Like Wendy - Summer In Eden


Year of Release: 2002
Label: LaBraD'Or Records
Catalog Number: LBD 040012
Format: CD
Total Time: 63:55:00

It's been debated by Prog Purists whether in fact Like Wendy is more pop than prog, though there's never been any disagreement over the quality of the music. I was in Barcelona in a prog only CD store (PAN Y MUSICA) when I noticed the cool, Genesis-Trespass era cover of Tales Of Moonlight Bay. The CD was playing and it was nice. I immediately bought it. Though neo in some respects, the textures and gentleness of the music is more a throw back to those mystical, beautiful moments of the softer side of early Genesis. Like Wendy is essentially a one man band - Bert Neinen who plays everything but the drums. His quitar work is nuanced - like Steve Hackett's - and powerful in its subtlety. Keys are used a lot in a symphonic vein, never really taking over a song, yet always layering and supporting it. It's pointless to talk about individual songs because Like Wendy has never done a bad song in its four albums. The first 4 are stupendous in their variation and melody, yet all that follows is interesting and varied as well. Like Wendy's sound is easily identifiable and there is a tendency for mid-tempo pastoral and melodically inspired tunes, without the dynamics of Gabriel-era Genesis. However, the songs don't bleed together like a lot of other Neo Prog bands tend to do. There's a diversity that keeps you craving for more, even after the CD's 65 odd minutes of music. If you've never heard Like Wendy, now is the time. The last two albums have been nothing short of perfect, and when you're talking about over an hour of music, that's incredible value.


Tracklisting:
Flame Of Life (6:12) / Eden (7:36) / Black Hole (6:26) / Aerosols (5:06), One Last Breath (8:03) / Inferno (5:55) / Sorry For The Codeïne (4:03) / Holy Ground (11:07) / Cathedral (7:18) / hidden track (2:12)

Musicians:
Bert Heinen - vocals, guitars, keyboards
Marien - drums, keyboards, vocals

Discography:
The Storm Inside (1998)
Rainchild (1999)
Tales From Moonlit Bay (2000)
Summer In Eden (2002)
Endgame (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin NL

Added: July 16th 2002
Reviewer: RIPZ

Artist website: www.likewendy.nl
Hits: 2185
Language: english

  

[ Back to Reviews Index | Post Comment ]