Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'Astral Weeks' of the Eighties?, 10 Sep 2001
David Sylvian's debut from 1984 remains an undoubted classic. The break between 'Tin Drum'/'Oil on Canvas' & this album, though only a year or so, had given Sylvian chance to grow & develop. The supporting cast- including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Danny Thompson, Mark Isham, Steve Jansen, Holger Czuckay & Richard Barbieri all add wonderfully to the record. 'Pulling Punches' is a more organic continuation of the rockier end of Japan- such as 'The Art of Parties'. It also reminds me of 'Scary Monsters'-Bowie & 'Lightning Strikes' by The Clash. It would be the last time Sylvian would 'rock out' til 'The First Day'...'The Ink in the Well' contrasts with this, a mellow lull aided by Thompson's jazzy double bass. Think Scott Walker sings Tim Buckley (in blue). Sylvian, still kind of a pop-star, singing about Picasso (It seems 80's popstars had musical ambitions, rather than commercial ones)...'Nostalgia' takes an Oriental vocal & the type of ambient space of 'My New Career'& 'A Foreign Place'to fresh lengths. It provided title for the Japan compilation 'Exorcising Ghosts' & seems to be doing just that. Along with the later 'Maria' & 'Godman' it seems to be taking the template of 'Ghosts' to previously uncharted territories. 'Red Guitar' is one of Sylvian's great songs; the piano has a warm jazzy feel- the song itself has the drama of a Bond theme & the brilliant, resigned "It's been this way for years"...'Weathered Wall' continues the Yellow Magic/Sakamoto-inflections of 'Bamboo Houses/Music' & 'Taking Islands in Africa'. Co-written with Jon Hassell, it takes us to the kind of ambient plain Eno dreamt up a few decades ago. 'Backwaters', with a co-vocal by Can's Holger Czuckay, predicts the sinister minimalism & vocal interplay (beauty with alien) found on early Tricky records ('Aftermath'; 'Ponderosa'; 'Makes me Wanna Die'). The Krautrock keyboard repetition finally gives way to the closing title track. Has there ever been a more sublime song? (Hardly...)Sylvian's vocal is set to strings of keyboards for most of the song, building on songs such as 'Ghosts' & 'Forbidden Colours'. This one sounds like the fade of lights, the passage of time, the remembrance of things past. Percussion arrives, this is a song that you could imagine wanting to last forever: "Raise my hands up to heaven/But only you could know/My whole world stands in front of me/ By the look in your eye"... 'Brilliant Trees' is one of those wonderful albums, contender for the 'Astral Weeks' of the Eighties. It is waiting for another, more deserving audience. I think Radiohead owe a debt to it. A brilliant record by a consistently brilliant artist. Brilliant Trees...
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Japan's public face goes solo, 15 Oct 2002
By A Customer
The release of this album was the begining of David Sylvain's brand of music. With a star cast including members of Japan and the trumpet player Jon Hassel, a musician who at that point had worked a great deal with Eno. From the opening track which sounds like a "Talking Heads" track, "pulling punches" this song has some excellent drumming throughtout the track, the drumming was supplied by his brother "Steve Jensen". The listener cannot forget that this was a musical style recorded in the eighties, but in saying that the set of songs have aged wonderfully and still sound fresh today, so if you like your music with some substance then this album will be for you!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Will Sylvian ever come as close again?, 24 May 2000
Brilliant Trees must surely be at the top of David Sylvian's CV. If it was ruled to own only one of David's albums, then this is the one. A sweeping, moody, but somehow uplifting collection, that drifts effortlessly across a landscape, that Sylvian himself, can only hope to find again soon.
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