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Monkey: Journey To The West
 
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Monkey: Journey To The West

~ Monkey, Damon Albarn
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
Price: £7.18 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Audio CD (18 Aug 2008)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: XL
  • ASIN: B001CVCBEO
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 8,489 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in this category:

    #57 in  Music > Jazz > Swing

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1. Monkey's World
2. Monkey Travels
3. Into The Eastern Sea
4. Living Sea
5. Dragon King
6. Iron Rod
7. Out Of The Eastern Sea
8. Heavenly Peach Banquet
9. Battle In Heaven
10. O Mi To Fu
11. Whisper
12. Tripitaka's Curse
13. Confessions Of A Pig
14. Sandy The River Demon
15. March Of The Volunteers
16. White Skeleton Demon
17. Monk's Song
18. I Love Buddha
19. March Of The Iron Army
20. Pigsy In Space
See all 22 tracks on this disc

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

You could never accuse Damon Albarn of resting on his laurels. Whether it's forming supergroups (The Good, The Bad & The Queen), working with cult animators (The Gorillaz) or making music with musicians from Mali, the former Blur frontman has nurtured a restless, questing spirit not normally encountered in Britop stars. As if to underline his diverse interests, he now turns his attention to Chinese theatre. Monkey: Journey to the West is a theatrical collaboration between Albarn (music), Jamie Hewlett of Gorillaz fame (designs, costumes) and Chinese opera specialist Chen Shi-Zheng. The show itself is an explosive 90-minute circus featuring Chinese acrobats, martial arts experts and contortionists, though the album condenses the experience into 22 songs lasting an hour or so. Recorded in London and Beijing with a mix of European and Chinese musicians, Monkey ... is a genuine attempt at East-West fusion. Featuring a dizzying array of instrumentation--rock guitars, electronics, harps, mandolins, drum machines, strings, plinky-plonk keyboards, giggling girls, chants, even pigs--it's the sort of project that could so easily have gone awry. Yet Albarn, who allegedly mastered the Chinese pentatonic scale, seems to have made it work. Songs like the fluttery "Heavenly Peach Banquet" and the wistful "The Living Sea" are utterly beguiling, and stand in stark contrast to guitar-heavy behemoths like "Battle in Heaven" and the climactic "Monkey Bee." These longer songs are punctuated with incidental pieces such as "Iron Rod", "Into the Eastern Sea" and "Out of the Eastern Sea". While such interludes may distract from a 'normal' album experience, there's enough melodious charm and imaginative whimsy scattered throughout to satisfy even ardent skeptics. --Paul Sullivan


CD Description

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's first collaboration since Gorillaz supplies the theme for the BBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as providing the score to the opera of the same name, which was a huge success and received extremely positive reviews. 'Journey To The West' is performed using both Western and traditional Chinese instruments, and sung in Mandarin, which adds to the authenticity already afforded to it by it's use of Ancient Chinese texts as a basis.

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Magical and mysterious, 22 Aug 2008
By Johnniosity (Glasgow, UK) - See all my reviews
What a gem of an album this is!

I haven't seen the show so on the music and music alone, I have to say that there are some genuinely beautiful moments on this album.
As for the so-called 'difficult' pieces, I agree these will not be everyone's cup of tea but I think many people, myself included, see them as curious little moments that demand re-listening to get your head around.

I like music that isn't just ear candy and actually has some substance and Damon has really achieved something here. Something that is totally different (thank God!) from everything else out there at the moment.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Monkey Magic, but not for everyone I see!, 21 Aug 2008
By P. Rogan (the Toon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Having previously watched the BBC Imagine documentary about this project, but missing the chance to catch the opera in London, I was pleased this album was released. Personally, I was impressed as I'm a fan of Chinese culture, world music, and the genius of Jamie Hewlett. The major downfall, I thought, was that the track from the BBC Olympics ad is not included (I do realise that this is based on the opera, and not the spin-off Olympics animation, but had my hopes up that it may be on here).
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars good but great?, 3 Sep 2008
By D. Pearce (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
is this any good, yes. would it be any good without damon albarns name on it? yes but surely wouldn't make the light of day on western charts. its a great opeara score and the good thing is even without having seen the show, its easy to imagine how track names complement the music.. worth buying, still undecided.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars East meets West
Everyone who saw the two-minute animated ident for the BBC's Olympic coverage last year will have a pretty good idea what to expect from this soundtrack to Damon Albarn and Jamie... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Barney McGrew

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Immediate and expressive, with some really beautiful vocal performances. Surprisingly, as the music is quite classical in style, my kids (9 and 5) absolutely love this album and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Suzabella

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen to this properly!
Back ground music this is not! This album is full of extraordinary sounds and feelings that are powerful and strange. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Lucy W

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I'd been really looking forward to this release, unfortunately I have to say it's the worst of Damon Albarn's career. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Alan Jobbins

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite interesting, incidentally ... (6/10)
I have been a keen advoate of all things Damon Albarn post-Graham Coxon (i.e., Blur's `Think Tank` and beyond) so was understandably quite excited by the album release of `Monkey,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Demob Happy

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful banquet for the ears
Just received the album this morning, and on the first listen I am taken to a different world of sounds, which spark so many emotions. Read more
Published 14 months ago by sininho

4.0 out of 5 stars could try harder
Well, there is no doubt Monkey at the Royal Opera House was one of the events of summer 08 in London and I went and was certainly entertained. Read more
Published 14 months ago by D Major

1.0 out of 5 stars Monkey poo
I am utterly gobsmacked at how RUBBISH this c.d. is. Damon and Hewette (dont care if name is spelled wrong as so annoyed) must of being in an induced state of stupidity to have... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ms. K. C. Akilah

3.0 out of 5 stars I Liked the idea.....
When I first heard Albarn and Hewlett were doing this project I was looking forward to the end result so when the album was released got it straight away. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ben Grimm76

4.0 out of 5 stars STUNNING SHOW - AMAZING MUSIC. OPEN YOUR EARS AND YOUR MIND
I was very lucky to see the spectacle that is Monkey's Journey To The West when it was premiered in Manchester in 2007. It's simply stunning and the music is amazing. Read more
Published 14 months ago by SDB MELLONIE

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