Janison Edge
are :
Paul Brown on Bass
Ian Salmon on Guitars
Sue Element on Vocals
Dave Wagstaffe on Drums
Mike Varty on Keys
The tracks are :
1 A Twist in the Tale of Earth History (9:27)
2 "OLDMAN" (2:04)
3 Beneath the Boy (8:28)
4 Mary Goode
I. The Services of Mary Goode (5:40)
II. The Birth of Mary Goode (9:34)
6 Mary Goode
III. Mary Goode and the Dwarf of Dreams (4.08)
7 Joker (5.49)
8 Julie Lies (7:17)
9 Mary Goode
IIII. The Day that I Fall (11.36)
The opening track is 'A Twist in the Tale of Earth History',
this track starts with some spacey keyboards and a wailing guitar,
sounding a little similar to early Genesis, but it's not long before
a slightly heavier guitar and keyboard riff take over creating a
superb backdrop to Sue's excellent vocals. They're full of
emotion and powerful when theres a need to be. I suppose you could
say there is a slight similarity to Renaissance. Also contained
within the track are some sampled voices and lots of multiple keyboard
sequences. What a great opening track.
The next track is 'OLDMAN', this is a quieter track with
just a solo piano and Sue's vocals.
The third track 'Beneath The Boy', starts with some excellent
guitar work from Ian and after a while quietens down before
Sue's vocals come in. There's also some great keyboard's
from Mike. This track reminds me a little of Arena/Pendragon
especially some of the keyboard work.
The next track 'The Services Of Mary Goode' is split into
two parts. 'The Services of Mary Goode' and 'The
Birth of Mary Goode', this track starts with the opening
two bars from the hymn "To Be A Pilgrim" before some heavier guitar
work comes, this is followed by some excellent keyboards and a soaring
guitar. The track then quietens down to a church organ sound and
then Sue's vocals come in, but this time they are a little
softer until the chorus comes along then they become more powerful.
There's also some military style drumming and quite a few interchanges
of loud and quiter passages. The second part is more powerful with
lots of keyboard/guitar interchanges.
The sixth track 'The Services Of Mary Goode', part III 'Mary
Goode and the Dwarf Of Dreams', starts with some nice guitar
and atmospheric keyboards, wind effects and some fine percussion
which is followed by a solo piano and Sue's vocals.
The next track 'Joker', starts with a haunting melody, which
at the same time is kinda spacey too. This then flows into a Wakemanesque
type sound similar to what he was doing around his 'Journey to
the Centre of the Earth', 'King Arthur' period. The whole
thing then changes completely into more a gothic style, infact it's
quite difficult to describe what follows as it is quite unusual
although it does retain the haunting theme throughout even behind
Sue's excellent vocals. Theres also some excellent keyboards
and guitar work.
'Julie Lies', is a fairly mellow track with Sue's vocals being very
emotional.
The ninth and final track is 'The Services Of Mary Goode' part
IV ' The Day That I fall' and what a wonderful track
it is too. Starting with some soaring keyboards and a wailing guitar
which lasts just over a minute the track then quietens down and
Sue's vocals come in. Quiet verses, Loud and heavier chorus's
and it's a catchy chorus too. Infact the whole track is catchy with
some superb guitar and keyboard solos. Theres also some nice harmonies
towards the end of the track with an echo effect too and the keyboards
here remind me quite a bit of Wakeman.
Overall, well what can I say other than this is a brilliant album,
strong melodies, excellent musicainship and creative songwriting
producing in my mind one of the best progressive rock albums at
the start of 1999.
To be honest, I couldn't find any fault with this album at all and
i will certainly be playing 'The Services Of Mary Goode'
a lot in the near future.
This is one album I can highly recommend and is a must for all lovers
of Progrock.
Released by Gargoyle Records.
Website :http://www.janisonedge.com
Email : services@janisonedge.com
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