Oblivion Reviews
 

After having released their debut album, “Open Minds”, through the now defunct Majestic Rock Records in 2006, British melodic hard rock band Eden are now finally back with their follow-up, which is called “Oblivion”.

As this is the first time I write something about the band, I would like to point you to the line-up of the band, in which we recognize some familiar faces, such as Nick Workman (ex-Kick) on vocals and Vince O’Regan (Kooga, No Sweat, Bob Catley, Pulse, Alibi) on guitars. I knew these guys were able to produce something far better than “Open Minds” and with “Oblivion” they demonstrate this. Everything is better now: the overall quality of the songs, the execution, the production … even the artwork. Opener and title song “Oblivion” sets the tone for a very agreeable hour of British melodic hard rock in the vein of the above-mentioned bands.

The songs I like most are the longest ones on offer: the title track (6:40), “The Last Goodbye” (6:31) and “High Enough” (7:14). With more songs like these three, “Oblivion” would have been a REAL killer. But like I said: “Oblivion” marks a big step forward for this five piece from the UK!

Chris Lambert rockreport.be

Eden return with their new album Oblivion, and we are treated to, as it happens, a rather nice hard melodic rock album. From it's opening you just have the gut feeling that this album might not be a stellar, album of the year candidate, but nevertheless, you are sure that what you are listening to is going to be a remarkably solid album from start to finish, and you're not going to be disappointed with a collection of weak tracks in the middle of the disc.

That's exactly what we've got.

From the opening bars of the albums opening - and title track - Oblivion, you're going to be listening to a band that has refined it's art, and knows what it's trying to achieve. The melodic side of the bands influences are obvious, but it's the way that they combine them with heavier influences that makes the difference. It's like listening to a heavier version of Journey who had been influenced by a solid upbringing in Iron Maiden.

Often with albums like this getting exposure outside of the melodic rock scene is going to be hard, but on 'Oblivion', Eden have the songs, the solos, and melodies to appeal to a wide audience.

The best of the lot though, is this album actually really does get better and better every time you listen to it.

Mike Elliot www.komodorock.com

Almost exactly two years since the release of their solid debut effort, Open Minds, Eden return with a new album and a new label in the form of Z Records. Still based around the core of vocalist Nick Workman (Kick) and guitarist Vince O'Regan (Pulse / Bob Catley), Eden recently completed the House of Lords tour with the new material being warmly received.

The title track starts off slowly with an Eastern themed intro, and it is a minute or so before the main riff kicks in and it develops into a hard-edged modern rocker. Following a slightly less convincing spoken section O’Regan lets loose with a solo and it makes for a reasonable enough opening. There is more of a groove to ‘Nothing’ with a sinister vocal from Workman and a thumping rhythm section. Despite showcasing another fine solo, ‘Kharma Coming’ doesn’t quite hit the mark with the main hook of “What goes around will come around” repeated way too often. The mean and moody ‘New Tattoo’ packs more of a punch and for the first time you can really start to appreciate the quality of Workman’s vocal which remains one of the most distinctive around the UK rock scene. This is the signal for the album to hit a purple patch with the anthemic ‘Higher’ and the hook filled ‘As Good As It Gets’.

The real stand-out moment, Last Goodbye’ finds the pace drop considerably as Eden head into power-ballad territory. A song dedicated to the late Ray Gillen, it is both sentimental and evocative, yet at the same time manages to avoid the obvious pitfalls. ‘Say That You Will’ (with its irritating fade out) and ‘I Don’t Do The Blues’ don’t have the same impact, but the pounding ‘Can’t Slow Down’ finds Workman sounding Dickenson-like on the galloping verses.

Just lacking in the consistency shown by its predecessor, Oblivion still compares well with the rest of what 2008 has had to offer so far. And if you liked Open Minds, then Oblivion will certainly not disappoint. A very welcome return for a band that really do deserve to be heard by a wider audience.

Dean Pedley www.hardrockhouse.com

Eden’s second album and a new label for the band focussed around Vince O’Regan (Alibi/Pulse/Bob Catley) and vocalist Nick Workman (Kick). Overall this album sees the band go for a heavier edge especially in the guitar riffs as can be heard on the title track opener. There are some cracking hard and mean rockers like ‘New Tattoo’ and ‘Higher’, both of which have big hook filled choruses. But there are a couple of pedestrian tunes like ‘I Don’t Do The Blues’ which despite some nice guitar lacks any real hook. Eden’s debut album hinted at TNT whereas this new album is more like fellow UK rockers Burn or latter day Pink Cream 69. The vocals of Nick Workman are as ever a joy to hear and on ‘As Good As It Gets’ he even sounds like a younger Bruce Dickinson!
A harder edged direction from the band which works in most cases and those who enjoyed their debut offering will certainly enjoy this follow-up.

Jason Ritchie www.getreadytorock.com

Open Minds Reviews
 

A new band formed around Bob Catley guitarist Vince O’Regan and Kick vocalist Nick Workman is not something to be scoffed at – and Eden are just that. This, their debut album, is exactly the anthology of work you’d expect it to be; an honest and fist-pumping collection of well-produced rockers, with some rollicking vocals to round it off nicely.

With one foot firmly rooted in the back catalogues of Free and Whitesnake and the other kicking loosely amongst the modern company of Roadstar and the Answer, this is a duo determined to stay true to their heroes without being out-flacked by the younger guns. The resultant record contains sizeable dollops of yesteryear’s spirit and yesterday’s spunk but without being anywhere as messy as that description might suggest!

 www.rocksomething.com

As most of you will know guitarist Vince O'Regan is the guitar player that Bob Catley call's on when he is in need of a six string gunslinger, so you may have thought that this album by his new band Eden would be along the line's of Mr Catley's work but oh no that is not the case . Eden are a much more in your face hard rock act, with a very Americanised feel to their style of rock, think of LA Sunset Strip kind of rock band' s circa the 80's but still with a foot firmly planted in British rock.

A big plus for this band is the vocals of ex Kick singer Nick Workman, whose performance is never short of fantastic and who help's to inject a sense of adventure into these song's. I have to tell you though that as much as I like this album there is really nothing new or original on it , that said track's such as Love / Hate, the funky Incomplete, or the fast paced rocker Coming Back For More are all at the top end of this style of rock and cannot be faulted in their execution by Eden.

As the album progresses the band give the song's a blusier English feel that suit's their track's very well and which begin's to remind me of Thunder ( always a good thing ). A small gripe though is that I would have liked a more varied approach to the song's which are all similarly paced and kind of need to have a few faster song's mixed in to space them a little, the quality of the track's really can't be faulted.

Summing up I would have to say that Eden have made a promising start and have all the tool's to make a killer second album, I for one will keep both eye's out for that and so should you.

Ian Johnson www.aordreamzones.com

Warning, we own a masterpiece ! This is the progressive hard-rock CD "Open Minds" of the english band Eden.
The track "Close Your Eyes" opens this new release. Since the first notes, the production is BRILLIANT !! Purely crazy ! The mix is so perfect that this release almost sounds like a Dream Theater album. More generally, everything sounds perfect in this album, not even the smallest bug. "Close Your Eyes" is played in a progressive hard-rock with powerful riffs. And this is only the beginning of the journey !

"Love/Hates" goes on in a still progressive style, maybe more rock than metal but very heady.
"Fools Parade" is a killer progressive hard-rock masterpiece. Listen to this song 3 or 4 times in loop and you'll be undoubtfully addict to it ! The chorus is really great, between funk and progressive styles.
Since the beginning of this CD, I feel as if Eden was very influenced by bands like Without Warning, Lemur Voice or Dream Theater. Proof is still given on "Incomplete".

On "How Far You Are", the influence of Dream Theater is omnipresent, the singer's voice is comparable to James Labrie, period "Falling Into Infinity". A great song between progressive and dancing rock. A huge respect to the technical level of each musician !
We expected one ballad on this CD. The time has come on "Back For More". Eden could have composed a song lacking of originality, this is not the case, "Back For More" is a pure beautiful progressive rock ballad.
On "All Fall Down", Eden shows its open-mindness via hendrixian riffs of the 70s.

To sum up, Eden, progressive hard-rock band and unfortunately unaware of the french audience, delivers us a new release that anyone should buy. All progressive fans from Genesis to Dream Theater will enjoy listening to this masterpiece.
A great surprise in 2006, "Open Minds" enters directly in the competition for the best CD of the year with Fate "V" and Fates Warning "Brother's Keeper".

www.auxportesdumetal.com

Vince O’Regan is one busy man! He produced and wrote for Bob Catley’s latest solo album, he has another band Alibi ready to release their new album on Escape Music and now we have Eden formed with Kick vocalist Nick Workman. Don’t expect an AOR/melodic rock album by numbers though as Eden have successfully added a real hard edge to their music whilst still keeping the melodies intact.

‘Close Your Eyes’ and ‘Chase the Sun’ have superb guitar riffs coupled with a very heavy rhythm section – not quite metal but near enough! The sought of tracks TNT are so good at when they are on form. ‘Fools Parade’ is quite simply one of the best tunes I have heard all year, from its anthemic chorus to the stunning harmony vocal section towards the end of the song. Again the guitars are high in the mix and riffing away. Only one ballad on the whole album and it is a good ‘un, ‘How Far Are You’ allows Nick Workman to take the spotlight.

One of the strongest debuts by a UK rock band in many a year and all the better as they seemed to have found that winning formula of having a big guitar sound without comprising the melodies. Hopefully Eden will prove to be a long term band and not just a one-off.

 Jason Ritchie www.getreadytorock.com

Eden - Open Minds Eden’s debut album Open Minds marks the collaboration of two of Britain’s leading players in the melodic rock scene, vocalist Nick Workman and guitarist Vince O’Regan. But for both of them this is a new, grittier sound and territory to explore.

Workman is the singer with Kick, the UK pop rockers who have toured with the likes of Thunder, Bonfire and Hard Rain.
O’Regan is a co-founder of melodic rockers Pulse and has also played in Kooga and No Sweat, as well as being Bob Catley’s guitarist on solo duty and working with former Double Cross singer Rick Chase in Alibi.

O’Regan and guitarist/keyboard player James Screaton play it hard and heavy, but get to vary things too. Close Your Eyes features a chugging insitent riff , while Incomplete starts off wth a Led Zep feel and Head’s Up has the power of a nuclear warhead. With a series of blistering solos from O'Regan I’m at times reminded of 21 Guns, the group formed by Scott Gorham after Thin Lizzy disintegrated.

Workman has a an unusual and unique qualtiy to his voice. Despite comparisons at times with the likes of Geoff Tate and Bruce Dickinson, he can mix and match his styles as required, sneering and dirty in Coming Back For More, rhythmically insistent in On A Day Like Today and dreamlike in the one power ballad How Far You Are.

The whole CD features an intriguing way with harmony vocals, rarely going for obvious combinations. This is highlighted most in the punchy Chase The Sun and my personal favourite, Fools Parade. The first four of its six-plus minutes sees guitars and keyboards trade places over an insistent drumbeat until the four-minute mark when it takes a sudden turn into a new and mysterious territory, slowing down until a ghostly choir murmers and pulses in the background, sending a shiver down the spine.

When they played at the Little Civic in Wolverhampton shortly after the album's launch, Eden included Neon Nights, a keyboard-led track which only appears on the Japanese version of the CD. But with new songs already in the pipeline for the follow-up album it perhaps hints at the direction the band might be heading in after this superb start.

Rockblogger

Live Reviews

It's only a few weeks since Midlands rockers Eden launched their hot debut album Open Minds with a gig at Stourbridge Rock Cafe 2000 but singer Nick Workman is a little worried. "Nobody's known the words so far, but now the album's out I've got to get them right," he jokes.

Open Minds is sixty minutes of rock that is melodic but isn't "melodic rock" in the AOR sense of the words - it's grittier than that, more earthy. (More to follow in a full review on the CDs page soon) The European release is 11 songs long but - as it often the case - the Japanese version has a bonus track, as we're going to discover tonight.

Debs and I have arranged to meet Nick before the gig kicks off, but standing at the bar it's guitarist Vince O'Regan we spot first. Vince is one of those people who seems to cram the equivalent of two or three lives into everyone else's one, running KRT recording studio in Wolverhampton, recording and performing with Magnum's Bob Catley and providing the six-string ammunition for two bands, Eden and Alibi. All this and a day job and a family. How does he do it?

Nick soon appears and Vince calls him over to introduce him to us (we've previously only spoken on the phone). Nick has a fair following of his own from his time in Kick, while Vince also counts a stint in Pulse on his rock CV.

Gig time is soon approaching so both take their leave. A short time later, and with little ado, all five band members take their places on the tiny stage at the Little Civic and kick straight into a thunderous Heads Up.

Vince, as usual looks utterly at home on the stage, wielding his black Les Paul and sporting a menacing looking skull cap. Bassist Alan Mills looks like he's having a great time and Nick Workman has a sort of relaxed intensity about him, the body language very assured but the eyes sharp and direct. He's also got quite a voice, reminding Debs and I of various singers from Bruce Dickinson, and Rob Halford to Geoff Tate, but in general more restrained than that illustrious trio.

For the next hour or so we basically get the album on random play. Fool's Parade ("A song about not being able to say or do the right thing") weaves a particular, mysterious power throughout its six minutes, most notably in the closing stages where the band's vocal harmonies are ghostly and unearthly. I was wondering if they'd be able to get close to the recorded version but they have no problem at all.
Chase The Sun, which is Debs' favourite track, has an intensity and insistence which can't be ignored, while How Far You Are is a ballad with balls. Their sound mix is spot on all night, with Paul Rodgers' (no, not that one!) drums thundering through. The place is blistering hot, coming during a rare British heatwave. Copious amounts of water are being drunk on stage - and copious amounts of beer offstage.

The big surprise of the night is Neon Nights, the Japanese bonus track from Open Minds. Although James Screaton has been swopping between guitar and keyboards all night, his synth has largely played a supporting role until now. But the sound on Neon Nights is quite different and keyboard led. It's relentlessly catchy too, so after the gig we're instantly pestering the guys for a copy of the song.
Eden have already got a spot on the Z Rock mini festival at JB's Dudley on September 24, plus Bloodstock the night before. There are also ambitious plans for appearances next year plus songs for the next album are already in the pipeline.

rockblogger

On one of the hottest nights of the year The Little Civic would not be your ideal venue of choice. A less than spacious upstairs room with a distinct lack of air-conditioning and ventilation it is the “spit and sawdust” younger brother of the Civic and Wulfrun Halls. There is barely room on the cluttered stage for the young five-piece support band Undefined yet the vocalist still manages to find enough space to stomp around in a sweat-soaked 30 minute set. There are definite Rage Against The Machine and Chili Pepper influences and, aside from the ‘Cookie Monster’ vocals of the closing track, they make for an entertaining and energetic start to proceedings.

Despite being formed around the nucleus of Kick vocalist Nick Workman and Pulse / Bob Catley guitarist Vince O’Regan, Eden are definitely on the harder side of Melodic Rock. Their 65 minute set consists of a run through of (almost) all of guitar-driven debut album ‘Open Minds’ (see CD reviews) and they also offer up Japanese bonus track ‘Neon Lights’ for a small yet appreciative crowd.

Eden display a maturity that belies the fact this is only their 3rd gig proper and seem comfortable from the start; safe in the knowledge that they are promoting a fine set of songs. This is a no-frills performance of British Hard Rock with no extended solos or jams, ensuring that the pace of the set is consistent throughout. Anyone familiar with Nick’s vocals on Kick’s three albums will already know that he has an excellent voice; never having seen him in the live setting I wasn’t aware until now that he is also a fine frontman. With a delivery that is both powerful and harmonious this is a quality display, even in the confines of a venue such as this. His songwriting partnership with Vince looks like it will be a winning combination and they have already established an on-stage chemistry. I have seen Vince a number of times with Bob Catley and he now finds himself in the position of being Bob’s right hand man. The Eden material gives him more of an opportunity to cut loose and he seems to be having a great time, throwing all of the right poses and postures with a wide grin.

The rest of the band; bassist Al Mills, drummer Paul Rodgers and James Screaton on keyboards and additional guitar, seem content to remain very much in the background (in fact Rodgers is almost invisible at the back of the tiny stage). That said, they all perform competently enough, although will perhaps need to play a bigger part in terms of interacting with the crowd when Eden play to larger audiences. The backing vocals are an area that could do with some work, although the fact that they lacked clarity may have been more down to the venue rather than the performers.
Highlights for me are ‘Fools Parade’, a solid rock anthem in waiting, ‘How Far You Are’, the one real ballad on the album, and the groove-heavy ‘On A Day Like Today’. Nick tells me after the gig that the band are thinking of dropping this one but hopefully they will reconsider – it’s a winner!

All in all – and despite the heat - a great night out. Eden have made an impressive start to their career and, if they can pick up a support tour, will have a good chance of converting more potential listeners.
Eden have some high profile gigs lined up in September with appearances at Z Rock II and Bloodstock –

Hardrockhouse

Eden who are led by two towering names in British rock firstly the mighty Vince ‘Dodgy’ O’Regan on guitars and former Kick front man the powerhouse vocalist Nick Workman, they are joined by Al Mill on bass, Paul Rodgers on drums and completing the line-up James Screaton on guitars and keyboards.

Now if you're expecting something along the lines of the Pulse or Alibi material that Vince has been involved with before, then your in for a hell of surprise as Eden are about to knock down the walls of paradise with their riff enthuse hard rock. They got the ball rolling with ‘Heads Up’ taken from the bands debut album ‘Open Minds’ and from the off they set out their stall to rock the very rafters of The Gasworks as Vince just spewed out some fantastic guitar work and with Workman as the perfect partner with his powerful yet melodic vocals, I knew we were in for a hell of a set.

The band went straight into the second song of the set ‘Coming Back For More’ without giving us a chance to catch our breath. This was another full on hard rock assault with O'Regan just superb and at his most comfortable that I have ever seen him, this is definitely his forte.

It was time to hear something off the band forthcoming release ‘Karma Coming’, this was the ballsy rocker ‘For Crying Out Loud’ with Workman showing what a terrific vocalist he really is and with O'Regan at his most riff-tastic this pair are a match made in rock heaven.

Things just went from strength to strength with the title track off the new album ‘Karma Coming’, a more bluesy affair this time but still retaining that hard edge this is the band that O'Regan’s guitar style has been crying out for. They did manage to bring it down a touch with ‘The Last Goodbye’ while retaining that edge to remind us of the real venom that the band can produce.

Then after a quick tune up O'Regan is ready to rock once more and really goes to town on ‘Higher’, then we come to one of the many highlights of the set with the fantastic anthemic tones of ‘Fools Parade’. This is just a magnificent song that encapsulates the vocals of Workman to great effect and takes me back to his Kick days, this is just a short rest bite as its back to the meatier material with ‘I’m Nothing’ and ‘Love/Hate’ which Workman informs us was in fact the first song they wrote as a band.

As the set was coming to a close it was time for another from the forthcoming album 'Karma Coming', this time a really ballsy rocker entitled ‘Can't Slow Down’, before ending a great set with ‘Neon Lights’ with its definite Eastern feel. This was a great night and well worth the trip down and I would say that Eden could be the saviours that British Hard Rock scene has been crying out for and would definitely travel to see them again, as should any fans of good honest no nonsense Rock.