Customer Reviews

Air

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by turns familiar and yet bold new territory for Anneke after leaving The Gathering. Her voice is as wonderful as ever, ranging from delicate to almost strident. What a singer! There are some great tunes and stunning melodies here to match her carefully wrought & emotional lyrics. The album is very varied, both haunting and catchy (especially Day after yesterday), and combines the highly sophisticated and individual pop/rock sound and style of the The Gathering's last studio album 'Home' with more experimental flavours ranging from delicate acoustic (Asleep), semi-acoustic (Take care of me, Come wander with me) and folky (Yalin) ballads to more aggressive (You are nice & Trail of grief) & dare I say it hummable workouts (Beautiful One, Sunken Soldiers Ball) than perhaps the context of The Gathering always allowed for. I think she had fun making this! I rate The Gathering very highly indeed and you can be sure that the distinctive elements Anneke brought to them are taken forward and expanded upon here - Anneke certainly hasn't turned her back on their unique sound. Great production and band (at times it sounds as if the rest of the Gathering are backing her!), and wonderful expressive guitar tones too. A real grower - highly recommended.

This is a fantastic solo debut for ex-Gathering vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen which reveals different facets of her work and hopefully she will find the audience that her talent deserves with this album. A mix of alternative rock, pop, folk and even jazz seen though her personal style. Listen to the songs "Come Wander" and "Asleep" they present a different side of the singer and showcase her great vocal range as well. But all the songs in this album are great and very personal, there are no downers here. She's also a great lyricist as well, her lyrics are most poignant and personal than ever before now that she has the freedom to express herself without thinking about fitting specific molds as with her previous band.
Overall: highly reccommended and I hope she finds with AdA the wider audience that her music deserves.

I don't know what the story behind Anneke's departure from The Gathering is but after hearing AIR with her new band, Agua de Annique, I'm sure glad she made the change. With the exception of SOUVENIRS I was never too wild about The Gathering to begin with, but female vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen kept me coming back for more. She has to have one of the most darkly angelical voices I've ever heard, and the great thing about her is that she doesn't sound like anyone else.

With The Gathering I often felt as if the musicians were trying to overshadow her voice like it was a constant battle or something, but with Agua de Annigue her glorious voice is more in the forefront and blends in perfectly with the slightly avantgarde alterna-rock melodies.

There's not one bad song on here. It took a few spins to grow on me but once it got a hold of me it wouldn't let go.

I especially love "Beautiful One", "My Girl", "Come Wander With Me", "Sunken Soldiers Ball", and "Lost And Found".

I have enjoyed following the career of Anneke van Giersbergen during her time with The Gathering, and so I was initially disappointed to learn that she had left the band. After having listened to Air a number of times now, that disappointed has vanished (into thin 'Air'). In many ways I feel that this album is stronger than a lot of the material on recent Gathering albums, and it also has a more coherent feel. The production is top class, musicianship superb and the songs are catchy and easy to take in. It will be interesting now to see what follows in the years to come. Well done Anneke!

I don't think I'll be in the minority when I say that Anneke's sudden departure from The Gathering was both shocking and saddening. Sure, in the statement issued by the band and Anneke it said she was leaving to pursue different creative outlets, but I was fully expecting to never hear from her again...a huge blow to me since she's my favorite female vocalist.

Few times am I happy about being proven wrong, but this was one of those instances.

Agua de Annique IS NOT The Gathering. Plain and simple. Sure the music is great and all, but The Gathering's compositions had the ability to leave you speechless. However, the band backing the fabulous Anneke is amazing, just not compared to her previous band. One listen to Witnesses will leave you with a certain comfort to know, without a doubt, Anneke is back.

Air is a really interesting CD, lyrically. Per the liner notes in the booklet:

"When I look at the stewardess, I admire those qualities that I do not own myself...She inspires me to be myself."

She goes on to say,

"The Stewardess is the ambassador of Agua de Annique and the album Air."

Who would've thought you could write a CD--one as great as this at that--solely about stewardesses? Color me impressed.

As for the songs, even for the Anneke lover in us all, it will probably take a few detailed listens to fully appreciate the intricacies of each song. Much like her releases with The Gathering, Air is best when listened to the entire way through. The cohesiveness of the entire record is something to behold. The ONLY downside I can think of is that since the CD moves so well as one, it's hard to distinguish favorites. That's a petty complaint though. The few songs that will grab you immediately, and hold you, are Witnesses, Ice Water, Trail of Grief, and Asleep.

Ultimately, Air is one of those CDs you can put on at about any time and let it play all day and you'll never tire of it. That in and of itself is a huge accomplishment nowadays and Anneke seems to do it with everything she's involved with. With a voice as gorgeous as hers though, does that really surprise you? Highly recommended.

I was sad when I heard that Anneke had left The Gathering which is my favorite band.
I really love this album though. It is a lot like the last Gathering albums.
If you like The Gathering you will like this. The track Lost and Found is great.
I hope The Gathering find somebody equally as good as Anneke for their next album.

Don't misunderstand. I think Anneke's voice is great, as is her showmanship. And for the most part, I love this new cd, her first offering after leaving The Gathering. But, one must compare her work to what has preceeded, and here is where this new offering falls a bit short. The band, The Gathering, that she called family for so many years, is just as magnificent as is Anneke. So, to replace that band would be a huge undertaking. And although the musicians on this cd may be good, they are certainly not as great as their predecessors. Certainly, however, anyone who loves Anneke's voice should buy this cd, as well as those who are fans of The Gathering. Aside from this, the only other problem I had with this cd was the track 'Witnesses'. In a world so full of problems we all face, I find it disturbing to hear of an attack upon group of individuals who were found guilty only of disagreeing with Anneke. The lyrics indicate that she was greatly perterbed at being interrupted while watching TV!! I've tried to give the song a few tries, but it always comes back as shallow vindictiveness on her part, a very unflattering trait to have. Even with these objections, however, I recommend this cd as good enough for almost any collection.