Anekdoten ~ Sweden

Until All the Ghosts Are Gone (2015)

---7/15/22

This was in the weed out stack, but I remain undecided, hence its placement here. Not good enough (yet) for a feature, but also not on the passenger list for the next bus out. On the one hand I really like the return to their analog 70s roots. On the other, I'm not too keen on them continuing with that modern post rock / alt rock style of song that turned me off from their post-Nucleus works. At first the latter was winning the battle of my mind and I was looking for a price point to sell. But it started to win me back as the album progressed. A second listen had similar results. There's a lot of great material here for sure. Love the cover too.

---11/8/23

Last night's listen was more positive from top to bottom. Perhaps I haven't been listening to as much "retro prog" as prior, so I warmed up quickly to it. Or I'm getting more nostalgic as every year goes by (probably). There's more than a nod here to Vemod, and maybe this is the album that closes the circle for Anekdoten. 

I see they're still around, posting here and there, but nothing indicating they're pining to get together in the studio as a group for another go. Not sure they need to really. Whatever this collective group of minds has to offer, they've managed to successfully release those ideas over a 22 year timespan. I wrote extensively about my experience with Anekdoten on the Vemod review - anything else will be repetitive. 

Ownership: 2015 Virta (CD). Tri-fold digipak. 

5/24/15 (acquired); 7/15/22 (review); 11/8/23 (update)

Vemod (1993)

I suppose if one is to review Vemod properly, they must mention it sounds like King Crimson’s Red, and then you can move on to your main point, if there even is one to move on to (don’t get me started on this Starcastle thing again). Of course when Vemod was first released in 1993, the excitement level was very high for the new album. Anekdoten were the other band from Sweden that had all of us in a swoon at the time. Presumably I don’t need to divulge the name of that other group. Whatever the case, some of my friends were quick to declare Anekdoten as the better outfit. I never agreed with that, but basically we’re talking varying degrees of what a 5 star album is. In Gnosisland we would characterize the two as distinguishing between a 13 and a 14. And while King Crimson entered my mind on first impact, it wasn’t all encompassing. I don’t recall King Crimson having a Swedish folkloric underpinning for example. Vocalist Jan Erik Liljeström possesses a softer, more gentle tone than John Wetton’s matter of fact singing approach. There's cello instead of violin. The driving woody bass is more from the Yes school, and then there’s the mellotron. Bassoon tapes anyone? When guitarist Niklas Berg begins his riffing, and then OK yes, Larks' Tongues in Starless Red does come to mind. No doubt Anekdoten themselves will freely admit the influence, especially from a compositional structure perspective. Many modern bands are, and forever will be, influenced by the almighty King Fripp, just as King Crimson were influenced by the classical masters of the past. There’s so much on Vemod to digest, that simple comparisons aren’t going to do it justice. I’ve now owned this album going on 24 years (hard to believe isn’t it? Seems like it was new last week.). And I will say it still raises the hair on the back of my neck.

So you’re damn right it’s stood the test of time.

Ownership: 

1994 Colours (LP). Gatefold. 

1995 Arcangelo (CD). Includes a very important 10 minute 'Sad Rain' track which is as good, if not better, than anything else on the album.

1993 (CD first acquired); 1994 (LP acquired); 1995 (CD upgrade); 3/5/17 (review)

Also own and need to review Nucleus

Also once owned: From Within; Gravity; A Time of Day

3/5/17 (new entry)