Odd but don't pass it by!
Andre' S Grindle | Bangor,ME. | 06/25/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"To me Passport have always been known for the artfullness of it's
musical style,whatever they may be.But none of the Passport albums I've heard sound anything alike and this being more so then others."Garden Of Eden" is a concept album veering from the
overtly bombastic to the extremely sutble-that's it's simplist
description."Big Bang","Gates Of Paradise" and "Children's Dance"
are the more "bomastic" cuts,the later barring a strong resemblance to Herbie Hancock's Headhunters band sound,the former
featuring one of the first examples on vocals on a Passport album,something that seems to lend this album detracters."Snake",
"Dreamware" and yet another vocal piece "Good Earth Smile" are
far slower pieces that come and go at just the right time before
they become tedious and boring-older Passport "slow" tunes had a problem with being overlong and dull.The tital suite has a very
pronounced new-age jazz feel,but it's minimalism,good use ofchoral synthesizers and most important it's brevity lend it a feel most closely associated with Stevie Wonder's "Secret Life Of
Plants" from the same year.This isn't typical Passport but it shows the band learning from the mistakes of it's past and trying
something new and more compelling.This is probably one of the last Passport albums a fan would want to pick up-I have many
others I'd recommend first because familiarity with the bands
earlier and even later music is somewhat important in making
the music on "Garden Of Eden" work."
" Not A Total Loss "
eggroll473 | North Las Vegas, Nevada USA | 06/15/2000
(2 out of 5 stars)
"This is one of those "Love it or hate it" Passport recordings that seemed as though it was caught between Jazz/Fusion and Disco. Originally released in 1978. I personally don't like too much of the vocalists featured on some of the Passport recordings over the years and this one is a real downer for me. However, the song "Dreamware" is the only palatable song on the whole disk. It seems as though it would be better suited for the album "Oceanliner". All in all not a good example of Klaus's genius but, it took a lot of guts to release such a risky album as this one, and proves that Klaus Doldinger is the boss of his music."
It has its moments
stiegel1 | Tarboro, NC | 08/08/2001
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I discovered Passport by raiding my dad's old vinyl stacks. Infinity Machine was my favorite because of Curt Cress's great drumming and the hypnotic Ostinato. One of the reasons I picked up this album later was the cover art. I still think it's their finest cover. A garden growing in a sardine can! That's wild!Unfortunately, all I had to do was read the credits to realize I probably wouldn't like this album. I noticed credits for vocals, and that was a big uh-oh. Vocal jazz tends to sound like one step away from muzak. The second uh-oh was the fact that the entire lineup, save for Doldinger, had changed. The most conspicuous absence, of course, is Cress.The instrumental tracks are pretty good. "Big Bang," the opener, is one of the best openers I've heard on any Passport album. The beat is a little too disco-influenced, but the main riff saves the song. The bass solo in the middle is very good. Sadly, the album goes downhill from there.The Garden of Eden suite is very weak. The vocals are even in English (from a German group)! They were obviously trying to reach out to the "lite adult contemporary" radio market. Perhaps it was a good move, in retrospect, because the exposure opened some people to the earlier albums with integrity.If I had to pick my second favorite song on here, it would be "Snake." It would be at home on Cross-Collateral. It's nice and soft, and Doldinger's synths sounds like a choir--no words, though.All in all, a mediocre album, but fairly poor after the high standards I had for Passport. One outstanding song (Big Bang), one good (Snake), and everything else fair to poor."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
