CD Review by Doug Cornell

I didn't have any expectations for this album.  Come on, Dreams?  If a band can't be more creative than that, then why should they expect me to invest precious time listening to them?

Well, I was wrong.

Evermore, a trio of home-schooled brothers from New Zealand, have created one of the most melodically beautiful albums of this decade.  Dreams is actually a sort of a concept album, with the songs covering one night's dream sequence.  This album has been compared to Pink Floyd's masterpiece Dark Side of the Moon, which isn't really accurate, because Evermore sound more like a well-produced version of early U2 or more recently, Muse.  A couple of tracks do hint at the Floyd sound - there's a ringing alarm clock and some heart-beats here and there, but for the most part, Dreams is a lush guitar/keyboards/percussion rock album.

Opening with the quietly beautiful instrumental, "Dreaming...Part 1," you get a sense that this is going to be a special album.  Acoustic guitar is accompanied by cleverly orchestrated keyboards and sound effects, then the alarm clock rings.  Suddenly you are presented with the stunning keyboard intro to "It's Too Late."  This is the sort of intro that you'll hear in a Volkswagen commercial and wonder who the band is.  The vocals by eldest brother Jon Hume are pleasantly understated until the chorus, which sounds more than a little bit like Bono.

Next up is the ballad, "The Unavoidable Thing Between Us," which demonstrates the sort of richness evident in David Gray's music, with strings, acoustic guitars, and vocals combining to create a very pleasant form of modern pop/rock music that eventually winds up as a striking power ballad when the band cuts loose during the final minute or so.  "For One Day" is the sort of tune that demands attention, as it transforms from steady acoustic strumming to full-on rock guitar during the powerful chorus.  A brief piano ballad, "Dreaming...Part 2" segues into "Are You Satisfied?", which features an Edge-inspired guitar intro that smartly disintegrates into a subtle acoustic/singing verse before a hooky vocal/keyboard melody is allowed to soar over the top of the mix. Props to Dann, the youngest of the brothers, for his excellent drumming on this track, and to Peter, who's keyboards are subtly beautiful throughout the album.

Dreams continues with more satisfying music.  There's straight-ahead modern rock ("Come to Nothing"), acoustic balladry ("Dreams Call Out to Me"), orchestral lushness ("Without Your Smile"), and a snippet of Pink Floyd's The Wall introduces the rocker "Into the Ocean (Calling You)."  The chorus of "Know It's True" is not to be missed - it latches onto the listener's brain with a tenacity rarely found in modern music.

Hopefully, Evermore will continue to innovate their style as they will inevitably find a world-wide audience.  We'll be hearing a lot from these brothers over the next few years.