Customer Reviews

Behind the Sun (Bonus Dvd)

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The DVD contained in this package utilizes the PAL video format. So, you'll be unable to view it on your television unless it can decode a PAL signal. One way to get around this problem is through the use of your computer's DVD drive and a free Windows program named, "DVD Shrink." I was able to successfully view the videos on my computer using DVD Shrink version 3.1.

'Behind The Sun' will open your eyes and possibly your heart. As an avid listener who takes his music seriously and without admonishment, I was lucky to have came upon this particular album which made my inside flourish with delight as each track played.

'Behind The Sun' begins with "Overture," a relaxing introduction of what is to come, with an epic feel, including cinematic strings, deep bass lines and ocean waters crashing, blending into "Low Sun," continuing the vibe with lower key piano melodies, bongo drums, flutes, and a warm atmosphere, placing you in the environment of a comfortable, relaxing crowd at the sunset beachside, calm waters rolling.

A downtempo track, "No Ordinary Morning," is nothing short of a beautiful melody, vocals provided by Tracy Ackerman, accentuating such a beautiful flourish of artistic resplendence. It leaves you mesmerized as time passes us by, our foolishness of not noting its splendor and leaving us to wish that we could, indeed, turn back time.

"Saltwater (Original Mix)" births as a progressive trance/house anthem featuring the soothing vocals of Maire Brennan. Also included in this mix is an adaptation of the song "The Theme From Harry's Game" taken from the Clannad album "Magical Ring." This eloquent song is mixed brilliantly by Nick Bracgirdle (AKA Chicane). "Saltwater (Original Mix)" put myself in a wonder of the world progressing and our striving efforts to keep up. The cheering at the end explains it perfectly.

'Behind The Sun' takes a more powerful measure to its perfection as "Halcyon" is introduced. Powerful, deep beats with trance elements. "Halcyon" easily stands out as the best uptempo track of the album.

With an unexpected turn, the album gives you, quite possibly the real treasure, "Autumn Tactics." Justine Suissa gives us her beautiful voice supports the uplifting inspirational atmosphere of Balearic Spanish guitars. Justine sings "the hiding sun, like the hiding sun, waiting for summer sun, feels like its just begun," possibly clueing you on what actually is behind the sun.

"Overlap" is the more instrumental side of Nick, leaving you in the midst of soft synths, Spanish guitars, drums, over a distant array of evocative atmospheres. This particular track evoking mindscapes of progressive human's developing ideas and reflecting on what we have accomplished.

Bryan Adams come into play as he delivers the vocals for "Don't Give Up," a pop/trance where the production itself leaves you at disbelief. As I listened to this track on the way home from a long ride, the words sunk deeper into my mind than I would have anticipated. Over the past few years, I had dealt with many unfortunate circumstances and had always ignored the advice of others. However, the words, blending with the trance anthem, helped me to do what I choose, rather than following orders from others all the time. It gave me a chance to tell myself to live for myself.

"Saltwater (The Thrillseekers Remix)" is the more calm, melodic version of the original, featured earlier on the album. This ambient version takes you from the relief of the fast, house melodies of "Don't Give Up" to give you a time to relax.

Lastly, "Andromeda" is a wonderful close to this wondrous album, with spirited house beats, fun synths and atmospheric nature that makes you look above and see the clouds stream by as you cruise along in your car. A tear from my eye streamed down my face as I looked out above the world I was on, and looked out past the clouds, asking, "Why did this work of art of an album have to end?"

Open your eyes, heart, and ears to a melodic tone that carries you from the laboring workload, into the skies above you, allowing you to explore what is behind the sun.

Most of the music in my CD collection is moody, introspective stuff: Depeche Mode, The Cure, Tori Amos, and Tool, to name a few. I'm not generally an upbeat person. But Chicane manages to make, I daresay, "happy" music that is downright irresistible to even an antisocial quasi-goth like myself. I'm just a bit more fond of Far From the Maddening Crowds, Chicane's earlier and harder to find album, but Behind the Sun is also a very nice, relaxing CD.

Nick Bracegirdle has a habit of opening his CDs with ambient tracks that remind the listener of Enigma or The Orb. "Overture" does a nice job of introducing the ears to the CD and prepares us for the mellow trance experience. It leads in well to "Low Sun," a great tune for starting a trip. And as with FFTMC, track four really stands out and refuses to be forgotten: "Saltwater." It's hard to stand still while listening to this song... it makes you want to get up and do something, go somewhere, whatever you want to do. I've heard it used on TV ads for tourism in Ireland, and it totally fits the whole idea of travel and far-flung undiscovered places. The Thrillseekers Remix, also on this CD, is a slower, more ambient interpretation of the song -- equally good but different.

Other excellent tracks here include "Halcyon" and "Autumn Tactics," which I had heard before and enjoyed but had not realized it was Chicane. "Overlap" and "Andromeda" make nice closers for this album -- they should be together at the end instead of the retread of "Don't Give Up," which is pretty cool, all things considered, but we don't really need the same club song twice on one album. My only other misgiving is the tinny drum loop on "No Ordinary Morning." It's all I hear when I listen to that song and I therefore tend to skip it.

Overall a very cool album for the car or just for relaxing, but not quite as good as Far From the Maddening Crowds.

I initially discovered Chicane while doing a search for different versions of Orbital's song Halcyon+on+on. This CD contains a song named Halcyon, though it has no relation to Orbital's classic.

Chicane, actually a one-man operation of composer / mixer / DJ Nick Bracegirdle, specializes in the atmospherics found in the best of modern electronica without the lack of melody common with many IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) composers.

In this release, Chicane manages to pull off one of the most confounding tasks facing electronica composers: the smooth integration of vocals. Far too often mixing vocals and electronica falls to the far ends of the bell curve, it's either very good, i.e. Alison Goldfrapp's work with Orbital, or it's very bad, i.e. any dance / rap release with the lyrics "Yo, check it!".

"Behind the Sun" manages a wonderful mix of instrumentals, "Overlap", "Andromeda", and the aforementioned "Halcyon", with lyric filled songs such as the haunting "No Ordinary Morning", "Autumn Tactics", and "Don't Give Up" with vocals from Bryan Adams... Yes, THAT Bryan Adams... but don't worry, it's a beautiful song and the vocals are a real departure from Mr. Adams normal ballad slinging which actually adds wonderfully to the piece.

If you like William Orbit, older Future Sound of London, and Orbital, odds are that you'll enjoy Chicane's "Behind the Sun" as much as I do.

Finally, and in some cases most importantly, there's not a bad song on the entire CD, so you'll be getting good bang for your buck!

Chicane, a.k.a Nick Bracegirdle'e new offering 'Behind the Sun'...shines. Chicane's music can best be described as clearly understated, trancy, and very melodic. Besides Chicane's obvious talent, the album also sports several unlikely luminaries; Bryan Adam lends his raspy voice to the club-hit 'Don't give up', while Maire Brennan of Clannad lends hers to 1999's smash hit 'Saltwater'. These hits notwithstanding, the true gems in this album are the brilliant and lovely female vocals by Justine Suissa in 'Autumn Tactics' with its understated chill-out melodies and guitar samples, the club-goer's 'Halycon', and the orchestral 'Andromeda'. 'No ordinary Morning'is a perfect chill-out song to listen to in the wee hours of the morning after a night of clubbing. Highly recommended for people who like good music.

I don't know if I could say enough about this album and do it justice.

This is easily the greatest CD I have ever heard and the best CD in my collection...and I listen to everything (Hip Hop, R&B, Techno, Dance, Rock...) Every single song on this CD is beautiful and perfectly organized. I have never played this CD for anyone (especially girls) in my car and them say..."WOW, can you copy that for me."

This is truly an unreal album. I don't know what to say. Chicane...I don't know who you are and why you don't have more stuff, but I really doubt you can top this album. I was kind of holding back by giving this recomendation because I don't want everyone owning this CD (it has truly become a special piece of my CD collection). A few months ago my CD's were all stolen but thank God this was one that was left.

This CD truly takes you for a ride, a beautiful adventure of mind and spirit, and then brings you back down feeling euphoric. It's hard if impossible to skip a song on this CD, they are all so good and beautifully blended together. I've owned it for 3 years and still feel like I just bought it. Like I said...if you like Mellow, Chill type music...get this CD. I really don't think there has been a better CD made if you like that kind of Music.

Chicane...if you're reading this...thank you so much. Thank you for giving us this CD. I know it will be hard (if not impossible) to make anything like it again...but I really hope I hear something like this again from you.

thank you.

Kudos to Chicane! I had never heard of him until I heard "Saltwater" playing in a Sam Goody store, and fell in love with the song. But anyway, let's focus on the content. "Saltwater" is definitely the best song of the album. It's airy, calm, and invigorating at the same time. It makes you feel like you're on top of a mountain somewhere, totally at peace with yourself and everything around you. I also like "No Ordinary Morning", a really sweet ballad. Of course, there's also "Don't Give Up" by Bryan Adams. You can't mistake his voice in this song! The breaks in the songs are timed perfectly... just long enough to take a deep breath before the music starts again as a far echo and building to a point where you just want to play it as loud as you possibly can. Many people consider this album to be ambient. Sure, some elements are there, but this album is very whole in the sense that you can play it anywhere, anytime, no matter what your mood is... I just wish I had gotten it here instead of Sam Goody... I would've saved a few bucks! But it was worth it...

Unabashedly what some would call commercial pop trance, but who cares? It's about how the music moves you and not how 'purist' or 'elitist' you are, eh?

Chicane's 'Behind The Sun' playing over the headphones will carry you away to that serendipitous place where everything is beautiful. I'm talking about that sort of moment you can live in forever--a deep, contented warmth in the depth of your being. You know, that state of mind that is rarer and rarer in this hectic world--that place where the doors to all your cares magically close for a time.

This album has it all. Tracks with soaring, mellow synths; soft vocals, energised light beats that hover over the dancefloor, and yes even Bryan Adams. This isn't an album that you have to listen to over and over to finally 'get'. There are not layers upon layers of sounds and exquisite mixing that get better and better with age. It's a light aural delight from the moment you pop it into the CD player.

Although there are undoubtedly masterpieces out there that are definitive of all things electronica that are indeed on a deeper, more intellectual level with astounding mixing and track sequencing, Chicane's 'Behind The Sun' will both energise and move you to tears within the space of an hour. It's a musical journey you don't want to miss.

To be sure, electronica is a genre in which you mature and learn to appreciate deeper forms of the music over time, but this is relaxation or dance music pure and simple. Highly recommended for those new to the trance genre or those sceptics wanting to give it a whirl.

We've all heard the expression 'the album of the summer', usually applied to whatever CD happens to have a song that references a beach. But when you're driving through a nice residential area, leaves falling, sun just a few hours from setting, this is the kind of music that makes the whole thing complete.
The songs range from mellow pop-cross-overs to atmospheric trance pieces. I first heard 'Saltwater' on a DVD of Chillout music, but it was listed as 'One last time' by Re-launch. The actual song has Maire Brennan, an Irish Christian singer, doing vocals. The darkness of the song, mixed with it's energy really capture the essence of Autumn in the mountains where I live. Driving at sixty miles an hour through steep canyons burning red and gold intermingled with the evergreens, and this song, it's unbeatable. 'Autumn Tactics', the song that made me think of this as a seasonal album, has more of a sitting in the kitchen at dusk in sweaters drinking hot chocolate kind of feel. It's feels like Thanksgiving dinner in a functional family.
The song that makes most people take a second look at the CD is 'Don't give up' with vocals suplied by Bryan Adams, I kid you not. Now, I'm in full support of pop-crossovers. BT's 'Movement in Still Life', or Oakenfold's 'Bunkka' were both good CDs, a couple stinkers, but this isn't a science. But somehow the idea of the guy who made 'Strong in Love' working with Bryan Adams seems dangerously like selling out. And we're thinking Moby's '18'.... But think about 'Silence' by Delerium f Sarah McLachlan. Granted, Sarah McLachlan is much less mainstream than Bryan Adams, but 'Silence' was freaking awesome, and Chicane is farther underground than Delerium.
But wether it's trancy, mysterious melodies; or harmonic pop-crossovers, this CD delivers like few albums this year have.

I had never heard anything by Chicane before I purchased this album, but after seeing many positive reviews by people with similar music tastes, I decided to check it out.

The first time I listened to it, I wasn't all that impressed, to be honest. From the second time on, however, I have found it one of the greatest albums ever made. There are multiple styles (dance, ambient, new age, pop, etc.), all of which go together beautifully, with multiple vocalists with perfect voices for the selected songs.

This album will totally transport you elsewhere, somewhere you've always wanted to go, but haven't quite been able to.

The song "Don't Give Up" is probably my favorite, even though the lyrics are a bit on the trite side and I was initially hesitant about Bryan Adams being the vocalist. "Autumn Tactics" comes in at a close second, with beautiful vocals and music I would have a hard time classifying.

There is not one bad song on the album. If I had to pick a least favorite, it would be the Thrillseeker's Remix of "Saltwater."

If you like any kind of electronica, I highly recommend this album. Check it out.

Now if only I could get my hands on "Far from the Maddening Crowds".....