| Ever Since | 1993 |
| Emotional Wasteland | 1995 |
According to Dan Swano, this is his ‘real’ band, with all of the other just being side projects. Strange thing, since his Unicorn work is among the most difficult to find.
--Robert Grazer
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: At The End Of The Bridge, Hiding Again, The Sorrow Song, Suddenly, The Boy And The Impossible. LOW POINTS: Waterfall.
You’d think that with a name like Emotional Wasteland the music here would be a whole lot more depressing than it actually is, and I’ve yet to decide whether or not this is truly a good thing. Naturally with Swano involved, this is going to be one of the most melodic albums out there, but in comparison with his mind-blowing Nightingale project, I’m not entirely sure how highly I can rate this. I mean, there’s a bad song on here. No kidding. A non-Edge of Sanity Dan Swano project with a bad song on it. “Waterfall” has some promising moments, but is completely ruined by the ridiculous chorus, certainly nothing for any artist, particularly one of Swano’s caliber, to be proud of.
Other songs may not be so much bad as they are out of place, in particular the opening title track. It’s a happy, upbeat track, which doesn’t reflect the mood that the song’s title would suggest. It came as quite a shock to me the first time I listened to it, and even now I still feel uncomfortable listening to it. Even so, it does have a catchy and memorable riff, and it is a good song, but it was an indication that Emotional Wasteland would not be the intensely sorrowful and depressing album that I had expected it to be.
But there are plenty of truly great songs on here as well, and still plenty that have the depressing mood that I had expected. “The Sorrow Song” really does reflect its title, which in this case is a good thing. Even though it’s quite short, “The Spring” is an interesting little instrumental on the acoustic guitar, not exactly what I’d expect here, but I’m not complaining. “The Boy And The Impossible” has a very pretty intro, and turns into another fairly upbeat entry to the album, but I don’t much mind. Particularly when the melody is as strong as it is. It’s also one of the only places on the album when accompanying female vocals actually work, adding to the song overall.
And the epic “Hiding Again” is an overall success, despite beginning with a piano line a wee bit too similar to Pink Floyd’s classic “The Great Gig In The Sky,” is truly interesting throughout its nine minutes. The female vocals toward the end are a tad too much, but the strength of the song (and Sawno’s vocals, of course) more than make up for it. “After Before,” which closes the album, also goes slightly over-the-top with the saxophone, but it’s only a minor part of the song and can be easily ignored. The spoken word samples toward the end bring the song to a melodic climax, making it a solid closing to the album.
The finest moment on the album, though, and a song that turned out to have the depressing mood I had expected (following the title track, perhaps one of the reasons I enjoy it so much) is the longing “At The End of the Bridge.” It contains some of the best vocal work Swano has ever delivered, a strong, dramatic melody, and an incredibly well-done atmosphere. Alone it makes the album a worthwhile listen, pretty much making up for all of the flaws here by itself. So overall I’d say that if you’re looking for non-metal Swano, Nightingale should definitely be your first stop and, if you need more after those, then try Unicorn out, and you shouldn’t be very disappointed at all. I’ll give it a low 8, since even though I had expected slightly more than what I got, I can’t deny this albums many fine qualities. Even so, Swano fans should track this down, even if only for the classic “At The End of the Bridge.”
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