Jon Anderson-Olias Of Sunhillow // disappointing
I think I was expecting a lost <b>Yes</b> album or something. What this is instead, is a prototype for the '80s new age jazz craze. Not that there isn't some fine Yes-like moments, but there is some sort of fairy tale story line as well, not that I could ever begin to read the sleeve that came with this CD. This is a meglomanic performance, so there was no one around to say, "Enough Jon!". This album sounds like 10 gallons of stuff in a 5 gallon bucket. Over produced and over-hyped, since I read so many glowing reviews of this. Maybe I should wait a while and give it another shot.
If there is a saving grace, I used to use some new age albums to put me to sleep way back when (I'm such a night owl). I owned Andreas Vollenweider's <i>White Winds</i> in the '80s; and in the early '90s, it was Kitaro's Greatest Hits. <i>Olias</i> has put me under on at least three occasions whilst listening on headphones.
PS - I was in one of those earthy/hippy stores one time and was over heard by the store's owner (I was musing to my wife) "Who the hell pays $300 for a frikken wind chime?" He introduced himself and asked if I owned any new age jazz albums, and I said "Yeah, two". He asked how much I paid for my stereo rig and I told him. He then quipped, "Then if you listen to new age jazz, you essentially own a $3000 wind chime."
Putting The Music Aside...
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3-LockBox
I think I was expecting a lost <b>Yes</b> album or something.
While you wouldn't know it from the mice print on the CD, the original album art was spectacular.
Yeah, what a disappointment. Only the last track on side one has anything close to a hummable melody. His solo albums were always second-rate, but they did get better. The big deal on this album was that Anderson played all of the instruments. If true, it does show that he is more than a vocalist and lyricist.
His decision to link up with Vangelis was also a good one given his song-writing eccentricities. I still love the quirkiness and moodiness of Short Stories.
As for Squire's Fish Out of Water, I only wish he would have done more solo work of this calibre. The twenty years from 1976 to 1996 must have been a frustrating time for musicians like Squire. Today, everybody has their own recording studios, and you can accurately reproduce orchestras electronically.
You have to admire guys like Peter Hammill who never stopped releasing albums, even though I'm sure he doesn't sell more than a few thousand of any one title.