Home Artist links Label link

Stephen Caudel - The Earth In Turqoise

Artist:	Stephen Caudel
Title:	The Earth In Turqoise
Label:	Dark Sea Records DSR1CD
Length(s):	52 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1996
Month of review:	04/1998

Line up

Stephen Caudel - all of it

Tracks

1)	The Earth In Turqoise	6.47
2)	Call Of Destiny	9.02
3)	Coronation	3.50
4)	Gargantuan	6.25
5)	Forbidden Love	5.34
6)	Dark Of Night	5.54
7)	Even Of Battle/Dawn	5.06
8)	A Legend Is Born	9.21

Try a sample of the album in MP3 or RealAudio

Summary

This guy has already released a number of albums and although he is often placed in the New Age/electronic corner I've been told that this impression is wrong. In fact he describes this album being in the style of a Rock Symphony.

The music

The title track opens the album. It is seemingly orchestral/classical. Of course, many of the instruments are synthetic, while the guitar is the central instrument on this album. In fact, this opening is quite good, despite the artificiality and especially the oboe and such sound quite good. I also like his warm style of guitar playing. As this album is also a concept album, based on the Arthur Saga, there are some recurring themes and they are also introduced here. In addition to the acoustic guitar that takes up most of the guitarwork on this track there's also some electric guitar, that remind me of Pendragon/Camel. Call Of Destiny is the next track and almost the longest. The sound of the music stays orchestral in this track, that might remind some of older Alan Parsons (Tales of Mystery and Imagination), but with slightly Arabic stylings. Themes of the first track return, and the music becomes a bit more up-tempo with more varied drums added, but as always quite a lot is going on and althought some parts remain constant throughout the track, the leading parts alternate between Spanish guitar/flute and electric guitar. As always I prefer more dynamic live drums, but it just can't be helped and it is not very disturbing. Like in the previous two tracks, the horn section of Coronation sounds quite unsynthetic to my (maybe not so) trained ears and again I like it a lot: very melodic, but not cliche or trite. Gargantuan is more of plodding rockish track with some acoustic additions and I admit liking the orchestral tracks a bit better. It is a bit of a mellow track, and again the drums are a bit tame and then one shouldn't be able to hear them well I think. The guitar work is good though, quite a long solo in here. The romantic Forbidden Love describes the love between Lancelot and Guinevere and since this was not happy one, one can expect a moody track and this is the case. As more often on this album the Spanish guitar takes the front. It's sound is warm, but it does call up visions of those New Agey acoustic guitar players. Dark Of Night is a little more menacing than the previous tracks, but still the music has at times a friendly quality. Eve of Battle/Dawn is a rather sad track in which I finally realise with what music I can compare this music: Agnus Dei by Janus. This song also has an epic quality, a warmth, although one might argue that Agnus Dei is the more powerful of the two, because the electric guitar is more often used there. The album closes with the longest track on the album A Legend Is Born in which the main theme is recaptured. After one of the more active parts on the CD, a strong guitar solo, the album ends slowly and peacefully as the body of Arthur disappears into the mist.

Conclusion

A very melodic and succesful attempt at capturing an orchestra in a synthetic way. On the whole, the album is rather peaceful and quiet, but there are some fiercer parts. References that come to mind are Gandalf, who also puts his guitar to good use, and Janus' terrific Agnus Dei. The drums are the only instruments that I feel should always be played live, since a machine often lacks a "groove". Of course, the music in this case is not meant to be groovy, but then the drums should be put in the back as often as possible. At least that's how I feel it. Do not however let this point of criticism prevent you from checking this out, especially if you like the music I just mentioned (and people liking Oldfield or Alan Parsons on his first album, might also be pleasantly surprised).