Enchant - Juggling 9 or Dropping 10



1. Paint The Picture (7:03); 2. Rough Draft (6:14); 3. What to Say (4:19); 4. Bite My Tounge (5:41); 5. Colors Fade (5:25); 6. Juggling Knives (5:03) 7. Black Eyes & Broken Glass (4:33) 8. Elyse (5:47) 9. Shell Of A Man (6:01) 10. Broken Wave (5:23) 11. Traces (7:19) 12. Know That (1:27)

Total Running Time: 68:15



Enchant has been quite an interesting band during its last few albums, as its members have opted for pursuing considerably different musical environments within a center of focus that is unique to the group. This decision to adapt outside influences to the group's style was especially evident on Break, the outside influences at that time being grunge. This time around, however, Enchant delights itself in serving us quite a different platter: pop. And while the results reach levels of unprecedented genius at times, they also stumble at others.

"Paint the Picture" starts the album off with a synthesizer section that is too strongly reminiscent of Rush's "Xanadu," but after a few seconds pass by, it becomes obvious that guitarist/producer/jack-of-many-trades Douglas Ott and company aren't trying to emulate the sound of the legendary Canadian ensemble, but rather attempting to assemble a coherent sound with bits and pieces of bands like The Police and other similar classic pop acts (as well as more contemporary items) and the progressive segments that the band has always used as a focal point. Here's the good side: Ted Leonard's voice is beautifully adapted to this stylistic approach, and thus elevates the sweetly intense "Elyse" and the dramatic "What To Say" to wondrous heights of emotional impact. Moreover, there's an intensity and quirkiness to "Shell of a Man" that, despite its uncommon penchant for slightly humorous melodies and beats, draws a tragically beautiful lyrical ending at the end and nearly sends one into fits of crying.

Here's the bad one: The band fails just as much as it succeeds, which means half the album is really good and the rest is pretty much throw-away, like the unmemorable smothering atmosphere of "Rough Draft" or the sing-along niceties of "Colors Fade." But when it does work, it's a melodic Enchant capable of adding a progressive hue to delectable pop melodies and harmonies, so that "Juggling Knives" jumps from clumsy bass tomfoolery to desperate vocal lines in a flash and "Traces" moves with ease from its jazzy intro to accessible soundscapes of picturesque beauty that slowly surround the listener in a gradually growing progression. Call it progressive pop, if you will. And if the members of Enchant keep following this direction and using amusingly surprising tricks such as what the band calls its "tango" section on "Bite My Tongue" (that's not tango, though), it might just be that they hit the spot to finally make it big.

-by Marcelo Silveyra

back to top