Holger
Group: Members
Posts: 1506
Joined: Feb. 2003 |
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Posted: Oct. 12 2008, 09:51 |
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Quote (New Incantation @ Oct. 12 2008, 13:17) | I wouldn't necessarily say it is the weakest of his collection, but I just have problems trying to marry the New Age, the mystical Gaelic influences and Mike's own personal embellishments into the album.
As much as I enjoy all three genres on an individual meritorial basis I found it hard to digest all three at once with this album. |
Indeed; while I don't have a problem with Mike going Gaelic at all (he has done it to great effect in the past, after all), as soon as the New Age element comes into the mix, it just doesn't work for me. (It is however interesting to hear how he "nailed" this particular style - he was, after all, hardly the first to do it; I could imagine that if someone was really into this particular sound, Voyager would be a gem in his / her collection.)
Quote | So much so that only one or two tracks stand out for consideration. Mont St Michel, gets the mix almost right until about half through and its goes into a kind of "Punkadiddle" crescendo, which really doesn't work for me at all. |
Interesting - that part, to me, is the single most interesting thing about Mont St Michel. If it wasn't for that part, I think I wouldn't really care for this track at all.
Quote | My favourite, therefore, would have to be Wild Goose. The mix is perfect, it is visionary, full of emotion, haunting & evocative. |
Agreed: this is by far the most interesting track on the album, IMO. I'm not sure I'd call it perfect; the simplistic new age-y harp arrangement doesn't really do it for me (much of the album suffers from that phenomenon, actually). If it wasn't for that though...
The only other thing on the album that really does anything for me is the folky middle section of Dark Island. A lot of the other tracks have nice tunes, but the arrangements really spoil them as far as I'm concerned.
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