|
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not their best, but..., 24 April 2005
I'd like to correct the impression given by the 'official' review that 'Earthsongs' is musical wallpaper for grandmas. This is SG's worst album to date: but if I'd never heard any of the others I'd still love it. Much of the weakness comes, not from any change of direction, but from an element of uninspired retreading. SG have always evolved gradually, but there is no feeling of evolution here, just more of the same.The 'maudlin ballad' accusation, however, is true: 'Always There' sounds like an attempt to repeat the success of 'You Raise Me Up', even down to the lyrics - 'You keep me strong / And you raise me when I fall'. But it doesn't compare. The reels are - well, who's to say what's 'authentic' - like something out of Riverdance: they aren't what most people buy SG for. At least in the last couple of CDs SG were experimenting with textures and time signatures, but that has disappeared in the latest up tempo numbers. There are some interesting textures in the slower pieces: the trumpet in 'Grace' is beautiful, the the Erhu in 'Lotus' only a little less so. These and a few other tracks would sit happily on any SG release. Yet two things trouble me. Firstly, the need to have every track finish with a melodramatic crescendo. Nothing fades away quietly here; you couldn't drift off to sleep with this one like you could with the first album. Secondly, SG is sounding increasing like a Christian band rather than a New Age 'spiritual' one. 'Always There' is about someone always being there, but who - a loved one, a friend, or Jesus / God? Well, verse 2 ends with 'I know I'm heaven-blest'. Moreover, the lyrics were written by Brendan Graham, who SG also asked to write the lyrics for 'Raise Your Voices'. That goes further - it neither more nor less than a hymn (albeit quite a pleasant one), and wouldn't sound an iota out of place in any Christian church. The sleeve notes describe the lyrics as 'sacred and uplifting', and they include 'Praise to Him - the Living Word ... Raise your voices to the Lord'. Sure, there's nothing wrong with expressing your beliefs - but you can't take an audience with you that doesn't share those beliefs. This is crossing a line... Overall, 'Earthsongs' is disappointing and uninspired by the standard of previous SG work; but the SG standard was high and this is certainly not rubbish, nor easy listening in the sense of lift music. Unfortunately if they follow the usual pattern it'll be 2 years before we see whether the trends continue...
|
~ Secret Garden
~ Secret Garden
![Secret Garden: White Stones [IMPORT]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416TKAEMSRL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ Secret Garden
~ Secret Garden
~ Secret Garden
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home