3.5 stars... Uneven return from K's Choice
Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 04/14/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"K's Choice, the band founded by siblings Sarah and Geert Bettens, and one of Belgium's best bands ever, went on an indefinite hiatus in 2002 after a brilliant 10 year run, punctuated by the band's US break-out hit in 1995 "Not An Addict". Since the hiatus, Sarah Bettens released a couple of interesting solo-albums, but last summer the band finally got together again for some touring and announced they would make a new album. Now finally comes the new album.
"Echo Mountain" (2 CDs; 15 tracks including a bonus track; 54 min.) is a curious affair on many levels, and I say this as a fan from the first hour (and as a Belgian). CD1 (7 tracks; 26 min.) is the "up-tempo" CD. I put up-tempo in quotes because the songs are mostly power-ballads to my ear, with a couple of exception, in particular the title track (a reference to the studio in NC where the album was recorded) and best of all, the all too short (2'30") "I Will Carry You". I rate CD1 3 stars. CD2 (8 tracks; 28 min.) is the "soft" CD, which brings a great collection of reflective songs, none better than "16", in which Sarah pines over youth lost. The closer "How Simple It Can Be" is another great song. The version of this album (which I got via a buddy in Belgium) contains a bonus track "Show Me How It's Done", also quite nice. I find myself playing CD2 much more than CD1. I rate CD2 a solid 4 stars.
In all, a rather uneven return from K's Choice, and nowhere near their peak output from the mid/late 90s. And can someone please explain to me why this album is issued on 2 CDs, when it simply could've been done on a single CD (just seperate the 2 song cycles by a 30 sec. silence or something). But I'm glad to see the band back together, and I hope they will continue at it. They have a heavy tour schedule coming up in Europe (obviously their strongest fan-base). But here's hoping that they'll cross the pond and tour here too. Sarah, after all, has made the US her permanent home for many years now (in Tennessee)."
