[Tracklist]
[Examples]
[Reviews]
|
|
Anodyne
[(medicine, drug) able to lessen pain;
able to give comfort to the mind]
„Life is distorted because everything is set straight, a
person has to operate according to the points and he is not allowed
to decide for himself. He makes life that way, by all that is said
to him and he doesn't even realize it at all. Those who have to
decide often have a deeply conservative view of life. The senses
often become surreal and estranged.”
Klaus Möllers/NEON DREAM
On their debut “Anodyne” Neon Dream deliver the Gothic
Rock from a arabesque ballast (ornate whimsical composition) and
confess without being too shy about their idols and roots in the
melodic Wave/Gothic of the 80s and 90s.
First of all The Sisters Of Mercy and The 69 Eyes would have stood
as godfather, when “Anodyne” was initiated. But with
all the obvious openness the album contains remarkable music and
significant diversity. Snapshots that paint in cold colors a subjective
picture of a civilization estranged from itself, captured in clear
structured and catchy songs. Portraitures of lonely heroes, who
are dreaming about an exciting life in the colorful neon-light,
but ultimately end up burning into ashes like moths, who came too
near to the sinister light.
The band themselves describe their sound as clear, powerful and
un-painted and this influences the five from Münster/Germany
to give freely to the fans at concerts. They understand the songs
very precise and epic likeness on the stage, as on their appearance
with CHRISTIAN DEATH, SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK, THE MERRY THOUGHTS or
CYAN also as on festivals like the WAVE & GOTIK TREFFEN in Leipzig/Germany.
With sampler contributions on the CD supplements for the magazines
ZILLO and GOTHIC and the far reaching distributed promotion samplers
“Ligeia's Death” and “Goth Is What You Make It
(Two)” add that to the positive reviews of their in advance
Maxi-CD “Overscreening”. NEON DREAM has produced a good
fertile soil for the undeniable success of their debut.
|
| [to top] |
|
Reviews:
Zillo:
Neon Dream - „Anodyne“
On their album “Anodyne” the German quintet Neon Dream
plays rectilinear gothic-rock. While many other bands are standing
in congestion on the gothic-metal highway, Neon Dream is going around
it skillfully through an escape into the past. In their compositions
the gothic-rock of the 80s and 90s is revived, but their sound is
not too old-fashioned but instead timeless and so they could find
a home in the hearts from all followers of traditional gothic-rock.
Neon Dream is concentrating their music on the essentials. They
don’t florid their sound, but instead reach the ear with reserved
and touching emotions in the way they play their instruments. Sure
they are influenced by The Sisters Of Mercy, but they are more than
just a copy. Singer Klaus succeeds in giving us his marked voice
in a very special note, that sprays a gothic-like aura around. Most
of the time Neon Dream are dancing the balladesque side of darkness,
knit melancholic impregnated gloomy songs. When they pick up with
metal, they don’t make it with clumsy riff-power but with
playful melodic-metal-accords. “Anodyne” – a retrospective
view looking forward! (Frank Rummeleit)
www.metal.de / www.wavegothic.de:
Neon Dream - „Anodyne“
When I hear Neon Dream I always ask myself, what happened with The
Merry Thoughts? Sure, Neon Dream can’t answer me this question
with their debut, but their singer has a timbre that reminds me
of that ultimate Sisters-clone. Neon dream can’t disown a
relationship to the Sisters, but there is more. They take the whole
goth rock-genre and work it up to a homogeneous working sound. Okay,
the modern elements aren’t really there, but the old-school
structures never sound stale. Only the song-writing quality from
Neon Dream could be better, sometimes the songs pass into nothing
and don’t catch on fire. But when this young formation continue
on its way, they could become better known as the trap-door to lost
Merry Thoughts at their best times. The basis for this does exist.
(Asmondeus / 20.06.2003)
www.darkheartmagazin.get.to/:
Neon Dream - „Anodyne“
Neon Dream new CD “Anodyne” is offering their best goth-rock
in the tradition of old masters like The Sisters Of Mercy and Fields
Of The Nephilim. The CD contains nine songs. The opener “Incoming/Neon
Dream” is a wonderful ballad between gloomy guitar-sounds,
strings and female heavenly voices in the background singing. “I’m
Ashes” – the main statement for the singer Klaus, brings
everything together for what the mood of this album has to offer.
The album contains nine songs and I recommend the following songs
to be played first: “Neon Dream” and “Overscreening”.
In Summary: a new hope for gothic-rock heaven.
Amboss Magazine (www.amboss-mag.de):
Neon Dream - „Anodyne“
And now they are going to scream again: blasphemy, copy, cliché.
But those exact people are the ones that are listening to this album
in secret, with a glass of wine wrapped in candlelight absorbed
in the nostalgia. The band from Munster Germany don’t deny
their roots, they combine it with heart and blood and with an orgy
on the stage that is full of feeling. Nine songs that are creeping,
gloomy and melancholic. They subdue themselves to far-reaching melodies,
but never the less are set with morbid elegance that indulge into
the darkness. Neon Dream play with the genre gothic-rock and skillfully
flow in a kind of pop appeal from time to time. Especially the calm
songs like the fascinating “Entrain” satisfy you with
a solemn elegance, that is all integrated into a slow rising tempo-curve.
The intro is like a musical clock that is the perfect entrance,
as the band is very playful throughout the whole album. With the
usage of a female voice from time to time they also reach a kind
of independence from their ideals. The dark voice of singer and
bass-player Klaus is not unlike than the voices of Andrew E. or
Jyrki, but he doesn’t try to be a clone, as he can thank his
good genes. Outstanding is the eight-minute long “Viable”,
which is for me a perfect fusion between “Faith” from
The Cure and “Reptile House” from the Sisters. It creeps
through the decades and could be a description for the first natural
born black rose. Darkness, depression and melancholy join to make
a unique soundtrack. Should gothic rock die at any time, Neon Dream
have produced enough stones for its monument. (Andreas)
Nocturnal-Hall.de:
Neon Dream - „Anodyne“
Once again I recognized that I don’t know my home land. Just
through a lucky chance I stumbled over the label-news from Équinoxe
(a small but fine gothic-label) and so found Neon Dream, who happen
to come from my hometown. With “Anodyne” the 1996 founded
band from Münster / Germany, that frankly seemed to be dead
and gone, after their debut. Now it’s again demonstrated that
with obstinacy you can make a progress. With nearly complete new
line-up they have entered into old virtues to make a wonderful gothic
rock album come out. In spite of a lot of guitars it is still really
calm and I then became really enthusiastic about it. Compared with
older songs they got away from the resemblance of The Sisters Of
Mercy and are now trying to find their own style. But discreet references
are still allowed. But I would put Neon Dream rather near to bands
like Love Like Blood, Funhouse or The Merry Thoughts and from the
voice to Dance Or Die. But they should renounce to voluntary comparisons
with The 69 Eyes, because “Anodyne” is on a much higher
quality level and not commercial, mainstream and not trashy at all.
But all the above called bands are a little bit more rock. Neon
Dream are more contemplative and introverted. But this mustn’t
be a disadvantage. The voice of singer Klaus has something erotic,
it creeps up and pleasantly seduces you to fall into the song completely.
Also my matter of taste are the melancholic but never obtrusive
lead-guitar parts and solos from Randy (who is one of the founder
of the legendary Pestilence and Sacrosanct). Only the vocals of
the female background-singer Sandra are not my cup of tea. Already
in the opener “Neon Dream” she seems to be out of place.
I don’t want to say that she can’t sing, she really
can. But she doesn’t fit with the rest of the music, she detracts
a little bit. Fortunately she doesn’t sing very often (beside
“Neon Dream” only on “If There Was A God”
and “Overscreening”). By the way, “Neon Dream”
besides that is a really catchy tune. And the title-track “Red
Light Anodyne” and especially “Entrain” are two
really fantastic songs and my personal favorites. Also the keyboards
are really positive, they are always mellow in the background and
useful for the songs diversity. After the very calm “If There
Was A God” and “Overscreening” there comes with
“Lilith” a really rocking bouncer at the end.
Looked through the whole album, the voice is sometimes a little
bit monotonous, because Klaus don’t work with it very much.
He don’t raise it very often or came to an energetic outbreak.
But all in all “Anodyne” is a really good debut with
a lot of atmosphere and soul, which is not only good for black souls.
(Calani / 7,5 out of 10 points)
|
