Word: albums
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...percussion artists of the Blue Man Group have translated their widely-acclaimed stage show into a purely musical experience. Audio may rely on a high-quality recording to recreate the dynamic of a live performance, but it often fails to match the intensity of group's multimedia theatrics. The album opens with the power of ringing guitars and tight percussion assaults which combine to form an exciting, tension-filled narrative. Hollow echoes and vivid peaks evoke images of creation and destruction, and tracks like "Rods and Cones" and "Drumbone" will appeal to the electronic sensibilities of any Lansdowne Street patron...
However, the album stagnates near the middle, as the music evidently takes a back seat to the visually-oriented stage show. Too often, the repetitive themes are played out ad nauseam, many times ending in anticlimactic crescendos. The most successful piece is the epic "Klein Mandelbrot," which conveys a kinetic sense of flux. Moments like this are effective due to their innovation in combining percussion and electronic music with more conventional instruments. But while the album presents an unusual sonic experience, it is unlikely to impress listeners searching for the excitement of a live Blue Man Group performance...
...sticker on the cover of You Are Here labels Cary Pierce as co-founder of Jackopierce, but it would be a mistake to use Pierce's former title to define his debut solo album. On You Are Here, Pierce eschews his college cult status in favor of straight-from-the-heart acoustic-based rockers. The album crunches into its opening track, "The Best Thing," with a funky ferocity that nevertheless shows off Pierce's soulful voice and harmonics, while "Transatlantic" is a true tear-the-top-off rocker. There are quieter moments as well: with the assistance of hometown friend...
...wrap his voice around a romantic lyric arguably ranked him near Elvis, Sinatra and Lady Day, the pop balladeer (and jazz pianist) Nat King Cole is unfortunately perhaps best remembered today as Natalie's dad. Epstein's insightful new book--best read while listening to Cole's rereleased album The Christmas Song--should remedy things. The biographer sometimes digs too deep into esoterica, spending pages analyzing the lyrics of Straighten Up and Fly Right, for example. But when he recounts the singer's personal struggles, including a shocking 1956 onstage kidnapping attempt by Alabama racists, the human drama is, well...
...last--a classy Christmas album. Von Otter, the best of all possible mezzo-sopranos, has put together a kaleidoscopically varied program of pop, jazz, classical and folk songs accompanied by an equally diverse instrumental ensemble (accordion, marimba, guitar, synthesizers, a brass quintet--you name it, she's got it). Every number, be it Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, O Come, All Ye Faithful or Benjamin Britten's Corpus Christi Carol, is sung with stylish grace and disarming sincerity. And unlike most classical singers, Von Otter knows how to make a pop tune swing...