Customer Reviews

Barrage

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

 

 

The saying goes "you can lead your horse to water but you can't make him drink" applies to these hapless customers who cry foul on Amazon for being "misled" while not bothering to read the product description. It is just as unfair to rate Amazon with one star as it is to rate the music one star while refusing to even listen to it. Seriously. You call that a review?

None-the-less, there are plenty to follow that conventional train of impulse (I dare not call it thought). But please do read carefully; if you want predictable "fluff" as another reviewer put it, this album is, like, not 4 u.

The second tragedy, besides a public that refuses to take responsibility for its own actions and jumps to dump-mode, is that the composer of this album has such a common name for such uncommon music. There is not just an insipidly created American Idol John Stevens (no offense to the musician behind the name), there is also a really out-there drummer John Stevens whose avant-jazz improvs are worth a listen. But for my enlightenment and exhilaration, this is the John Stevens with the most balls.

how about we not rate a CD a 'zero' because *we* made the silly mistake of not confirming that this is a CD by a serious composer named John Stevens and not the trivial American Idol singer by the same name? One small step toward a more intelligent world. (A second step might be to leave American Idol for other more lofty pursuits, but baby steps first...).

This CD is a collection of pieces for solo guitar, although it is likely that someone approaching it for the first time, without previous information, might respond with astonishment 'THAT'S a guitar?!" I cannot begin to talk about this music technically, although the composer once attempted to describe to me how he arranged some of the pieces and what he did to make the guitar emit these incredible sounds. Suffice it to say that this guy is one of those eccentric geniuses that serious American music produces with a refreshing regularity (e.g., Charles Ives, Harry Partch, John Cage).

The aesthetic of this music is hard to get at with words. Some of the pieces (e.g., Tile, Resound, parts of Feed) are atmospheric, even meditative; others (all four of the Barrage pieces) range from ominous to menacingly aggressive. It is immediately apparent why the other reviewer (had he bothered to even listen to the CD, of course) would have been disappointed with this music. He was expecting predictable pop fluff, and it would be harder to get farther from that than this music.

The texture of this music is demanding, you have to come at it with new ears, and the composer is unapologetic about that. The payoff is significant. This music is exciting and formidable. Try to imagine Karlheinz Stockhausen meeting Jimi Hendrix and doing some work together. That'll get you close to the dynamic of this.

When I purchased this CD I thought I was getting the John Stevens who was on American Idol. When I received it I discovered it was not him. I have since returned it. My one star rating is not a reflection on the CD because I did not listen to it. The single star is for Amazon for not providing a better description of the product.

I actually did not even listen to this CD. I thought it was the other John Stevens when I ordered it, and after reading - or starting to read - the liner notes, I decided I was sorry I even opened it. I would rate it zero stars if I had the option.