now see and hear two female vocalists Lizzie Buckwell and Janine Stobart-Knapp and multi-instrumentalist (and long-time associate of the band) Jim Bradley. Still with me?
The album now under consideration is a 50+ minute affair comprising seven songs, none less than 5½ minutes and with the dreamy and expansive ‘Chances’ approaching an epic 12 minutes. This is one of my personal favourites with its feel-good vibe and proggy, rather spacey ambience (with Floydian references, and more than a nod towards IQ to boot). But looking at the whole package one finds a hugely accessible melodic album, with strong harmonies that effortlessly transcends the boundary between prog and rock: an audio smoothie blending diverse influences and eclectic range of styles and sing-a-long sections. A well-balanced and crystal clear production complements a solid band performance and spine-tingling guitar solos that really reaches a zenith on ‘Summer Again’ and concluding track ‘Alive’ - also featuring the Nutopia-Chang Children’s Choir - and leaves one feeling at peace with the world!
This is not just an album for confirmed Ezroids, and is worthy of investigation by those of you looking for something a little different and easy on the ear. Nice one!
Paul Jerome Smith
EZRA SONGS FROM PENNSYLVANIA F2 MUSIC
I can remember the first time I met Ezra, it was in Whitchurch village hall at one of the prog events being held there. Rob Reed was with them at the time, and back then I used to think of him as being the man behind Cyan whereas now he is in Magenta! Well, it was a long time ago because I can recall Andy Edwards having hair but looking at the photos in the booklet it is now all gone!! I am sure that I saw them gig at that time, and I can certainly remember reviewing their albums, but at long last they have now released their third CD and like Credo have moved from Cyclops to F2 Music. Like them, it has been a long wait for the next album, and again like their labelmates it has been more than worth it. What we have here are seven songs which are bringing together different styles of prog and rock and creating something that is very accessible and pleasing to the ear.
Halfway through the first song "A Little Bit More" I found that I was singing the chorus – this should not be allowed, progressive music is not about having fun and joining in. It is all about sitting studiously and waiting to be impressed. Haven’t these guys seen the audience on ‘Pictures At An Exhibition’? Obviously not. Mind you, they are Welsh aren’t they, which could well explain a great deal. It might explain why a band can take influences from lots of diverse sources and blend them so that while they can be a little Floydian here, it may a touch IQ there, but the most important part at all times is that this is Ezra who are creating great little songs that are there to be enjoyed. Neo-prog? Well, yes, I suppose, but instead let’s change that label to classic style rock and that may get a few more punters through the door. Nice one guys, but why leave it so long? One to investigate. www.progrock.co.uk or www.ezra.co.uk
Kev Rowland
Feedback Fanzine
Review by Kinesis
Songs From Pennsylvania
An absolute great "feel good" album. Amazing guitar riffs and solo's, catchy keyboard loops, a groovy rythm section and a very good clear dreamy production. Strong melodies and songs that are from a well respectable length. Some guitar work and vocal harmonies will remind you of Yes and the rockin' David Gilmour! And if that is not enough to run to the store immediately, it also have some great lovely psychedelic parts. Proggy Quatlity Rock!Nick Gielkens
"Songs from Pennsylvania" is an excellent re-introduction to the band, a slice of high-quality song orientated rock with distinct proggy overtones. There are suggestions of Rush, Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Yes (especially on the up tempo "Everyday").
As on their first CD, Rob Reed (Cyan) guests as keyboard player
on his album. This extra touch gives the music a more progressive feeling, even though the
keyboards play a supporting role most of the time, not counting the amazing Hammond solo
on The Seventh Conjecture.
Also, the arrangements of some of the songs are very interesting, like the sudden switch
to reggea and the use of Aboriginal horn on Waiting for the Day, the sequence in Alone
where the music suddenly changes to a bit of circus clowns music with evil chattering and
the Chinese sounds in Ming Thing.
The bass and drums are powerful, the vocals are good and there are lots of great long
guitar solo's, some with a slight Gilmour influence.
Besides 7 vocal tracks the album also contains two instrumentals;
the quiet bass solo The Six Degrees of Separation (which serves as an introduction
to the powerful Alone) and the absolutely stunning The Seventh Conjecture.
The album ends with the 11+ epic Ming Thing, which goes from a quiet acoustic
beginning to a roaring guitar solo and returns to acoustic guitar and gentle sounds of the
sea hitting the shore.
The 12-page booklet contains lots of handwritten pieces of lyrics, credits and other scribblings and little drawings. The middle pages have 48 little pictures of the band.
The album contains some very good tracks (Under the Bed, Big
Smiley Sun, Alone, The Seventh Conjecture, Ming Thing) and some
less interesting ones (the dragging Blinding Line, the silly bar scene at the end
of Alone).
My main critisism about this CD has to do with the bad mixing on some tracks. In some
tracks the guitar or vocals are so far in the background that they can hardly be heard.
With better mixing and some more keyboards the sound would really improve.
If your taste is a bit broader than just 'pure prog rock' (if ever there was such a thing)
this might be an album to check out.
Conclusion: 7+ out of 10.
Ed Sander
EZRA - BIG SMILEY SUN
CYCLOPS 99
-
This is the bands second cd. I haven't heard
their first but if it so good as this one,
it's a clear purchase. Ezra is a three man band.
Andy Edwards, Gareth Jones and Darren Joseph.
Great muscians all of them. Ezra have a great style.
Progressive psychadelic melodic rock.
Sounds sometimes a little bit like Porcupine Tree's latest cd.
The production is brilliant. A very nice and warm sound.
Favorite track must be the titletrack,
Big Smiley Sun. I can't find something to complain about this
cd. One of the best records at the moment.
This is a highly recomended cd.
Grading: 8
Raw no169 Feb15-28,1995
(Thanks Dave)
THE SPACE OF .........CARLOS TAVARES
This is one of those records that makes me wonder over the definition of progressive rock. With their second album, Ezra propose us a load of sonic textures patented by bands such as Pink Floyd, Ozric Tentacles or even Radiohead. This Welsh band consists of Andy Edwards on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Gareth Jones on bass and vocals and Darren Joseph on the drum kit. The album commences with UNDER THE BED, which recreates an ambient reminiscent from Pink Floyd's THE WALL. The rhythm is well-chalked withdrawing breath from the basslines. BIG SMILEY SUN is composed and revolves around a hard-rock structure, with powerful riffs strategically placed within the track. Initially sweeped by an acoustic guitar and later making an evolution into a more allegoric feel, BLINDING LINE fills in the gap that was missing in this field. The follower, THE SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION, which is nothing more than a musical interlude on bass refreshes the motion created by the former track. To the end are kept two jewels that disclose the album with a golden key: THE SEVENTH CONJECTURE is an instrumental with a breathtaking rhythm, where the guitar rules and is only slightly pushed back by a Hammond organ solo played by the invited Rob Reed. MING THING can be thought of as the epic of the album, with an oriental vibe and variety, nevertheless lacks kinetics by being a bit repetitive. Near the end a guitar's birthright dives in to the waves of the gentle sea.
6th of December, 1999
OSMANE P RIBERO
opr@rol.com.rol
Metamusica
http://home.rol.com.br/metamusicaDespués de un largo de tiempo de silencio, desde la edición de su primer disco "Shapes", Ezra emerge nuevamente con "Big Smiley Sun". Con un total de nueve temas que oscilan entre un hard progresivo y psicodélico. El primer tema es una buena muestra de lo que se podrá apreciar en toda la placa: mucha dosis de fusión, ritmos pesados, con óptimos solos de guitarras, sin olvidarse de la excelente ejecución de los teclados, digitales, analógicos, e incluso pianos.
La capacidad técnica de Andy Edwards (teclados, guitarras y voces), de Gareth James (Bajo) y Daz Josephs (batería) es innegable.
También participan Robert Rich, multiinstrumentista de Cyan y de The Fyreworks y Dany Chang, tecladista de The Fyreworks.
Quien disfruta con escuchar un bajo burbujeante, tipo John Paul Jones de Zeppelin y Gari Thain de Uriah Heep, estará de para bienes con Gareth Janes.
Existen marcadas influencias de Rush y de Pink Floyd en la placa, como así también de Ozric Tentacles, que se evidencian notablemente en temas como "Waiting for the Day" y "Nobody Love Us".
Si ya tenes su primer trabajo "Shapes" no podes dejar pasar este disco. Y para quienes todavia no conocen el trabajo de estos ingleses, esta es su mejor oportunidad
EZRA - "BIG SMILEY SUN"
Cyclops / CYCL 058 - 1998.
Big Smiley Sun is Ezra´s second album and in my humble opinion it is a confusing and far to varying album. Six of the nine songs is of no interest to me, okay two of those six are shorter instrumentals that isn't that bad, but they feel like two tracks added just for filling out the album. That leaves us with three good tracks, the opener Under The Bed with great guitar play at the ending. The title track is a catchy song with a great driving end. The epic Ming Thing ends the album and is without question the highlight of the album, and once again Andy Edwards guitar playing is well worth mentioning. As a guest on the album we find Cyan man Robert Reed on keyboards. As said in the opening of this review Big Smiley Sun is far to varying, therefore it is hard for me to make any comparisons with other acts.
Prog-résiste
Ezra
Big Smiley Sun
CYCL 058 - 54'35 - UK '99
Style : Néo-prog / Rock
Cotes : DP 1 - Dr 1 - Fe 3
Connaissez-vous The Fyreworks ? Si oui, vous êtes en terrain
connu car Ezra est un trio formé par Andy Edwards, guitariste de The Fyreworks, Gareth
Jones (basse) et Daz Josephs (drums). Et pour les soutenir, Rob Reed et Danny Chang (de
The Fyreworks eux aussi) font quelques apparitions.
Big Smiley Sun est leur second cd. Pour résumer, on pourrait dire que la dominante d'Ezra
est rock, mais qu'une légère influence du Floyd (pour l'ambiance) ainsi que de Rush dans
certains morceaux (pour le son) se fait sentir.
On commence avec Under The Bed, qui ne fait on ne peut plus Floyd avec cette intro dans le
style Another brick in the wall. Suit Nobody Loves us, qui nous plonge en quelques mesures
dans l'univers de Rush, l'absence de claviers accentuant un peu l'impression. De claviers
d'ailleurs, il n'en sera pas trop question dans ce cd. En effet, Rob Reed, invité pour
l'occasion, apparaît de manière fort furtive, et le plus souvent en retrait. Big Smiley
Sun se situe dans la lignée du morceau précédent, et cette fois on remarquera les
performances de l'excellent batteur Daz Josephs, qui a probablement bien écouté Neil
Peart. Déjà le 4me morceau, Waiting For The Day. Il est vrai que les morceaux sont
relativement courts : 6 - 7 minutes en moyenne. Ezra limite ses introductions et va
directement à l'essentiel. C'est une qualité du groupe.
Blinding Line nous propose une balade nostalgique (genre fin des années 60) très
intéressante et qui n'est pas sans rappeler la démarche d'un Steve Wilson. Après une
petite accalmie avec Six Degrees of Separation, voici le très rock Alone.A noter qu'Ezra
a de l'humour : la chanson se termine par un a capella complètement déjanté. On a
gardé le meilleur pour la fin : Seventh Conjecture est un instrumental accrocheur aux
envolées de guitare, tel que Rush sait les inventer. Superbe morceau, dans lequel Rob
Reed peut enfin s'exprimer. Et pour terminer, Ming Thing, peut-être le morceau épique de
l'album : ouverture instrumentale et acoustique, gradation des instruments dans les
couplets, refrain «lobotomique» et extraordinaire solo de guitare pour finir. Bref,
voici un album direct et accrocheur, très bien joué. Sans vouloir crier au chef
d'oeuvre, celui-ci est de bonne facture et nous rappelle (comme Aragon l'a fait avec Mr
Angel) qu'il y a moyen, en progressif, d'être efficace sans forcément rechercher la
difficulté.
Fred