March 21, 1995 - The Edges Of Twilight

A week after my last release and two years since "Splendor Solis", The Tea Party released their third album "The Edges Of Twilight" on March 21, 1995. The Canadian rockers expanded on their style of adding "world music" to rock and all three members play some non-traditional rock instruments (including sitar, harmonium and goblet drums just to name a few!) This was also their mainstream breakthrough, so let's check out the latest from The Tea Party!

The album opens with it's lead single "Fire In The Head" and Jeff Martin plays a cool light guitar riff before singing a great verse in his epic voice. After the first bit Martin switches to a slower and heavier guitar riff that is pretty cool and catchy and Stuart Chatwood adds some bass while Jeff Burrows plays a slow and solid drum beat. It's a pretty cool main riff and verse and Martin speeds things up with a cool new guitar riff that finally takes us to the chorus where he alternates some nice yells with some epic singing. After another cool verse and chorus they hang in limbo for a second, then snap nicely into a final verse to finish off this pretty cool opener. The next song was also a succesful single and it's titled "The Bazaar". It has a cool Eastern-sounding opening with some nice percussion by Burrows, a smooth bassline by Chatwood and some sort of Eastern guitar by Martin. This opening segues nicely into a cool new riff with Martin leading the way with some cool, more regular guitar and the rhythm section nicely backing him. Martin starts up another solid verse with his epic voice and they nicely jam out a few verses. They return to the cool opening riff with Martin singing a new verse overtop that sounds pretty good and this leads perfectly back into the main riff for a final verse to finish things off. Track 3 is the seven and a half minute "Correspondences" and Martin plays some light guitar while Chatwood leads the way on piano with some slow but cool stuff. They segue nicely into the first verse as Martin sings a slow verse to match the sullen mood and Chatwood plays some more cool piano in the similar chorus. After another verse and chorus they nicely shift into a heavier version of the main riff with some loud guitars and Martin nicely yelling "'cause it tears me apart, my love". This leads to a light guitar solo by Martin and then they do it all again with a soft piano-led verse and chorus and back to the heavy riff once again. After some more "tear me apart"s Martin goes off on a longer, more complicated guitar solo and this one is filled with lots of cool guitar, including some nice faster bits. Chatwood then closes out the song with some final epic piano and Martin whispers one final "you tear me apart" to nicely end another solid song. Up next is "The Badger", an instrumental song that opens with some long violin notes before Martin comes in with a light but cool guitar riff. The violin stays in the background, but it's Martin who drives this song with some great acoustic guitar that sounds almost playful as he seems to effortlessly rattle off some fast notes and he does a great job carrying this song as it's pretty much one big solo! He does a great job of slowing down at the end and ends things very beautifully in this cool instrumental song. Track 5 is "Silence" and they kick right into a catchy stop-and-start riff before things shift for the verse. Martin plays some faster acoustic guitar and sings another epic verse overtop and inbetween each stanza we get another dose of the stop-and-start riff. Burrows plays some cool drums throughout this song and they never stray far from these two riffs, but they don't need to in this interesting and offbeat, short little tune. The next song is another single titled "Sister Awake" and Martin opens things with another quiet but cool guitar riff before singing quietly but nicely overtop. After a bit of this quiet opening the guitar speeds up and they shift into a cool Eastern-sounding part that is fast-paced and pretty sweet! This part nicely segues into another new riff where the Eastern influence is still very strong, but Martin leads a more typical rock verse and he sounds pretty good doing so. Burrows drums are pretty cool in this song as well and I think it must be Chatwood playing the Eastern-y noises, maybe on keyboards but I'm not sure. They jam out a few solid verses of this and things kick into another gear with a cool guitar riff and some louder singing culminating in Martin yelling the name of the song and he sounds pretty good. They proceed to close things out as it began with some quiet but cool guitar. Track 7 is "Turn The Lamp Down Low" and Martin plays a cool blues-y opening that reminds me a bit of some old Led Zeppelin. Burrows eventually comes in with a cool little drum beat, Chatwood plays a nice light bass riff and Martin continues to play some nice blues-y guitar while singing a nice low verse overtop. After several quiet but cool verses things shift very suddenly as Martin yells "baby please don't go!" and the guitar switches to some loud and pretty cool stuff. This louder part sounds pretty awesome and afterwards they play another verse, but Martin sings it much louder and it leads nicely into another round of this loud new riff. Burrows finishes the song off with a nice fast drum beat that sounds pretty cool and Martin'a final guitar note sounds pretty epic as well. Up next is the final single "Shadows On The Mountainside" and Martin leads the way with some light but solid guitar and he sings a soft verse to match the mood. The chorus is very similar and they jam this soft riff out for a bit until things take a slight turn. The background remains the same but Martin sings a new verse and plays some cool lead guitar to spice things up a little bit before they wrap up this alright but not great song. Track 9 is "Drawing Down The Moon" and Martin plays some pretty epic lead guitar as Chatwood and Burrows play a slow rhythm section. Martin is almost soloing at times in this pretty cool main riff and after an instrumental opening Martin sings the first verse overtop and he sounds good mixed with the epic, blues-y music. The second verse has Martin yelling louder and he sounds even better than before! After this great verse they move into a new chill riff with Chatwood playing some solid bass and Martin singing "stay with me" and still playing some pretty epic guitar. They alternate between the cool loud riff and this chill riff a couple times and they nicely end the song with a final loud riff with some epic bass and guitar to end this pretty sweet tune. The next track is "Inanna" and it has a slow and creepy opening with some strings of some kind that sets the stage for a slow and creepy main riff with Martin playing sitar and singing along to the music and things sounding pretty Eastern once again. I think it sounds pretty cool and things get louder and sound even more epic as they move into the next verse. Burrows loud drums signal a shift in the mood as they move to a louder and heavier riff that sounds pretty epic as well and Burrows also plays some cool percussion as things fadeaway at the end. Track 11 is "Coming Home" and Martin opens the song by himself with a pretty cool guitar riff that is fast-paced and sounds pretty awesome and it briefly shifts to an epic and loud band effort before Martin takes over with some more awesome guitar work in the first verse, all while singing in his typically epic voice. His guitar picking is phenomenal in this song though and the end of the verse ramps nicely into the chorus as Martin's "so alone" turns into "and that's why honey I'm coming home" and they nicely snap into a loud and epic chorus with Martin yelling nicely overtop. After another awesome verse and loud chorus Martin continues into a nice "oh yeah" bridge that takes us to solo time! Martin's solo is fairly slow, bit it still sounds pretty epic and then we pick up at the ramp part of the verse and it's right into a closing couple choruses before Martin ends the song as it began, by himself playing some pretty awesome guitar, a fine way to end this pretty awesome song. The final song on the album is "Walk With Me" and it's listed at over fourteen minutes, but this song is really about seven and a half minutes. It has a pretty trippy opening with lots of high pitched and strange noises and out of this Martin plays a cool light guitar riff to cue up the main riff. Burrows enters with an epic drum beat and Chatwood then joins in with  nice bass riff. Martin sings a soft verse overtop and the guitar becomes louder as they shift into the chorus. The chorus is a pretty good headbanger with Martin singing nicely and playing some cool guitar. They fall back into the quiet verse and after another loud chorus Martin takes off on a new guitar riff and then we hear some cool Eastern guitar in a short solo before things nicely fall back into the slow main riff, but with Martin adding some cool new guitar overtop. Burrows steps it up on drums and he and Martin both play some cool stuff as this riff builds and builds before nicely dissipating into the main riff. They play a final verse and a couple sweet choruses to finish things off and the song ends as it began with a bit of trippiness. After about 30 seconds of silence, a bonus track starts that lasts for the final six-plus minutes and it's actually the title track, "The Edges Of Twilight". Martin plays some slow and epic guitar but it's Chatwood who carries things with a slow but solid piano riff. This track features spoken word by Roy Harper and he speaks overtop this cool riff for an interesting take. This bonus song is really only about 2:15 and then we hear 4 minutes of silence before the final 17 seconds or so is a rough take of "Correspondences", as we hear Martin sing "you tear me apart". A very strange way to end the album, the bonus song was good but waiting 4 minutes for that is pretty lame.

That's the end of "The Edges Of Twilight" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album! The Tea Party brought in lots of different influences and for just three guys they play a lot of different and cool instruments. They're great when they're going slow and they're even better when they're rockin' out and Jeff Martin is yelling. He has such a great voice but he's also an excellent guitar player. I think this album surpasses "Splendor Solis" and I can't wait to see where The Tea Party go from here!