Grand Design

Grand Design Artist: Layton
Label: Reincarnate Music
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 801190118427
EAN: 0801190118427
ASIN: B0002JUVYO


Release Date: 2004-09-14

Grand Design


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. C-June
  2. Hope's All There Is
  3. Roundagon
  4. Milky Way
  5. Venus
  6. Morning Glory
  7. Roundagon/Lara Mix
  8. Daze Of My Lives
  9. Confessions Of A Lush
  10. Rainbows & U
  11. Hope's All There Is

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Layton Rocks, Melodically.......2004-11-12

I've been going to see the various incarnations of Layton (previously Paul and Lara, Friends of Desire, etc.) perform for several years now. They've continually honed and refined a distinctive sound, heavy on Brian Wilson-esque melody, effortlessly blending synthesizers, strings, pianos, drums and dreamy vocals from both Paul and Lara. The music is resolutely and unashamedly optimistic, and Grand Design employs pop elements with a sophistication and wit that makes the record far more than the sum of its parts. For all of its pop appeal, it's not lightweight music. There's a hint of early B-52s, of ragtime, of Bowie, there's moog and electronic clapping and honest-to-goodness drums, and it's utterly unlike anything else I've heard. Unqualified comparisons are hard to come by. You gotta hear it.

Hope's All There Is has a sexy, driving hook and breathy, seductive vocals from Lara, while the pretty duet Roundagon is almost a lullaby, a theme continued in Milky Way and Rainbows and U. C-June, Venus and Morning Glory feature lush, layered vocals (again from both Paul and Lara), and unorthodox, avant-garde arrangements. Layton experiments with sound on the level of Trent Reznor in that it's as if they've come up with entirely new sounds that are nevertheless accessible.

5 out of 5 stars Buy it, or one day you'll regret it... then you'll cry........2004-09-24

I had the extreme fortune to own this when it was the demo called 'Friends of Desire'. I listened to the new version to find that it had done nothing but get, dare I say it? MORE AWSOME...ER.

The tone is perfect. All the things I thought I heard in the background are brought more to the foreground to rock you more than you though possible in one setting.

As for the album itself, one word, seemless. Completely without seem. Each track complements the next and before you know it your on track 1 for an encore.

Music Album:

  1. 26 Classic Tracks ~ Planet Rockers
  2. A's, B's and Rarities ~ Fun Lovin' Criminals
  3. Weightlifting ~ Trash Can Sinatras
  4. Flight from Echo Falls ~ The Vells
  5. This Picture ~ Placebo
  6. The Book Of The Dead
  7. Trysome Eatone ~ Love Spit Love
  8. Square 1 ~ David Kitt
  9. You Should Know by Now ~ Barbara Manning & the Go Luckys!
  10. The Return of the Voodoo Organist ~ The Voodoo Organist

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Blue Haze ~ Miles Davis

Forever Friends ~ Justo Almario

Kayak ~ Kenny Wheeler

Celestial Express ~ Charlie Christian

Touch of Class ~ Sarah Vaughan

Songs from My Irish Rovings ~ Will Millar

Caminhando Sozinho V.3 ~ Frankito Lopes

Digital Paperback ~ Benhur

Night at the Opera ~ Asalah

Umio Mitai Dakedatta ~ Life Recorders