Reviews

German review
www.proggies.ch/magazine/index.php?name=Reviews&req=showcontent&id=356

Italian review
www.rock-impressions.com/sylvan2.htm

German super proggers Sylvan, has released a (first ever) live double cd. Which holds cd # 1: a performance of the entire “Posthumous Silence” album. Cd #2 : a kind of “best of” from the past 10 years of Sylvans great catalogue. I always thought, that a live performance, showed what a band/artist are made of. Can they pull it off ? Are they that good ? One thing is studio, another live!! Let me tell you right now, these guys are amazing!! I honestly think that their live rendition of “Posthumous Silence” are a notch better than the quite excellent studio album, which actually says it all!! In front of a lively crowd, these fine musicians live and breed every tune in this perfect live performance!!..
www.progplanet.com/index.php?categoryid=45&p2_articleid=702

French review
www.amarokprog.net/critiques_20827_200900.html

Italian review
www.kronic.it/artGet.aspx?aID=2&sID=16830

Italian review
www.metalloitaliano.it/Recensioni/dettaglio.php?id=628

German review
www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_9174.html#oben

...The first disc of the Leaving Backstage double CD includes the same, excellent live construction of Sylvan's Poshumous Silence album as the DVD, and it sure sounds good. The second disc has some of the group's best tracks from along the years, like ”Lost” with its heavy guitar and great chorus, the groovy and mid-tempo ”One Step Beyond” that brings to mind Porcupine Tree at times, the pretty exciting ”Deep Inside” that sounds a bit like Peter Gabriel's later output, the slow and sad ”When the Leaves Fall Down” that has programmed drums as well as some ballads. The album is finished with the massive and rather progressive ”Artificial Paradise” that has many different parts...
www.unimeri.com/PsychotropicZone/reviews.en.php?subaction=showfull&id=1215501247&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&

...The first CD spans the 15 track "Posthumous Silence" concept record, an engaging story of a father reading his apparently dead daughter's diary, where she shares her desperate journey through life. This also serves as the focal point of the DVD concert presentation - so I thoroughly investigated both the aural and visual components from work to home and back. The album flows from Pink Floyd-like keyboard and guitar layers of serenity in certain tracks like "Eternity Ends" or "Bequest Of Tears" through to heavier, much more vocal driven emotional terrain such as "In Chains" or "The Colors Chained" where you feel an appreciation for acts like Genesis and Marillion just as much as newer artists like Coldplay or Porcupine Tree. ..
www.imhotep.no/?did=9082046

German review
www.progressia.net/index.php4?rub=chroniques&idchronik=1582

Italian review
www.shapelesszine.com/recealbum/sylvan-posthumoussilencetheshowleavingbackstage.htm

...Listening to Leaving Backstage , I told myself that I sure would have liked to have been at that show, because it is excellent indeed. All the tracks are as good as can be expected from such a talented band. Marco Gluhmann 's singing is very close to the studio versions as possible, the musicianship is excellent and the recording lets you hear every note played. All the songs on the album are good, and even if I can think of a few songs I would have liked to hear, this would be nitpicking from myself. One only slight reservation I have with the CD, is that the band stayed pretty close to the original versions. In a concert setting, the power of the music and the atmosphere will easily compensate for this, but when listening to music in my living room, I like to hear some different twists and turns from a live album. A band like Genesis, on albums like Second's Out and Three Sides Live have really mastered this...
www.proggnosis.com/PGRelease.asp?RID=25163

...While I think they can do better in the studio, they’re smoking live. Performing Posthumous Silence and other selections on the proscenium, they proved to be technical and didn’t slip once. Choral arrangements, for instance, seemed to be seamlessly intertwined with pensive lyrics, keyboards and guitars. If Leaving Backstage doesn’t reflect what happened on this eve, their engineers and editors deserve a raise. Songs such as “Bequest of Tears”, “Bitter Symphony”, and “The Colors Changed” show how they can easily tenderize the music when they’re passionately playing with the raw material. Between the production and the delivery, what Sylvan serves here is filet mignon all the way...
usaprogmusic.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=28&review=196-Sylvan-Leaving-Backstage

...Although this 2 disc set isn't perfect, it still comes across as a release that can be recommended to many listeners. Fans of Sylvan will of course already have noted down the existence of this release, and fans of symphonic rock should take the time to check out this album too, in particular the live edition of "Posthumous Silence" covered on Disc I of this set. For people not aware of Sylvan, this release is a pretty good introduction to the band as well, as tunes from most of their studio albums are present.
www.progressor.net/review/sylvan_2008.html

Italian review
www.hardsounds.it/PUBLIC/recensione.php?id=4468

...Having said all of this, there are some groups of people to whom I would highly recommend this double live album. First of all, anybody that's curious about Sylvan and would like to sample their back catalogue. This collection features most of their best material and is therefore an excellent start! Even for people who already own Posthumous Silence but are not aware of the band's other stuff: go out and get this collection! You will not be disappointed by the songs on the second disc, which will be well worth the investment. For long time Sylvan fans: better spend your money on the DVD and keep your fingers crossed that the band will eventually release the second disc on DVD as well.
www.dprp.net/reviews/200840.php#sylvan

German review
www.metal-inside.de/frame.php?url=www.metal-inside.de/review.php?id=10024

French review
www.metalchroniques.fr/guppy/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=1754

German review
www.obliveon.de/pn-om/modules.php?op=modload&name=cdreviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=11933