Enid - Journey's End

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 4 / 9 / 2010

Label: Enidworks
Format: CD

intro

Powerful and orchestral rock on outstanding first album in ten years from 70's rock act, the Enid

The Enid were originally formed in 1974 and, despite numerous personnel changes and periods where the band didn’t exist at all, founding member Robert John Godfrey is still very much at the helm. Listening to ‘Journey’s End’ is like punk never happened. In fairness the Enid have never followed trends and seemed to have given scant regard to what their contemporaries have been doing through the years. They’ve always gone their own way and followed Godfrey’s vision. The long-term fans of the band will know exactly what to expect of ‘Journey’s End’. Six long pieces of symphonic or orchestral-rock is a much better description of what the Enid are about; those references to progressive rock are way off the mark for the most part and it really doesn’t do the band any justice. The problem with the Enid today is that the way music is listened to currently is so much different to the way it was when Godfrey abandoned a career as a concert pianist and began work as musical director with Barclay James Harvest. In those days it music lovers had the ability to stick with a certain piece of music for longer than 30 seconds. We had the time to sit and appreciate music without the distractions of text messages interrupting the flow of the music and without mobile phones suddenly jumping into life by playing some obscure, trashy song that its owner thinks we all should hear at deafening volume or without having our attention broken by the latest e-mail to pop into our inbox. As always the music the Enid make is music to be savoured, to lose yourself in and how many of us are able to do that in 2010, even if we want to? So it would be interesting to know just how many new fans the Enid pick-up with ‘Journey’s End’. Maybe it doesn’t bother the band as they have such a large, dedicated following who know what to expect from Godfrey and company by now and are quite happy to wait more than a decade for anything new from the band but sadly it does seem that the band will fail to capture any new fans simply because the music they make, while not heavy going by any means, does require the listener to do just that…listen. The longest piece of music on Journey’s End’ is ‘Malacandra’, and at thirteen minutes plus it’s a perfect example of just why so many music lovers do take the time to appreciate just how accomplished the band are musically and how they cover the whole spectrum of symphonic/orchestral/ art-rock so perfectly. They truly must be the only band around today who are not only still producing music so detailed and atmospheric as this but who are doing it without sounding even the slightest bit dated. But the band have always been forward-looking even if they seem to those who haven’t given the time to appreciate their music fully to be stuck in a time-warp. The Enid were the first band to fund their music with fan club contributions, something that Marillion later took all the credit for and bands like Radiohead are still keeping alive. Over a decade ago the band were, for a period of time at least, producing bespoke CDs for their fans. Just those two facts show that the Enid, despite the views of some, are hardly dinosaurs. ‘Journey’s End’ is one of the most powerful pieces of work that you are likely to hear all year. I couldn’t help but smile when I read in the press release that the band had "inspired the likes of Procul Harum (their spelling mistake not mine) and the Moody Blues." Maybe they should check some dates and if The Moodies ever produced a piece of work as powerful as ‘Journey’s End’ it’s yet to come this way. It’s a pointless exercise even trying to compare the work of the Enid to that of any other band. They are unique and there are very few bands we can say that about. With the accompanying informative booklet that comes with the CD this really is an outstanding release. As with the majority of the Enid’s work the best way to appreciate ‘Journey’s End’ is to stick the headphones on, lie back in a comfy chair and let the music flow over you. Just turn that bloody mobile off first.

Track Listing:-