Edhels Reviews

From: "willfred" <willfred@gte.net
A good Genesis-influenced band (actually more Steve Hackett influenced) is Edhels (on MUSEA) from France, whose album Still Dream is very good instrumental prog.

From: Derrick Beckner <dgb@psulias.psu.edu
Which of the many sides of Steve Hackett do they do? :)  Even after being a Genesis fan for years and years, Hackett's subtle atmospheres have only really started to sink in on me over the last few years, and of course with better sounding recordings finally bringing his under mixed guitar work out of the background. It's easy of course to be wowed by his featured solos on the Musical Box or Fountain of Salmacis, but real beauty is on his supporting roles on cuts like The Lamia, Mad Man Moon and Harlequin where his sorrowful strains really set the mood for the pieces. His solo work, what I've heard of it anyway, is very adventerous, but also incosistant, which comes with the territory I suppose.  His latest studio release, "Watcher of the Skies, Genesis Revisited" really is very "different" and has some real outstanding moments. My favorite is a orchastrated version of Firth of Fifth which kicks in with full electric on top of the symphony for the classic crescendo and solo. Fountain of Salmacis is done in a similar manner, and a real hip version of Los Endos. Features Bill Bruford, Chester Thompson, John Wetton, Ian McDonald, Tony Levin and the Royal Philharmonic. Has a few original tunes as well. The only real barker is Your Own Special Way, which I think was pretty awful the first time around, but was written by Mike Rutherford who took over lead guitar after Hackett left. I think he deliberately put this weak track on as a jab perhaps, as it really doesn't fit in at all. Is there a good web site where one could listen to some sound bytes of these bands and order CDs?

From: "willfred" <willfred@gte.net
Edhels music has a good deal of keyboards, but their music and guitars have a Spectral Mornings/Defector kind of sound (with a wee bit o' Fripp lurking about). A few issues ago Expose ran an interview with their guitarist Marc Ceccotti. And no I am not a shill for Expose, it is just that Expose is obtained fairly easily and provides much info. All the bands I mentioned are on MUSEA, just point your search engine in their direction (sorry, I don't have the URL handy). As for ordering, try Greg Walker at Syn-Phonic, he's a great guy. Or Doug Larsen, who is another wonderful supplier. Remember, try Edhel's Still Dream first, I think it comes the closest to Hackett and Co. If you want Genesis clones, there are quite a few....... just ask around this list.

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