Eden Burning were a popular Christian band from Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

 led by Paul Northup. They originally met as members of Charlton Kings

Charlton Kings

Charlton Kings is a suburb of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 coming into force on April 1, 1974, it had been an urban district...

 Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 church, and were active within the Christian music community between 1989 and 1996. Their style — a mixture of "folk and the odd grungy guitar flying around", as Northup once described it — influenced many other artists, such as the group Why?. The band's name refers to the Garden of Eden burning down after Satan claimed it as his own when Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for eating the forbidden fruit. ((See the book of Genesis))

During their time together the band recorded three studio albums. There was also a live album, Smilingly Home, recorded in front of their home crowd at what is now the University of Gloucestershire. Subsequently, to celebrate 20 years of the Greenbelt festival

Greenbelt festival

Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...

, the Christian music festival, they released a "Best of" album which is available from their website.

Paul Northup went on to play with Belljar, and later became general manager of Greenbelt Festivals Ltd.

Mirth and Matter (1994)

Track listing

1. Remember When
2. The Joust
3. Me Comfort Still
4. Sunrise (East of London)
5. Six Months On
6. Hey Diddle Diddle
7. Dependence Day
8. Forgive-Me-Not
9. Song For an Unknown God
10. Hem Me In

Brink (1996)

Track listing

1. Deep Blue Sea (3.06)
2. Movers and Shakers (4.06)
3. Stories (3.49)
4. Almost Spent (4.05)
5. Big Regret (2.53)
6. Desire Lines (4.36)
7. Another Country (4.13)
8. With a Kiss (3.34)
9. Wrap It Up (4.03)
10. Western Eyes (4.30)
11. Let Me Lose (7.26)

All songs by Eden Burning; all lyrics by Paul Northup.