UNICORN - A Collection Of Worlds (Resurrection) Digi-CD

Progrock by Dan Swanö!

Issued in a 6-panel digisleeve.

Basic tracks recorded on 4-track cassette machine 1989/1990.
Lead vocals re-recorded in 2011.
Restored, remixed and remastered 2017.

I'll say this plainly at the beginning of my review: this, along with the sequel "A Collection of Worlds II", are the best releases by any band, ever. Nothing I've heard by the thousands of bands and artists I've checked out over a variety of genres has compared to the pure magic created by these demos. Where to begin?

The sound is spectacular for a home-recorded demo by a bunch of 16-18 year old kids. Everything is nice and clear, sounds clean and smooth. Now, the style of music on this record is not one that everyone can appreciate. I'd best describe it as poppy symphonic prog-rock. The variety of lyrical themes on here shows maturity beyond the years of these young musicians (from the poignant "Fly Eagle Fly" to the quirky "Mr. K Just Left the Circus"). The music is sometimes just as quirky as the lyrics, breaking into faster instrumental sections. Overall, the music conveys the emotion of the music, and the vocals show that Dan Swano was pretty well developed as a clean vocalist even before his time with Edge of Sanity.

This is probably my favourite demo release by any band, and it's hard to think of it as a demo rather than a short album because of the quality of sound recording and of the songwriting and performance. To sum it up in one word: WOW!