EDEN – Oblivion (Nick Workman of Vega)
Formed in the mid-2000’s, EDEN UK was another vehicle for Nick Workman to showcase his formidable vocal pipes which ultimately ended with him joining the Martin brothers to form VEGA. After KICK disbanded, Workman and guitarist Vince O’Regan (BOB CATLEY) started to give shape to this new band, EDEN, and released their debut CD in 2006.
For this second effort “Oblivion“, the band asked renowned Steve Newman (Newman) for helping with production, and to do the mix the album. The result is a hard rockin’ collection of songs with an 80s / 90s feel and updated sound which reminds a lot of HOUSE OF LORDS, plus a bit of WHITESNAKE, HEARTLAND, and NEWMAN, all with a certain edge.
This is riff-driven classic hard rock as heard on ‘Karma Coming’, ‘For Crying Out Loud’, and the racing ‘Can’t Slow Down’ including nice swirling keys complementing the riffs.
Opener, title track ‘Oblivion’, is quite different from the rest, originally written by O’Regan for Bob Catley, but finally used here for this Eden album.
The band add a pound of groove to numbers such as ‘Nothing and ‘Say That You Will’, while a more melodic hard rock side appears on the cool ‘New Tattoo’, the catchy ‘As Good As It Gets’, and the Americanized ‘I Don’t Do The Blue’.
Closer ‘High Enough’ is the only ballad here, of course with Workman’s voice on the spotlight, but in the mid-section gets heavier very close to JOHN SYKES or WHITESNAKE circa 1987.
“Oblivion” rocks with a classic hard rock feeling, strong vocals and riffs, and a punchy production. It’s a groovy and swaggerin’ record but at the same time melodic, with a generous load of hooks and huge choruses. Nick’s voice sounds stellar and Vince’s riffs / solos are top notch.
Highly Recommended
01 – Oblivion
02 – Nothing
03 – Karma Coming
04 – New Tattoo
05 – Higher
06 – As Good As It Gets
07 – Last Goodbye
08 – For Crying Out Loud
09 – I Don’t Do The Blue
10 – Say That You Will
11 – Can’t Slow Down
12 – High Enough
Nick Workman – Vocals
Vince O’Regan – Guitars
Al Mills – Bass
James Screaton – Keyboards, Guitar
Lynch Radinsky – Drums
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www.jamminrecordings.com/products/eden-oblivion
