Letter From Home

Letter From Home

ASIN: B000000ORJ

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A jazz-fusion classic from Pat Metheny's mid-30s, steeped in joy and sensuality. The guitarist's singing, soaring, shimmering sound is tinged with yearning, occasionally sadness--that's a crucial, overlooked aspect of his musical voice. The talented lineup flies assuredly with the brilliant leader, who mans several varieties of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars. The electronics of keyboardist Lyle Mays, straight from American front parlors and chapels, brings just the right amount of twist to Metheny's lacings of folk and rock. More shadings and fire come from Mays's accordion and trumpet, and the versatile Pedro Aznar's vocals, marimba, vibes, charango, melodica, and percussion. All but two tracks are by Metheny. His ability to write complex but accessible tunes is undeniable, and his arrangements are inspired. --Peter Monaghan

Tracks:

Have You Heard
Every Summer Night
Better Days Ahead
Spring Ain't Here
45/8
5-5-7
Beat 70
Dream of the Return
Are We There Yet
Vidala
Slip Away
Letter From Home

Album Description

A trio of Grammy Award-winning albums by the Pat Metheny Group return to the artists's active discography on Nonesuch. Still Life (Talking (1987), Letter from Home (1989), and The Road To You (1993) are the first in a series of remastered reissues of Geffen Records titles.

Customer Reviews:

Music That Stands The Test of Time.......2007-06-03

I purchased this CD back in 1990 and I still listen to it on a regular basis. This PMG release is by far my favorite. The song Letter From Home is a masterpiece. The first time I made love to my wife I remember holding her in my arms afterwards listening to this song. It was the perfect song for the time and it brought tears of joy to my eyes. I agree with one of the other reviewers that this is music that takes you on a spiritual journey. This is not elevator music, this is finely crafted art.

An underrated recording. .......2007-04-10

This album was very popular when released. The music is very melodic. It was played on Smooth Jazz stations in edited formats (they cut out parts that didn't fit the smooth jazz format). That would make some classify this as smooth jazz. They are sadly mistaken.

This recording is underrated and filled with so much subtlety that the point would be missed by many. Contained here is recording that contains some excellent pieces which are melodic, but effectively convey a vibe, with excellent soloing and arrangements.

Pat's displays a virtuosity in his playing without running away with himself. This recording's influence is world beat. First class world beat seamless woven throught the Mays/Metheny conciousness.

"Have You Heard" is simply one of the best pieces the group has composed and performed. It has aged well over the years. It has one of Pat's very best solos and some impressive vocal work by Pedro Aznar who holds an impossibly long note toward the end. Pedro has to perform these difficult octave leaps throughout and he does so in good voice.

"Spring Ain't Here is one of the pieces where the subtlety factor comes in. Pat's solo here is excellent. His he so beautifully embellishes the melody and also makes great use of space. This one has an intangible element for me that I can't lend words to. It so effectively conjures not a relaxed mood as more an introspective inspiration.

45/8 is this short little piece that so effectively conveys a South American feel that you wish that it had been much longer just to see what they would've done with it.

5-5-7 is also is also another elegant piece which has an arrangment anchored by Steve Rodby's amazing bass playing which fuels Metheny's imagination throughout. Pat's lead here is remarkable.

"Are We There Yet/Vidala" is amazing the way they tie a modern electric piece to a folkloric and plaintive piece. They do this seamlessly and to perfection. "Are We There Yet" is for you Guitar Synth fans of Pat's. The interplay between Pat and Lyle is if full force here. It's one of those quirky pieces whose pacing makes it somewhat unique. The segue portion is ethereal.

"Dream of the Return" is unique in that Pat rarely features a vocal with words. Aznar is the composer of these lyrics and they are thankfully, thoughtful. Good lyrics are hard to come by and often in instances where instrumental groups attempt them, they usually are pretty goofy. Not in this case though. This one has that patented tension and releast thing that the group does so well. A moving piece of music.

My one complaint is that Pat tends to use the vocables a tad too much on certain songs like "Better Days Ahead" and "Every Summer Night" a bit too much, when the pieces don't need them at all. Pedro Aznar is a talented multi-instrumentalist. Perhaps one of these other talents could've been lent to these same pieces. He has a very good voice, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

The group showed yet another fact of themselves and of a particular aspect of their exploration of world-beat themes. This one different than the preceding "Still Life (Talking)" and "First Circle" both of which are excellent, which embraced similar but distinct themes.

PMG Remastered editions sound superior, but misses on extras.......2007-02-21

The new Nonesuch remasters of the Pat Metheny catalog have a significant, if not incredibly different, sound improvement over the original Geffen CDs. Simply stated, the sound is much "brighter" and clearer, and depending on the tracks, instruments have a better balance, and in some cases stand out better in the mix than the original. Since most of these albums were originaly recorded with exceptional skill in the age of digital audio technology (mid 1980's to present), the truth is that the original CDs can stand out just as good in terms of sound quality. This is not like some remasters of 60s, and 70s albums where the sound difference is huge. With the exception of Song X(X), the remasters feature no pluses. It would have been nice to have some extra tracks, new or restored artwork, PMG in the studio photos, essays or something. So if you are not a PatMetheniac fan and have the original CDs, stick with them. If you have never had the pleasure of having these great works of art, don't wait any longer and get them. This is some of the greatest music ever recorded. Now, if the original ECM releases were remastered...

If this is "elevator music" let me go to the top floor with it.......2007-01-13

By far, this is probably one of the finest albums PMG have recorded in its extensive career. I wouldn't be surprised if this work turns out to be a true contemporary jazz classic a few years down the line. Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays deliver powerful solos, some may say too long but personally I can't get enough of them. Technically perfect, they sound "easy" in a very complex set up, musically speaking. "Beat 70" displays one of the best Pat's solos I've ever heard. Lyle plays wonderfully in many tracks but "Better Days Ahead" stands out. Even when this is one of the most "commercial" albums PMG have conceived, there's an ethereal aura surrounding the songs. "Spring Ain't Here" and "Slip Away" are clearly vivid examples of that. Pedro Aznar's voice is a major contribution to achieve it as well as the rock solid work of Paul Wertico, Steve Rodby and Armando Marcal on the rythym section. In simple words; it's hard to believe someone could call this "elevator music". If that, I take this elevator day in day out.

A Spiritual Journey ..........2006-12-21

There is something very spiritual about this record. It seems to sing to my soul more than my ears. I can't explain it any other way than to say that it's a special record and one of Pat Metheny's best studio recorded albums. The song _Dream of the Return_, _Slip Away_ and _Vidala_ are the very best on the record. Pedro Aznar's beautiful vocal arrangements are showcased on these songs. The wonderful _Have you Heard_, Letter from Home_ and _Beat 70_ are also on this recording. Pat Metheny and Lyle Mayes provide some of their most wonderful and inspired musical collaborations on this recording. Eric Jordan's review is far off base. Elevator music, this is not! I highly recommend this album with 5 stars!

The Copland Collection: Orchestral & Ballet Works, 1936-1948

Average customer rating:

Aaron Copland: Populist and Conductor
Tribute to Lincoln
A great way to get your dose of Copland....
Well balanced retrospective, -or- Listen to this!

The Copland Collection: Orchestral & Ballet Works, 1936-1948

Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Copland Collection: Orchestral Works, 1948-1971
A Copland Celebration Vol. 3
Copland: Music for Films
A Copland Celebration Vol. 1
Samuel Barber / Thomas Schippers

ASIN: B0000027BJ
Release Date: 1991-01-18

Tracks:

El Salon Mexico
An Outdoor Overture
Billy The Kid: Introduction: The Open Prairie
Billy The Kid: Street In A Frontier Town
Billy The Kid: Prairie Night (Card Game At Night)
Billy The Kid: Gun Battle
Billy The Kid: Celebration (After Billy's Capture)
Billy The Kid: Billy's Death
Billy The Kid: The Open Prairie Again
Quiet City
John Henry
Our Town
Las Agachadas
Fanfare For The Common Man

Tracks:

Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes): I. Buckaroo Holiday
Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes): II. Corral Nocturne
Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes): III. Saturday Night Waltz
Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes): IV. Hoedown
The City: New England Countryside
Of Mice And Men: Barley Wagons
The City: Sunday Traffic
Our Town: Grovers Corners
Of Mice And Men: Threshing Machines
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Very Slow
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Fast
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Moderato
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Fast
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Still Faster
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): As At First (Slowly)
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Calm And flowing
Appalachian Spring (Suite From The Ballet): Moderato; Coda
Letter From Home
Danzon Cubano

Tracks:

Lincoln Portrait: Lento
Lincoln Portrait: Subito Allegro
Lincoln Portrait: 'Fellow Citizens, We Cannot Escape History...'
Symphony No. 3: I. Molto Moderato-With Simple Expression
Symphony No. 3: II. Allegro Molto
Symphony No. 3: III. Andantino Quasi Allegretto
Symphony No. 3: IV. Molto Deliberato
Concerto For Clarinet, Strings, Harp, & Piano

Amazon.com

Aaron Copland made numerous recordings of his own music, including an extensive series for CBS during the 1960s and '70s, mostly with London orchestras. He was not an especially proficient conductor--consequently, the performances he conducted often lacked pace and rhythmic punch. His last recordings of his most popular scores have been reissued by Sony on an exceptionally well-remastered 3-CD set. These accounts do a good job of conveying the overall shape of the pieces, and they deliver telling characterizations of many episodes. Details emerge that are lost in some other accounts, and there is an appealing gentleness and sweetness to the approach. But the readings do not have as much grip as those of Bernstein and Slatkin, among others, and in spite of the authority they automatically possess, they are not necessarily preferable. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Aaron Copland: Populist and Conductor.......2005-03-29

If you want a prime collection of Copland's more accessible works, this is it. Yes, it's true that Bernstein's recordings of individual pieces are often bolder and livelier; but this set offers the composer's own authoritative view of his work, and for that reason alone it is priceless. In addition, it includes virtually all the orchestral pieces he composed during his "populist phase," from El Salon Mexico (1936) to the Clarinet Concerto (1948). You won't find some of these lesser-known gems, such as An Outdoor Overture (1938) or Letter from Home (1944, written--like Rhapsody in Blue--for Paul Whiteman), on typical single-disc Copland compilations. I'd even go so far as to claim this as one of the four indispensable compilations of American instrumental music from the first half of the twentieth century (the others on my list--in case anyone cares--are Joshua Rifkin playing Scott Joplin, Oscar Levant playing Gershwin, and the Blanton-Webster band recordings of Duke Ellington).

What amazing riches flowed from Copland's pen during the period covered by these three discs! Billy the Kid (1939), Quiet City (1940), Our Town (1940), Fanfare for the Common Man (1942), Rodeo (1942), Lincoln Portrait (1942), Appalachian Spring (1944), and the Third Symphony (1946)--all are here. Some of this music is so familiar, so deeply ingrained in America's cultural consciousness, that we might be tempted to take it for granted. But imagine how much poorer the American concert repertoire would be without it. It's almost impossible, at this point, to conceive of a time when this wonderful music--which is to America roughly what Mussorgsky's music is to Russia, Grieg's to Norway, and Falla's to Spain--didn't exist. It was during the dozen years covered by this collection that Copland pulled away from the pack of his talented contemporaries (Hanson, Thomson, Harris, etc.) and, in a way, but with greater technical sophistication, filled the void left by the tragically early death of Gershwin, whose heyday, 1924-1935, immediately preceded the composition of the works on this collection.

The ballet music is all presented here in the familiar orchestral suites Copland arranged. Most of the selections are played by the London Symphony Orchestra, although the New Philharmonia and the just-plain Philharmonia get cracks at a few key works. The last-named orchestra, for instance, takes on the biggest piece on the program, Copland's Third, the closest thing American music has to a Beethoven's Ninth (although the work's sublime rhetoric has never completely convinced me--it's neither my personal favorite by Copland nor my favorite American symphony . . . but it sure has its moments). In addition to the fine orchestral playing, another treat is that Henry Fonda narrates the Lincoln Portrait--an almost inevitable pick, given the virtually mythic way his acting style embodied the American spirit and the fact that he had portrayed the sixteenth president in John Ford's classic film Young Mr. Lincoln (1939).

The set concludes with what, over the years, has become my favorite work by Copland, the Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp, & Piano, written for and performed here by surely the last century's greatest clarinetist, Benny Goodman. This work effects a concise synthesis between Copland's mature style and his earlier jazz stylings from the 1920s; in addition, the searing eloquence of the opening slow movement seems to me the most profound lyrical writing Copland ever achieved. Stoltzman's recording, ironically enough, swings harder than the king of swing's, but this collaboration between the composer and the man who commissioned it is for the ages.

The only major "populist" scores written after the period this collection covers are the film scores to The Red Pony (1948) and The Heiress (1949). Both can be acquired on an essential Leonard Slatkin CD for RCA. And since this collection doesn't include chamber music, the great Violin Sonata (1943), a kind of more intimate counterpart to Appalachian Spring, will have to be sought elsewhere. (One good option is Gil Shaham/Andre Previn on DG.) A serious Copland collector will also want to grab the other two volumes of the Copland Collection itself. The early set features important works such as the Organ Symphony (1924), Music for the Theater (1925), and the Short Symphony (1932)--but both of the other collections also include long, thorny pieces like the early Symphonic Ode and the late Connotations that can be rather difficult for the average enthusiast to enjoy.

Most of the essential, universal Copland is to be found on this second installment of the Copland Collection, and I would definitely recommend it as the place to start exploring Copland's magnificent contribution to American music. It has been a wonderful and treasured companion of mine for many years, and it also serves to conjure up a timely and inspiring vision of open prairies, nocturnal cityscapes, and the populist, humane values that America should, ideally, epitomize.

Tribute to Lincoln.......2001-10-28

I purchased this set of Copeland CD's because I wanted the Tribute to Lincoln narrated by Henry Fonda. This is a masterful recording especially for Americans in this time. The Tribute sends chills down my spine whenever I her it. My greatest joy however, was how much I have enjoyed all of the CD's in the set. I tend to be much more of a classical listener. I have heard Copeland but not in any organized fashion. This set has brought a new and delightful experience to my listening options.

A great way to get your dose of Copland...........2000-06-30

The 2nd of this three CD collection is wonderful. My favorite though is the third one. Doesn't mean this isn't good. This Sony Copland Collection set is worth the money for. Copland is sooo much more then Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, etc... But you get a lot of typical Copland on these CDs. Songs we all know and love. But there are some unfamiliar good ones too. Concerto for Clarinet took me by storm. So did Letters from Home. Good quality, good booklet, good recording, good playing (how Copland got the London Symphony to play something right I will never know), good everything. It's not perfect because it doesn't compete with THE best Copland like the third CD set of this collection, or the The Tendeer Land. Oh, these three CD sets don't cover all Copland, but it does for the most part. It doesn't have many chamber works, two choral works, and his two operas. You can cover some of those with the full version of Tender Land and of Second Hurricane (which also comes with the choral work, In the Beginning). But this is a good series. I highly recommend it!

Well balanced retrospective, -or- Listen to this!.......1999-08-11

Mr. Copland's works, as always, are exceptional This album, which consists of his work both as a composer and as a conductor, brings his music to life in a way no other conductor can. This is a well mastered and well produced work and worth the listen. To hear Arron Copland's music as he intended is wonderfull.

Copland: Rodeo; The Red Pony; Prairie Journal; Letter from Home

Average customer rating:

Four Populist Copland Works
SPECTACULAR CD !

Copland: Rodeo; The Red Pony; Prairie Journal; Letter from Home

Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Rorem: Flute Concerto; Violin Concerto
Roy Harris: Symphony No. 3; Symphony No. 4 'Folk Song Symphony'
Howard Hanson: Organ Concerto; Fantasy Variations; Nymphs and Satyr; Summer Seascape; Pastorale; Serenade
Ives: String Quartets
Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 60; Guitar Concerto; Khrimian Hairig

ASIN: B000GNOHMS
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Tracks:

Prairie Journal
Buckaroo Holiday
Corral Nocturne
Saturday Night Waltz
Hoe Down
Letter From Home
I. Morning On The Ranch
II. The Gift
III. A: Dream March
III B: Circus Music
IV. Walk To The Bunkhouse
V. Grandfather's Story
VI. Happy Ending

Amazon.com

This handsomely recorded CD - the clarity of Copland's "American" scoring has rarely been so well captured - pairs two well-known pieces, "The Red Pony" and "Rodeo," with two less familiar, "Prairie Journal" and "Letter From Home." The 1937 "Prairie Journal" is alternately lively and thoughtful, and all of it, as usual, has that wide-open-spaces sound to it. The slides on the trombones and "clop-clop" of Copland's percussion are wonderfully clear (though integrated) in the accounts of "Buckaroo Holiday" from Rodeo, and the other three dances from that work contain quotes from old American tunes that evoke the American West in Copland's own, special, expansive yet shiny and bright way. The "Hoe Down" is a rollicking reading. "Letter from Home" is meant to evoke just that: the feeling a soldier might get reading a letter from home. It could be called corny, but its brevity (six minutes), faraway-feeling trumpet part and mid-piece victorious fanfare won't allow for any triteness. And the film score "The Red Pony" is remarkable not only for its scoring and textures but for the fact that while it does not contain quotes from any real folk songs, Copland manages to write tunes that seem to be coming from America's collective memory. JoAnn Falletta leads the excellent Buffalo Philharmonic in performances that actually might be danced to. She affords the music the stature it deserves--this CD is a delight. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Four Populist Copland Works.......2006-12-03

Tucked in among the thrice-familiar 'Four Dance Episodes' from 'Rodeo' and music from the film 'The Red Pony' are two Copland rarities which partake of the same open-air style perfected by Copland in the 1930s. They are 'Prairie Journal' and 'Letter from Home' and both were commissioned for radio performances; alas, how far we've come from those days when American radio networks commissioned classical works.

'Prairie Journal' (earlier called, and sometime still listed as 'Music for Radio') was written in 1937 for CBS (along with commissioned works by Roy Harris, Howard Hanson, Louis Gruenberg, Walter Piston and William Grant Still). Initially called simply 'Music for Radio' there was a contest for naming it and the winner was 'Saga of the Prairie.' Copland took this suggestion to heart and renamed it 'Prairie Journal.' It is an eleven-minute evocation of the agrarian west with bustling themes, catchy rhythms, and eventually the serenity of approaching night on the prairie. This is a work worthy of being programmed more than occasionally.

'Letter from Home' was commissioned during wartime 1944 and conjures up the feelings of a soldier, far from home, receiving a letter from the folks (or perhaps the girlfriend). It has a plaintive tune first sung by the clarinet and then harmonized in an almost dreamy style. A melancholy trumpet tune recalls a similar passage in Appalachian Spring. (I wonder if this piece has ever been choreographed? It would be suitable for a solo dance, I should think.)

Of course, the dance episodes from 'Rodeo' are extremely well-known, and their hair-trigger rhythms are given a marvelously alive performance here by the crack Buffalo Philharmonic under Joann Falletta. Almost as well known are the excerpts from one of Copland's film scores, 'The Red Pony.' This has always been a great favorite of mine and I approve of the way Falletta and her orchestra manage the alternation of nostalgia, exciting, and parodic elements of the score. One might quibble some at the occasionally awkward tempo shifts, but generally speaking this is a performance that can stand with the best, including those of Leonard Bernstein.

Sound is excellent. My only complaint is the slightly short timing of the CD -- 59:55 -- and wish there could have been another selection. There would even have been time, for instance, for a performance of the 'Billy the Kid' suite. Ah, well, what we get here is certainly worth the budget outlay.

Scott Morrison

SPECTACULAR CD !.......2006-11-17

If you blinfolded me and played this CD I would tell you the conductor is Leonard Bernstein. The Buffalo Phil under JoAnn Falletta plays with amazing verve and energy. The playing is letter perfect and the recording quality is top rate. For under ten bucks this CD is a steal.

Average customer rating:

Love it!
Beautiful Music

He Got Game

Manufacturer: Sony
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Binding: Audio CD

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He Got Game
He Got Game (1998 Film)
25th Hour (Score)

ASIN: B0000062E0
Release Date: 1998-04-21

Tracks:

John Henry
Appalachian Spring: Very Slowly
Appalachian Spring: Calm And Flowing (Shaker Melody: Simple Gifts)
Appalachian Spring: Moderato. Coda
Rodeo (Four Dance Episodes): 'Hoe-Down'
Lincoln Portrait (without narration)
Music For The Theatre: Interlude
Fanfare for the Common Man
Dance Panels (Ballet In Seven Sections): Pas de Trois: Lento
Letter From Home
Music For Movies: Grover's Corner From 'Our Town'
Billy the Kid (Orchestral Suite): The Open Prairie
Billy the Kid (Orchestral Suite): The Opera Prairie Again

Amazon.com

Director Spike Lee states, "When I listen to Aaron Copland's music, I hear America, and basketball is America." That may be far-fetched for those who saw Lee's film, especially when the only other music in the film was that of Public Enemy. On its own, though, this album is a welcome "greatest hits" collection of Copland's Americana. The CD and the movie start off with John Henry, a slow-building, beguiling melody that works effortlessly with Lee's montage of basketball images. More spirited numbers such as "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo and Fanfare for the Common Man are also featured on the soundtrack. Unlike many Copland compilation CDs, this collection features abridged selections, allowing for more variety of source material: symphonies, soundtracks from movies (Of Mice and Men, Our Town), and ballets. Maybe not the CD for the purist, but a welcome first album for those who were introduced to Copland's music by the film. At over 60 minutes, it's a worthwhile investment. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

Love it!.......2007-03-03

Copland is awesome and Spike Lee has an amazing ability to find the perfect music for everything he does. Get this cd! Legitimate 5 stars!

Beautiful Music.......1999-09-25

The Music of Aaron Copleand is timeless and purely Amerian. Thus, it is the best choice to be in a movie about basketball, one of America's favorite sports. This collection of Aaron Copland's music introduced me to this great composer and is a perfect start for new classical listeners. SUperb.

Average customer rating:

Superb...opened a whole new world for me
excellent
i write this review 14 years after i first listened to this
Pat's best ever
classic PMG

Letter from Home
Pat Metheny Group
Manufacturer: Geffen Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Still Life (Talking)
The Road to You: Recorded Live in Europe
Secret Story
We Live Here
Imaginary Day

ASIN: B000000ORJ
Release Date: 1989-06-19

Tracks:

Have You Heard
Every Summer Night
Better Days Ahead
Spring Ain't Here
45/8
5-5-7
Beat 70
Dream Of The Return
Are We There Yet
Vidala
Slip Away
Letter From Home

Amazon.com

A jazz-fusion classic from Pat Metheny's mid-30s, steeped in joy and sensuality. The guitarist's singing, soaring, shimmering sound is tinged with yearning, occasionally sadness--that's a crucial, overlooked aspect of his musical voice. The talented lineup flies assuredly with the brilliant leader, who mans several varieties of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars. The electronics of keyboardist Lyle Mays, straight from American front parlors and chapels, brings just the right amount of twist to Metheny's lacings of folk and rock. More shadings and fire come from Mays's accordion and trumpet, and the versatile Pedro Aznar's vocals, marimba, vibes, charango, melodica, and percussion. All but two tracks are by Metheny. His ability to write complex but accessible tunes is undeniable, and his arrangements are inspired. --Peter Monaghan

Customer Reviews:

Superb...opened a whole new world for me.......2006-12-08

This is a lengthy review, as it attempts to cover not just this album, but also what makes the PMG itself such a unique and outstanding musical experience in all of their releases. The review assumes you are new to the PMG. If you're already a fan, you don't need to read much further. Suffice to say that this is one of the best of the best of all the PMG's efforts, and it needs to become part of your collection. Skip down to the end if you want for a song-by-song summary of my thoughts. However, if you are new to the PMG, I highly recommend this album as an excellent starting place...and encourage you to read the whole review for some thoughts about why this group deserves your attention.

In 1991, I was thumbing through the CDs in the jazz section of a public library in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where I lived at the time. The selection wasn't all that great and I came across this CD with a strange, busy-looking collage of thumbnail photos and foreign symbols. I was vaguely familiar with the name "Pat Metheny" but didn't even know what instrument he played. In spite of the adage, "don't judge a book by its cover," I was fully expecting something very avante garde and highly improvisational - short on melody and long on the bizarre. Honestly, it was mainly out of curiosity that I checked out the CD and I had very low expectations.

But once I pushed the Play button on this CD, it was all over. Out of perhaps 3 life-changing experiences related to music in my life, this was one of them. Now, I realize that sounds melodramatic, but it's the absolute truth. I became an instant devotee of this guy and his music. I could listen to it hundreds of times (and I have) and enjoy it just as much the 999th time as the first time.

I now own 8 of his CDs and I like them all, but this one remains very near the top of the list for me, due in equal parts to the music itself and also the fond memories it evokes from a period of my life when I was so full of optimism.

From the moment I pushed the Play button, I knew what I was hearing was in a class by itself. Jazz, yes...but neither the traditional stuff (which I like), nor the more pop-oriented mass-appeal stuff that has since become synonymous with the so-called "smooth jazz" genre (of which I'm not too fond...you know, that smarmy Kenny G stuff). To be honest, at that time I would have been hard-pressed to articulate what it was I liked about the music, or why I felt these guys were a cut above the rest of pack in so many respects. I simply knew that I liked - no, make that loved - what I was hearing.

As I write this review, more than 15 years later, my thoughts are no doubt colored by the volume and variety of Metheny music I've listened to in the intervening years, but I'll try to limit them to what I remember from my earliest listening experiences and why I did - and still do - find them to be head and shoulders above so much else that is out there. First, and most important, is the collaboration between Metheny and keyboardist Lyle Mays. Like the cliche "1+1=3," the sum of their collaboration is so much more than the individual talents they bring. I'm so glad these guys found one another, and I'm so glad that Mays has remained the one unchanging member of the PMG along with Pat himself since the group was born in 1978. It just wouldn't be the PMG without Mays.

I first became acquainted with Lyle in the late '70s when he was still a student at North Texas State University and played in their jazz lab bands. I had one of their albums (ugly cover, but great music), and remember being intrigued by this Mays guy who played a large hand in all of the band's arrangements, while also being awed by the guy's obvious capabilities on his instruments of choice: keyboards. I remember thinking to myself (I was still in high school at the time), "now THIS is a guy who's going somewhere." It was with huge delight, many years later, that I discovered Mays was the keyboardist with the PMG. It was the same sense as having rediscovered a long lost friend.

Anyway, back to their collaboration. I can honestly say that there is something magical about the music these guys create. They have a flawless sense of melody...the melodies actually tell a story instead of just filling up space, and more times than not, the melody has an uncanny way of evoking exactly the emotions you would expect from the title of the song.

As one would expect, the melody is most often carried by Metheny, and until hearing his music for the first time, I had no idea a guitar could sound like this. Yes, I'd listened to guys like Wes Montgomery...and classical guitar as well. But Metheny was able to take the guitar to places it seems like it was never envisioned to go, with phrasing sometimes more like you would expect from a horn or sax, and a signature sound that was the epitome of "cool." In other places, his playing was so achingly beautiful that it seems as though the word "poignant" was created specifically to describe what I was hearing.

Another thing immediately apparent in PMG music is not just the mastery of the melodic, but also the rhythmic. These are guys who aren't afraid to venture outside the comfort zone of 4/4. They are all over the map with things that I sometimes can't even count myself...and I've got a reasonably good sense of rhythm. Weird stuff that sounds like 13/4 or 15/8 or whatever. But just like Brubeck was able to make 5/4 totally comfortable with his classic "Take 5", Pat and Co. navigate these unusual time signatures so fluidly that you never feel like you've left the interstate for an unpaved road. It's all smooth and you love every second of it because it's at once familiar and different. There's also a point / counterpoint thing that permeates the music. Never busy just for the sake of it...but not minimalist either. It's rich. Like a painting with beautiful use of color and texture, and when you look at it, you feel like you could stare for hours and still not take it all in. It isn't just music that's highly pleasing, it's *fascinating* music.

Chording and chord progressions are another aspect of the music that makes the PMG such a treat. There's just something about the way these songs can exhilarate, create an indefinable longing, descend into dissonance, or resolve in a way that makes you feel all is right with the world - all through the impeccable crafting of how these guys string chords together. Mays, in my opinion, is the unsung hero that makes so much of this possible. I have always loved his playing, but when paired with Metheny, it is hard to imagine anything more perfect. He's never overbearing or showy - he's just...there. Solid. Like a supporting actor that makes the star look that much better, never stealing the show. It's back to that 1+1=3 thing I mentioned earlier.

It would be impossible to talk about the PMG "sound" without also commenting on the way vocals are used. My jazz heritage exposed me to people like Ella Fitzgerald and others who would "scat" rather than sing lyrics. In the same way, the vocals in PMG music are almost never used for lyrics. But neither are they left to carry the melody on their own. Instead, they are more often layered with the melody of the guitar. It's a big part of what I can only call the PMG's signature sound - and it is an incredibly satisfying sound. Once you hear it, you want more.

As to the individual songs, here's a breakdown of my impressions:

> Have You Heard - As the first track, this was my first exposure to the PMG's music. And in hindsight, the title is so fitting. No, I haven't heard...but now that you've got my attention, I'll probably never stop listening. I remember thinking, "Wow...where have these guys been all my life?" This song epitomizes everything I love about the PMG...the deviation from the predictable 4/4 while being totally groovable...the way the vocals are stacked on the guitar and piano to create that signature sound...Pat's amazing solo work and runs that left my jaw on the floor...Lyle's orchestrations, punctuations, and chord progressions that are so exhilarating and just so...so right. And, the intricate cymbal work of master drummer Paul Wertico. It's all good. Very good.

> Every Summer Night - This song features what I think is the melodica (an accordian-like instrument that sounds a bit like a harmonica). The song's melody is best described as "friendly"...like a grinning kid with freckles...you just have to grin back. It's a great example of the acoustic piano sound that is quintessential Lyle Mays that then transitions to the Hammond organ which is equally tasty.

> Better Days Ahead - This song evokes exactly what you'd expect from the title: optimism. A pleasure to listen to. 'nuff said.

> Spring Ain't Here - A sound that's sort of a cross between George Shearing and Wes Montgomery...probably from Pedro Aznar on the vibes. Like so many PMG compositions, the vibes aren't treated as a solo instrument, but as just another layer of the melody with the guitar. For me, this song evokes feelings of warm nostalgia for some reason.

> 45/8 - Like I said earlier, the PMG isn't afraid to embrace some wild time signatures. It has a Peruvian feel to it, thanks to the panpipes played by Aznar. Very short song...more like a bridge...less than a minute in lenght.

> 5-5-7: Like the first track, this song blends all the things that to me are that quintessential PMG sound. But instead of vocals, something that sounds suspiciously like whistling is layered with the vibes and Methany's guitar...and a bit later Aznar's vocals are stacked on top as well. It's a cool sound. And this one explores some unusual time signatures. Sounds like a recipe that could get weird real fast, but trust me - it's tasty.

> Beat 70 - Probably one of my favorite PMG tunes. I'm not sure if it's the melodica or accordion on this one, or a synthesizer, but it again has a harmonica feel to it that's very satisfying. There's also a sweet steel drum thing going on just beneath the surface. Lots of transitioning between Lyle and Pat from keyboard solos to guitar and back again, like a baton being passed back and forth. The drums on this one are quintessential Wertico...lots of intricate and interesting cymbal work. There's a photo on Antonio Sanchez's website (he's since replaced Wertico as the PMG's drummer) that shows his setup for a typical PMG gig...I think there's like a dozen cymbals. It's insane. That pretty much tells the story...lots and lots of cymbals make up the rhythmic texture that is part of the overall PMG sound.

> Dream of The Return - One of the few songs with actual lyrics, sung in Spanish by Aznar. Methany first goes into a jazz guitar solo, followed by some nice acoustic piano by Mays, and later back to Methany again, this time with his synth guitar...which sometimes sounds good, but can also be a bit like the soprano sax when done to excess...grating. Methany doesn't overdo it on this song. Overall, nice, but not one of my favorites.

> Are We There Yet - The most dissonant of the bunch, but still melodic and not total free-form noise (but dang close in a few places). You have to be in the right mood for this one. Features more synth guitar from Pat. Seamlessly segues into the next song without a break in the music.

> Vidala - Another one featuring actual lyrics, this time in English by Aznar. Some nice panpipe stuff (yeah, I know that instrument conjures up images of easy listening "muzak" and Zamfir...but it isn't like that here). This song has an overall contemplative feel to it.

> Slip Away - A really nice 16-beat shuffle going on here. Wertico's phrasing gives it a distinctly locomotive rhythm. Signature PMG sound in full force...vibe/vocal/guitar layer going strong. Nice piano interlude from Mays and then transitioning back in a really nice crescendo to the 16-beat with a smooth Methany solo on jazz guitar.

> Letter from Home - In a word, poignant. This song evokes exactly the longing you'd expect with a letter from home, a bittersweet memory of the happy times left behind and the people you still love awaiting you there. It's a wonderful choice to end the album with. You find yourself wanting to audibly sigh at the end. A perfect end to a beautiful 60 minutes. I think this one has actually brought tears to my eyes more than once.

excellent.......2005-03-23

i think this is the best album ever of Pat methany.
classic and genious
these two words are enough to describe the album

i write this review 14 years after i first listened to this .......2004-11-25

i sincerely believe what i write below is honest and truthful.

i first heard this CD 14 years ago. loved it then and actually went to see him performed live with his band. in the last 14 years, my music taste changed from classical jazz to pop rock, to latin rock, to brasilian pagode, to samba, to bossa nova, back to american frank sinatra, to tony bennette, back to big band jazz of Duke and Count.... however, yesterday as i accidentally picked this music from my old collection, the music still sounds so fresh and new. it is just amazing that after all my other musical experiences, Metheny's music still stands its quality and depth. there are so many Pat's CDs i could recommend however, this one may be the most balance, most easy listened to and most versatile. you hardly know it was recorded 14 years ago... wow! i feel old.....nonetheless, this is truly great music. high art form i would say.

Pat's best ever.......2003-12-21

This record is a cross between brazilian music and smooth jazz. There is nothing bad all along the album. Pedro Aznar has a beautiful voice, Paul Wertico deals with binary rythm, but also with latin rythms and more traditional jazz rythms. Pat not only plays the guitar with his unique style, but he also plays the synclavier and this adds another dimension to his music. This is probably Pat's most emotional record and IMHO the best. If you like music played by bands such as Spyro Gyra or Joe Sample (of the Crusaders fame), you have to give a chance to 'Letter from home'.

classic PMG.......2003-09-16

This album continued Pat's flirtation with the musical flavors of Brazil, and it is readily accessible to a variety of listeners (those who liked "First Circle" and "Still Life" should also like this album). I remember hearing the poppish "Slip Away" on a local radio station and I knew this was an album to add to my collection of PMG material.

While the album claerly has a strong undercurrent of Brazilian rhythms and percussive accents, the songs do have character on their own. Pat, as usual, is in top form. His silky-smooth guitar emits improvisations so melodic that you'll find yourself whistling them in the shower. Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Pedro Aznar adds to the melodic flavor, and even sings a beautiful Spanish lead on "Dream of the Return" (check out the PMG website for lyrics and translation). Lyle Mays contributes a quirky (but eerily groovy) composition called "Are We There Yet?", which, if you listen carefully towards the end, cleverly incorporates sampled vocals from Aznar's lead vocal from "Dream".

Other highlights include "Better Days Ahead" (a percussion-laden tune with Pat on acoustic guitar) and the delicately short lullaby and title track, "Letter From Home". My only gripe is that Pat and Lyle seem to have run out of song titles for a couple of songs, as they simply named one spritely-sounding tune "5-5-7" for the number of beats per three measure sequence.

This album will stand the test of time, and you will enjoy listening to it ten years from now as much as you did the first time.

LAGQ - Guitar Heroes (Multichannel Hybrid SACD)
Average customer rating:

LAGQ Guitar Heroes by the LAGQ

A Guitar Grimoire for 6 string enthusiasts

LAGQ - Guitar Heroes (Multichannel Hybrid SACD)

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet | ( L ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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Slowhand

ASIN: B000294RMG
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Tracks:

Icarus
B & B
We Know You Know: Reverie For Mahavishnu
Pluck, Strum And Hammer
Letter From Home
Uarekena
Aire Para Un Dia (Mood For A Day)
Gyspy Flower
Pop
El Baile De Luis Alonso
Lament And Wake
Let's Be Frank
Blue Echo/Country Gentleman

Customer Reviews:

LAGQ Guitar Heroes by the LAGQ.......2005-03-24

This was the Grammy award winner in classical crossover for 2005. It is great if you appreciate the innovators in 20th century guitar music. Listen to The "Assad Duo" and a rock remedition of a Michael Hedges tribute" Lament and Wake which stand out. Both these songs got great reviews as arrangements by the newspaper critics. Get the multi channel version if you have a a top notch audio system with the speakers to show off the enginneering. If you just want "pretty" background music this is not an album for you.

A Guitar Grimoire for 6 string enthusiasts.......2004-08-14

This is an exciting display of 6 string prowess that really isn't classical, yet will inevitably become a classic. It is an amazing tour de force worthy of the California Guitar Trio. The efforst here focus on composers and players who are heroes to this quartet, and it is a compendium of the best: McLaughlin, Hendrix, Metheny, Towner, Howe, Rheinhart. Each and every selection is brilliant whether they are essaying Norman Blake or Frank Zappa. York, Tennant, Kanengiser and Dearman command their instruments with power and discipline, and the finessse and passion leaps off the strings. The fretwork is a tribute to each of the heroes honored, and indeed this is truly an honouring of great fretmen. The digital encoding of the disc is such that you get a very precise definition of who is playing spacially from right to left. Very impressive, as you would expect from Telarc.
Their take on Towner's "Icarus" is both timely and quite a creative adjustment of the tempo. Steve Howe's "Mood For A Day" undergoes a makeover as a flamenco tour de force, and it actually comes off even more amazing than Howe's various re-workings of this abstemious wonder. At times, the compositions are those of the heroes, at others it is the LAGQ's composition evoking essential qualities of the personalities honoured. It works beautifully on all accounts. If you are a fan of acoustic guitars, or even of any of the guitarists honoured here, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.

Average customer rating:

An Outstanding Hommage to the Greats of All-Styles of Guitar
LAGQ: "Decent"
Fails to translate into much pleasure for average listeners
I Should Have Known Better
Totally satisfying

LAGQ's Guitar Heroes

Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00020PVUC
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Tracks:

Icarus
B & B
We Know You Know: Reverie For Mahavishnu
Pluck, Strum, And Hammer
Letter From Home
Uarekena
Aire Para Un Dia (Mood For A Day)
Gypsy Flower
Pop
El Baile De Luis Alonso
Lament And Wake
Let's Be Frank
Blue Echo/Country Gentleman

Amazon.com

These guys are amazing. This CD is for everyone, regardless of "favorite" musical tastes. Classical, pop, new-age, country, whatever: the LAGQ's virtuosity is stunning, and the sounds they make are engaging, clear and clean (and aided by recording engineers who should win the Nobel Prize for recording, were there such a thing). Nominally, this CD is inspired by the heroes of the four members of LAGQ, but that's only a piece of information: What they do with music by, or indebted to, or inspired by their "heroes" is the issue, and it's never less than original, by turns lovely (the Pat Metheny piece), reckless and innovatively busy (Jimi Hendrix's "Pluck, Strum and Hammer"---with gorgeous harmonics), flamenco (Steve Howe's "Aire para un dia," totally re-conceived), and kitchen-sink (Frank Zappa's "Let's be Frank"). Even the infuriating John McLaughlin is well represented. The recording is vivid and the artists are identified from left to right, speaker-wise. And the Chet Atkins piece that closes the CD is nothing short of delicious. What is this uncategorizable CD? A joy---that's what. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

An Outstanding Hommage to the Greats of All-Styles of Guitar.......2006-06-25

It goes without saying the the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet is in fact the BEST performing guitar ensemble in the world right now. The quartet always impresses me with their variety, technique, musicianship, ensemble playing and innovation. The playing and material on this album reflects just that. The variety reflects many different styles: contemporary classical, rock, jazz, avant garde, new age, bluegrass, country and flamenco. The technique is spotless, the musicianship is incredibly fine tuned the group plays together perfectly and the selections are fresh, new and very interesting. It's a true treat to hear nylon stringed classical guitars playing tribute to their greats and the greats of their electric counterparts.

To talk about highlight tracks on this album just wouldn't be fair. There are too many. The cover of Ralph Towner's "Icarus" is exciting in its use of special guitar techniques, its Brazillian flavor and Andrew Yorks amazing improvised solo. The bouncy tribute to Norman Blake and David Bromberg is fun and incredibly enerjetic. The hommages to McLaughlin and Hendrix are provocative, strange and haunting. Following those two abrasive, dissonant cuts is a beautiful transcription of Pat Metheny's Letter from Home and Sergio Assad's very cool composition "Uarekena." The disc also features a flamenco reworking of Yes's "Mood for a Day," a tribute to gypsy great Django Reinhard, a Romeros quartet piece bubbling with Spanish flair, the extended technique ridden Michael Hedges tribute, an avant garde nod to Frank Zappa and a bouncy country influenced salute to Chet Atkins. Every cut is strong and is oozing with LAGQ perfection and nuance.

The other cool thing about this album is that it is mixed in stereo. The players are mixed across the speakers so that the arrangements can be aurally analyzed much easier. This album is a must have for any fan of the guitar... not just classical players.

LAGQ: "Decent".......2006-02-21

Bought this album because I thought the last tune on it was very catchy. The rest of the album didn't seem so great, possibly because my girlfriend wouldn't shut up and listen to it. I am going to listen to it some more without her. It is all instrumental, all guitar, and just not bad.

Fails to translate into much pleasure for average listeners .......2006-01-31

LAGQ's CD "Guitar Heroes" begins with their take on Ralph Towner's classic Icarus. This choice proves an apt one, for like this mythical Greek hero, LAGQ strives to accomplish something great and wonderful, but instead crashes to earth.

In fact, the CD begins with much promise, leading with the soaring cover of Icarus and the well-done homage to Blake and Bromberg "B&B." Then the McLaughlin and Hendrix tributes founder badly before the band achieves stability with a pair of unexciting but listenable tunes in honor of Pat Metheney and the Assad Duo (I always thought it was the other way around, Duo Assad).

A rather horrid homage to Steve Howe and a lackluster one for Django Reinhardt are countered by the brief but clever Duane York, a nice yoking together of slide and classical styles. The tip of the cap to Los Romeros is OK, but then the overlong, often irritating tributes to Michael Hedges and Frank Zappa do not add any luster to either of these late guitarists' legacies and set the CD on a terminal downward spiral.

The nice tribute to Chet Atkins that concludes this set is not enough to restore altitude and the whole effort essential crashes to earth.

No doubt the performers had a great time recording this CD for their grasp of technique and nuance proves solid. The problem is that the concept of "Guitar Heroes" fails to translate into much pleasure for average listeners like me.

I Should Have Known Better.......2005-04-05

I'm a fan of Classical Guitar. I heard about this quartet and sought them out, buying "Guitar Heroes". I should have read the Amazon review more closely. If I had I would have earned these pieces are in a dissonant rock-style with little or no melodic form. A far cry from what I envisioned. I write this to warn other innocents who might be looking for melodic music in a classical style. I didn't read the review closely enough, but you should.

Totally satisfying.......2004-12-12

I can't think of any recent collection of music that I enjoyed more than this album by the LAGQ. "Guitar Heroes" is amazing right from the beginning and never ceases right through the last track. The performances are solid, always musical and often mesmerizing. The songs and arrangements are impeccable and thoughtful, never pandering or taking the easy route to illuminating a particular guitar hero. After listening to this album, you want to hear more of the LAGQ, and also more from their "heroes". For that alone, this offering is a tremendous success.

Average customer rating:

Apocalypse Here and Now
Love the movie but hate this sound track
Apocolypse: Noun
Like Napalm in the Morning
eerie and forboding...

Apocalypse Now Redux

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Vietnam: A Musical Retrospective

ASIN: B00005M98K
Release Date: 2001-07-31

Tracks:

The End - The Doors
The Delta
Dossier
Orange Light
Ride Of The Valkyries - The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Georg Solti
Suzie Q - Flash Cadillac
Nung River
Do Lung
Letters From Home
Clean's Death
Clean's Funeral
Love Theme
Chief's Death
Voyage
Chef's Head
Kurtz Chorale
Finale

Amazon.com

In the mid to late '70s, director Francis Ford Coppola put his career on the line to complete Apocalypse Now, his quixotic attempt to variously document, deconstruct, and mythologize America's military involvement in Vietnam. The end result was a troubling masterpiece and technical tour de force whose use of sound and music influenced films for decades. As originally released, the soundtrack album was equally groundbreaking: an intriguing, dreamlike collage of dialogue, sound effects, and music that both evoked the film's artistic sensibility and underscored the innovative, Academy Award®-winning efforts of sound designer Walter Murch.

Two decades later, Coppola revisited the project, adding nearly an hour of previously unseen footage and revamping its soundtrack release as well. But while the film may have taken on fresh new dimensions, the new soundtrack album seems stripped of virtually all of Murch's key contributions. What remains is primarily music--and a telling argument for the notion that the whole is considerably more than the sum of its parts. Inspired by synthesist Isao Tomita's '70s classical adaptations, Coppola hired father Carmine to write an orchestra score, and then set about synthesizing it. The Doors' "The End" remains an iconic touchstone, but removed from the context of the film (and its original album release), much of the Coppola music all too clearly reveals its inspirations (Tomita, Holst, Wagner, Stravinsky) and the technical limitations of the relatively primitive synth technology involved (mirrored in a pair of newly recorded tracks as well). --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Apocalypse Here and Now.......2005-08-07

I, too, like the other reviewers, had the original soundtrack recording (on 2 cassettes!) I enjoyed listening to it in the dark of my New York City apartment to re-experience the film and to also learn the dialogue.

However, when the Redux version came out on DVD, I also was looking forward to a newer re-issue of the soundtrack that highlighted the music and left the dialogue out.

I find the synthesized passages and some acoustic instrumentation in their impressive for their time surround sound-like quality quite amazing. The inclusion of the finale where Martin Sheen's character steps out in his "transformed assassin shadow glory" haunting and very moving. It is one of the great moments in modern cinema and in music soundtracks.

The only confusing aspect, which I eventually was able to figure out, was why this soundtrack did not include the really cool and disturbing end credits music. Then I learned that that piece and the others like it used throughout the film were recorded separately on a CD entitled, "The Apocalypse Now Sessions" by the Rhythm Devils. The end credits music appears on the end of that disc on the final track entitled "Napalm for Breakfast." Both these discs make an all around great soundtrack for what I judge as one of the great cinematic works of art.

Love the movie but hate this sound track.......2005-05-05

The sound quality sucked.... when i listen to it it seems like it can't be the REAL music from the movie.
The tracks were unnecessarily short, I understand that some of the music in the movie repeated at times, but it was still unnecessarily short. The transition from Valkyries to Suzie Q is almost as horrible as the version of Suzie Q they use in this.
The opening is okay. The ride of the Valkyries is good while it lasts. Don't waste your money on this. Just buy the songs on other CDs.

Apocolypse: Noun.......2004-06-02

Instead of paying $3.99 for a CD featuring "Ride of the Valkyries" I bought this whole CD. It was actually a gift for my Father. I think perhaps it might be improved with the addition of more songs from the era that evoke the sense of futility and dread conjured by the film itself...thus expanding the CD play time to equal the length of the Redux...which was in turn only marginally shorter than the actual war. Not necessarily songs INCLUDED in the film, but rather music you know the guys were listening too. All in all, however, it is almost worth the price...it puts you in the same place as the movie, and that's worth something.

Like Napalm in the Morning.......2003-07-31

This is an excellent CD and one that I've wanted for many years. I, like others who've reviewed the "Redux" CD, once had the soundtrack from the _original_ version of the movie, which was basically the entire movie, complete with all dialogue. I liked that "soundtrack," but what I really wanted was _only_ the music, without dialogue, because if I really wanted the dialogue I'd just as soon watch the movie. Fortunately, the "Redux" CD does indeed have _only_ the music, which is eerily beautiful and haunting. I should point out to potential buyers, as I didn't learn this until I actually listened to the CD, that the version of The Doors' "The End" is actually the interesting remix heard in the movie, complete with synthesizer enhancements, chirping jungle crickets, and Jim Morrison's Oedipal vulgarities brought to the surface, instead of buried under the instrumentation as on The Doors original recording (in which the vulgarities can barely be heard). "Suzie Q" sounds to me an awful lot like the version in the movie, though I'm unsure it's exactly the same; it doesn't matter, it's so darn close. What's really nifty is the intro and conclusion of "Suzie Q," which contains the synthesizer effects heard in the movie as a sort of musical segway. In short, if you love "Apocalypse Now," and what you want is _the music_ from the movie, this CD is perfect. To my ears, the music doesn't sound dated at all; it could've been done yesterday for a new movie.

eerie and forboding..........2001-12-17

I've noticed some griping that this new version of the soundtrack does not contain dialogue, unlike the original 2 disc version that came out originally. well, you can't please everybody. one of my other favourite soundtracks, "Blade Runner" often gets slagged in reviews because it contains some dialogue, which some people find intrusive. if you want to hear the dialogue, watch the movie. this disc is about the music, which is as dark and forbidding as any synth music i've heard, perfectly evoking the chaos and hellish atmosphere shown on screen. track seven, "nung river" has a particularly sinister feel, making that trip up river feel inexorable. "do lung" has a nightmarish carnival sound to it, appropriate to the scene's images of a place spiralling out of control. overall, if you like dark, atmospheric soundtrack music, (it is also very rhythmic) you will enjoy this, even if you haven't seen the movie.

Average customer rating:

The definition of Musical Genius
Epistolary reflections on Costellian themes...
Beauty? Truth? You Can't Handle Either!!
Deep and moving music from Elvis Costello.
Give it a Try

The Juliet Letters

Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000002MI4
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Who Do You Think You Are?
Taking My Life In Your Hands
This Offer Is Unrepeatable
Dear Sweet Filthy World
The Letter Home
Jacksons, Monk And Rowe
This Sad Burlesque
Romeo's Seance
I Thought I'd Write To Juliet
Last Post
The First To Leave
Damnation's Cellar
The Birds Will Still Be Singing

Amazon.com

Good on Elvis for risking the ridicule of a blinkered pop world with this unprecedented (for him, certainly, and most anyone short of Kurt Weill) and quite lovely album of bitchy, wise, and funny art songs accompanied by strings. His freshest, most evolved work in years. --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews:

The definition of Musical Genius.......2007-05-22

If/when this ever is reprinted you MUST purchase it. It is beautiful in ways that I can't describe. For a writer/musician who is known for writing some amazing pieces, this is his pinnacle.

You will sob. You will laugh. You will rage. You will be haunted.

From a purely musical perspective, when you listen to this CD you are in the presence of great genius.

Listen to it alone, at least at first. Listen in the dark and let the imagery flow over you like fog.

Epistolary reflections on Costellian themes..........2006-01-16

Elvis Costello (Declan MacManus) has done his fair share of collaborations in the past decade. From the Grammy-award winning project with Burt Bacharach in 1998 to 2001's subdued "For the Stars" with Anne-Sophie von Otter Costello has branched out from his rock roots in diverse directions. "The Juliet Letters" from 1993 was the first in a long line of such collaborations. Costello and the Brodsky Quartet were brought together by mutual appreciation (Costello went to Brodsky Quartet concerts while the Brodsky Quartet attended Costello concerts). And Costello's now ex-wife Cait O'Riordan provided the epistolary theme for the project. She spotted a newspaper article about a professor that responded to letters addressed to "Juliet Capulet". Costello then presented the article to the quartet for inspiration. The group of five ended up writing all of the music and words (though much of the music is credited to "MacManus"). The results fall somewhere between classical song cycles and Beatle-inspired "string rock" (a la "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby"). Feelings of melancholy and anger pervade most of the songs. The strings punctuate these feelings perfectly. Fans of Costello's rock music probably won't find much to appreciate here. But the album contains many of the same classic Costello themes and vocal styles utilized in his rock.

Like a Richardson novel, letters provide the basis for the project. Failed and frustrated relationships abound. "Thank you for the flowers / I threw them on the fire / And I burned the photographs that you had enclosed / GOD they were ugly children" Costello sings venemously on the driving "I Almost Had a Weakness". After all, nothing seeps loneliness more than an unanswered love letter. But more than love gets the treatment here. Other songs include a suicide note ("Dear Sweet Filthy World"), a letter from a soldier to a stranger ("I Thought I'd Write to Juliet"), a bizarre experiment in selective exhumation ("Damnation's Cellar"), a reflection on separation ("Why?"), and a letter full of hope in the face of despair ("The Birds Will Still Be Singing"). Many songs explore the sad one-sided nature of letter writing. And no song responds to any other song. This fills the songs that deal with ineffable questions with an almost desparing isolation. But not everything is doom and gloom. "This Offer is Unrepeatable" picks up the mood with a humorously exaggerated letter from a scam artist (and it more than a little resembles the Tom Waits' classic "Step Right Up"). The final song injects some hope into the stark themes in the manner of "Old Man River": "Banish all dismay / Extinguish every sorrow / If I'm lost or I'm forgiven / The birds will still be singing". So in the end, things aren't as bad as they seem. The world goes on regardless of our ephemeral concerns. And as long as the world goes on hope exists.

This CD contains a lot of very beautiful and moving music. Two violins, a viola, a violincello, and voice provide all of the instrumentation. Costello branched out into something very different here. And not all of his fans appreciated it. Regardless, in retrospect "The Juliet Letters" pointed to the future. This year Costello will tour orchestra halls. Not only that, he also wrote a full orchestral score ("Il Sogno"). Strings appear more frequently in his recent music. And year by year he seems to embrace "classical" music more intensely. Still, he hasn't abandoned rock and pop (as "When I Was Cruel" and "The Delivery Man" testify). Though this early collaboration remains somewhat underappreciated, it nonetheless fully showcases Elvis Costello's diverse, adaptable, and broad musical scope. Costello will doubtless appear somewhere on the list of accomplished twentieth and twenty-first century musicians.

Beauty? Truth? You Can't Handle Either!!.......2006-01-06

The reason the Costello/Brodsky collaboration "Juliet Letters" is such a difficult listen is also why its the MOST SINGULARLY BRILLIANT ALBUM IN THE ENTIRE ELVIS COSTELLO DISCOGRAPHY! And this declaration is coming from a man who could write a thesis on "Armed Forces" and "Imperial Bedroom" in his sleep! The idea of setting "letters" to music has certainly been done before, but Costello sticks his neck out, both as a composer and singer in ways he'd never done before. Accompanying yourself with just a string quartet (no snarling guitars or euphonious keyboard filigrees,) is the surest way to test your mettle as a vocalist. And sure, sometimes Costello's voice isn't exactly the strongest, but like say, Billie Holliday it always seems to occur precisely when the lyric calls for it: check out "Who Do You Think You Are?" or "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" and you'll hear exactly what I mean. Even his ode to a chain letter, "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" serves up a cheeky bit of satire worthy of "Three Penny Opera." Of course, you can only experience this album sporadically - could anyone watch "Death Of A Saleman" or "Long Day's Journey Into Night" repeatedly without losing one's mind? Emotionally-wrought exercises like "Letters" take a lot out of you, even when you're merely the observer (or listener,) rather than the participant. But that's what makes the journey, however bittersweet, one worth taking.

Deep and moving music from Elvis Costello........2005-06-18

The Juliet Letters is a moving colaboration from Elvis Costello and the Brodsky String Quartet. His deep vocals are complemented by the string quartet. This album is
neither fish nor fowl (classical or pop) it's just a musical
exercise. The strings are some of my favorite compositions,
(viola, cello and violin). Elvis Costello not only got the Brodsky Quartet a bigger audience but he inspired them to
write their own music (a third of the songs are composed by the Quartet).

While it might not be everyones cup of tea, the music is brilliant and Elvis reaches octave levels I thought I would never imagine he could ever attain. Maybe sometime in the near future he'll work with them again. I applaud him for taking such a bold step in making a non-commercial album.

Highly recommended.

Give it a Try.......2004-03-03

I've been listening to a lot of Philip Glass and Steve Reich lately,and its caused me to go back to this album to give it another go.Previously I thought that it was an interesting experiment which hadn't worked out very well.Now I think that it is a good album for rockers and classical music lovers to use to stretch their ears a little.So called crossover albums are usually horrifying-does anyone else remember that album that Procol Harum did with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra? Elvis flatly denounces the concept in the liner notes.And not everything on this album works.It isn't the brilliant work that some of the other reviewers seem to think that it is.But it is a worthwhile experiment and a work that should be given a fair chance.Rockers and classical music lovers tend to be snobbish and dismissive of one another.This is a good work for them to live with for a while.When Elvis and the Brodsky's click-on "Jackson Monk and Rowe" or "Romeos Seance"-the results are as beautiful and valid as anything either of them have ever done.
Three stars because some of this simply doesn't work. But this is a work anyone who likes Elvis or the Brodsky's should have in their collection.

Emily Dickinson in Song: Dwell in Possibility

Average customer rating:

Emily Dickinson in Song: Dwell in Possibility

Manufacturer: Gasparo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00029LNV4
Release Date: 2004-06-29

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