It might be easy to think of Eden Rose as simply a first version of famed French progressive band Sandrose. Both bands had the same musicians; both existed at nearly the same moment in time (c. 1970). But Eden Rose is now seen, quite rightly, as something unique, a chimera from the misty past, a time during which the winds of change were blowing on the fixed universe of music. Rules were blown away, stagnant structures were swept aside, and musical conventions emancipated, this freshness and spontaneity the essence of a style that hadn't yet been formalised. As for Eden Rose, they took off once they teamed up with guitarist extraordinaire Jean-Pierre Alarcen, who had worked with Jacques Dutronc and played in Le Systeme Crapoutchik. The result was this batch of psych-inspired, decidedly grooving, upbeat instrumental tracks, with wailing (at times) fuzzed-out guitar and distinguished Hammond organ aplenty, over driving beats. A unique sound, brilliant, bright, and singing from the first note to the last. And man, if my ears don't deceive me, the main theme from 'Walking In the Sea' (before it spins off into Jimi Hendrix territory) sure sounds like a lovely jazzy riff on Serge Gainsbourg's 'Je t'aime... moi non plus,' which had been released the year before this album hit the racks. Two bonus tracks are from the band's only single that contained non-LP tracks. Booklet has the band's story in English and French, and is printed on FSC recycled, chlorine-free, 100% post-consumer fiber paper manufactured using biogas energy.
