Amazon.co.uk Review
With Whale Rider Lisa Gerrard, the former voice of Dead Can Dance, returns with a soundtrack that follows acclaimed scores for Gladiator (with Hans Zimmer and The Insider (with Pieter Bourke). Those hoping for another glimpse into ecstasy through Gerrard's magnificent voice will be disappointed. This score to the New Zealand-set film relies more on texture and mood, with Gerrard's voice planted in a slowly undulating drift of synthesizers and sustained guitar lines.
It's not until "Biking Home" that you might even recognise Gerrard's voice in this quietly joyful mood piece. She only gives herself full, if understated, voice on the symphonic closing track "Go Forward" which echoes Gladiator's "Now We Are Free", but with Maori chanting. Though there is some compelling music on Whale Rider, much of it sounds bereft without the accompanying images. --John Diliberto, Amazon.com
About the Artist
Lisa Gerrard became famous as one of the core members of the ethereal genre-defying Australian group Dead Can Dance. There she was mainly a vocalist, but she earned her stripes as a composer as well. She got her feet wet composing the soundtrack of blockbuster 'Gladiator' with Hans Zimmer, and together they were nominated for a Golden Globe. But she really made the grade when she composed the soundtrack to the 2002 Oscar winning film 'Whale Rider'; a story about how a young girl fights to fulfil her destiny. This was Lisa Gerrard's first soundtrack that she composed solo, and Music On Vinyl is proud to release it on vinyl for the first time.
