Customer Reviews

Bermuda Triangle

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Tomita's music I have found serene beauty, relaxation, landscapes of wonder, mysterious spaces, thrilling excitement, inspiration, and some fun. He creates his music with more depth, color, imagery, feeling, and thought than any other synthesized music I have ever heard.

The big box set of all 11 CDs has finally been released! Considering that a number of Tomita CDs are over $30, and all the CDs in the box have been remastered, it is almost a bargain! So here is my list, improved and updated for accuracy (August 2009)... As a person who started collecting Tomita and lots of other electronic music when I was 19 in 1979, plus the original symphony orchestra versions of the classical music that Tomita used, I hope you consider me qualified to create the following list of Tomita albums and review them as well.

Note on the 1991 Surround Sound CDs (Snowflakes to Kosmos): Tomita originally mixed his albums for special Quadraphonic LPs and tapes, but for some reason, the rear channel sounds almost completely disappear, no matter what stereo equipment a person listens on.

SNOWFLAKES ARE DANCING 1974
(11 Debussy pieces)
Some say Snowflakes is Tomita's best CD. I think it is in his top three. I love the range of styles in this album, the relaxing beauty, the depth of colors. The Snowflakes album is very enjoyable. One of the few CDs I have that I like to hear again and again.

The newly remastered High Performance CD is audiophile quality and adds Prelude To The Afternoon of a Faun also by Debussy.

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION 1975 (Mussorgsky)
Also in the top 3. For this album Tomita created some of the most unusual, high quality electronic sounds ever heard. Then he used these sounds very effectively in good orchestrations. The listening is as enjoyable as it is bizarre; quite an accomplishment in itself. (Unlike other synthesized music, I have never gotten a headache listening to this or any other Tomita recording. Not even close. Not even when playing his music loud, which I love to do. )

FIREBIRD 1976
(Stravinsky: Firebird Suite. Debussy: Prelude To The Afternoon of A Faun. Mussorgsky: Night On Bare Mountain.)

Firebird is one of Tomita's best CDs. The Round of the Princesses is beautiful. The Infernal Dance of King Kastchei is exciting, scary, and LOUD - much more so than any performance by any orchestra. The Finale is so awesome; Tomita played it at the end of his live concerts.

THE PLANETS 1976 (Holst)
This one album is a completely different mood for Tomita. This is one Tomita album that is far better than any symphony orchestra performance could every be. Imagine Lord of The Rings before CGI. It is as if Holst was so far ahead of his time, that he composed The Planets for Tomita.

KOSMOS or COSMOS 1978
(Star Wars Title. Space Fantasy- R. Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathustra, Wagner: Ride of The Valkyries and Tannhauser Overture. Honnegar: Pacific 231. Ives: Unanswered Question. Rodrigo: Aranjuez. Grieg: Solveig's Song. Dinicu-Heifetz: Hora Staccato. Bach-Tomita: The Sea Named Solaris.)

This is a science fiction album without a theme, really. On this album: Star Wars is cute. The Space Fantasy is pretty good. Pacific 231 is exciting and fun, a quality piece. You can almost see the mechanical motions flying through space after the train leaves the tracks. Tomita's interpretation of the mystery and solitude of The Unanswered Question is far better than any orchestral performance of it! Hora Staccato is lots of fun. And Carl Sagan used the amazing Sea Named Solaris in his "Cosmos." The Sea Named Solaris is one of the greatest works of music every performed by anyone. Tomita fans and collectors should enjoy most of this CD.

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE 1979 - A Musical Fantasy of Science Fiction
(Sibelius: Valse Triste. Williams: Close Encounters. Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Scythian Suite, Symphonies 5 and 6, Violin Concerto 1.)

After nearly 30 years of listening to The Bermuda Triangle off and on, I have decided that it is my all time favorite record album, CD, concept album, and my all time favorite synthesized music.

Another reviewer is absolutely right... Turn off the lights, put the phone on silent, turn the volume way up, and sit down and listen! Really listen!! Because The Bermuda Triangle is an Experience; A Phenomenal, Powerful, Enlightening, Enjoyable Experience!! And it's fun too.

Inexplicably, the U.S. CD releases stopped with Kosmos. The Bermuda Triangle is much better than Kosmos. I could type two pages on The Bermuda Triangle, and you can find many pages on various websites. But I will just say that the orchestrations and performances of the music itself all fit together masterfully to tell a story that is part thrilling science fiction and part impressionistic dream. I especially like the second half- the really good Prokofiev stuff. The sounds Tomita used in creating this album are his most sophisticated and fascinating yet, as innovative and high quality as Pictures At An Exhibition or more. The quality of the recording is bright, full, deep, clear, and clean. The whole experience is extraordinary. I am so grateful the album is on CD.

BOLERO or DAPHNIS AND CHLOE 1980
(Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, Pavane for A Dead Princess, Bolero, Mother Goose Suite.)

This is a very good album with the best performance of The Mother Goose Suite that I have heard, by far. I love the range of musical styles in the Mother Goose Suite. You can actually hear the fairies in the Fairy Garden (they sound like hummingbirds). Plus, there are only two Daphnis and Chloes that I like better than this one. And the Pavane is very nice.

THE GRAND CANYON 1982 (Grofe)
(Bonus track: Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson)

Most music critics would say that this performance of The Grand Canyon Suite is not as good as a symphony orchestra's. But it is worth checking out, as parts of it are far more colorful, magical, and entertaining than any symphony orchestra version I have ever heard. Tomita's Painted Desert gives a feeling of flying low over vast mysterious, enchanted, moonlit sands. On The Trail is a lot of fun, although not as good as orchestra performances. And The Thunderstorm is exhilarating and even a little frightening, especially when turned up Loud. You can actually Hear the Lightning, Feel the Thunder, and then See a Rainbow at the end. Only Tomita could do that!! This is the shortest Tomita album. It would easily fit on a CD with Canon of The Three Stars.

CANON OF THE THREE STARS or DAWN CHORUS 1984
(Pachelbel: Canon. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise. Albinoni: Adagio. Bach: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. 4 pieces from Villa Lobos: Bachianis Brasileiras 2, 4, and 7.)

Sweet is the word I would use to describe pretty much this whole album. Some tracks are even cute, although at least one is solemn and another poignant. The quality of this album is not nearly as great as Snowflakes, Pictures, The Bermuda Triangle, or the Ravel Album. It almost seems that Tomita did this one in his sleep, but some tracks are very good, and since all the tracks are individual pieces it would be worth owning as a reference CD.

LIVE AT LINZ, AUSTRIA 1985 - THE MIND OF THE UNIVERSE
(Live concert with huge speakers on both sides of the Danube River and live soloists. Includes 7 pieces from previous albums- some with new arrangements and live soloists. Plus, Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. Japanese Traditional: Cranes In Their Nest. Vaughn Williams: The Lark Ascending. Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde-Liebestod. Beethoven: Ode To Joy with full Choir and soloists.)

In my opinion, this is in Tomita's top five best albums. It contains some of the most beautiful and unique performances ever put on a disk. The live violin solo (Mariko Senju) of the Lark Ascending is by far the most captivating, lovely, and perfect I have ever heard; the best performance of The Lark Ascending that I know of. The same violinist does an outstanding job on Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1: Moderato; Allegro Moderato. This is the part of The Bermuda Triangle near the end that gets so exciting, and with the live violinist and Tomita's magical orchestral creations, it is truly one of the most thrilling musical experiences I have ever enjoyed.

I also love the Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde-Liebestod (which first appeared on this album). So much depth and feeling, it is hard to describe how lovely it is. This album also has an extended version of Cranes In Their Nest, a very good performance by Goro Yamaguchi, on the Shakuhachi.

Of the two concert CDs, this one has more awe-inspiring moments, and more depth. It is also the longest Tomita album ever made, which is perfect, since it is so enjoyable.

Note on sound quality: I appreciate good sound quality. This CD does have imperfect moments, but over all it is very good. I listened on my pretty good car stereo system last night turned up very LOUD. The most important parts are clean. There is reverb at times, but it is natural, bouncing off things in the area. It could have been mixed better, but it is very hard for a huge concert like this to be recorded perfectly. Also, during The Conversation from Close Encounters and the first couple minutes of Ode To Joy you can hear the helicopter that was holding up a huge speaker during the show. Actually hearing a helicopter on a CD may seem silly... BUT, it is these things that make you Feel as if you are At the Live Concert, and this is a huge Plus.

LIVE IN NEW YORK 1988 - BACK TO THE EARTH
(Live concert with live soloists. Includes 7 pieces from previous albums- some with new arrangements and live soloists. Plus Dukas: Fanfare. Mahler: Symphony 3 in D Minor - 5th Movement. Traditional: Chinese War Lord Going Home. Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue. Fisher-Dvorak: Goin' Home.)

The Live In NY music is less demanding than Live At Linz, which makes it more suited for playing in the background. It is almost as good as the Live At Linz concert (above). But it has fake reverb all the way through, and is not as bright and clear as the other Tomita CDs. Not the best, but worth having.

These last two CDs are my all time favorite live concert albums.

BACH FANTASY 1996
10 separate Bach pieces, which include two tracks from previous albums. (Part of The Sea Named Solaris is mixed different.)

This Tomita CD has found its way into my top 5.

A rare, expensive CD, that is not included in the big new Box Set. This CD features some new sounds and musical styles for Tomita Classical, a really wide variety of them. Several of the tracks are most enjoyable. The popular Toccata and Fugue is a very good, virtuoso straight performance on very cool Synth Organ. My subwoofer liked it too! This is a perfect finale for the entire Tomita Classical Line.

IN CONCLUSION
Other reviewers on Amazon have done a more eloquent job than I of describing Tomita's amazing musical style, but I have enjoyed creating this guide. I hope you enjoyed it too. Thank you.

The second half drags a bit, and there's his impossibly cheezy homage to Close Encounters to deal with, but no other electronic music of this period sounded quite as overwhelming and lush. His high-tech take on Prokofiev is moving, and the album as a whole is cleverly sequenced to tell a somewhat goofy but occasionally quite eerie story of alien visitors. I'm amazed nobody ever produced a film - or at least an animated work - based on this disc.

I wish RCA would get around to releasing this on SACD or DVD-A. It was originally recorded for playback on 5(!) speakers - pyramid sound, with one speaker overhead - and would sound incredible as a multichannel disc today.

If you are a fan of Tomita this may be his best work. For those of you that have never heard of him I feel sorry for you. He was a one man orchestra. He remade older and newer classical pieces with keyboards and synthesizers.
Sadly this CD is very pricey do to the fact that IT is a very hard to find import. For some reason they never released it and half of his other albums in the USA, on CD. I wish I knew why. Lost classics. Get them all anyway you can find them.
He paints soundscapes unlike anything you have ever heard. IT is a journey into other worlds. Turn of the lights and let it take you.

The Bermuda Triangle proved that Tomita still was capable of making great electronic versions of classical music even in 1979. Here in the United States, RCA's classical division, Red Seal had the LP pressed on colored vinyl, that is pink, blue, or standard black. I happen to own the blue vinyl pressing, which I think really compliments the predominately blue cover artwork. Here, he continues on the space theme of his previous two albums, Kosmos and The Planets, this time mainly focusing on Prokofiev, although some Sibelius and even John Williams are featured here. Somewhere you get treated with this strange sound that's supposed to give you a message if you use some system called TARBEL (this sounds oddly a whole lot like the cassette storage system of the TI-99/4A home computer). The spacy feel is totally intact throughout this album, and there are some experimental passages that go in between the pieces. And you also get treated with his version of the theme of Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, keeping with the space/UFO theme of the album. The cover depicted a theory as to what happened in the Bermuda Triangle, with all those airplanes and ships disappearing (including the fighter planes that disappered off Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in December 1945, the album depicts one of the pilots in love with an alien mermaid). Musically, this is truly Tomita at the top of his game, and certainly one of the greats of electronic music. A must have album!

In Tomita's music I have found serene beauty, relaxation, landscapes of wonder, mysterious spaces, thrilling excitement, inspiration, and some fun. He creates his music with more depth, color, imagery, feeling, and thought than any other synthesized music I have ever heard.

The big box set of all 11 CDs has finally been released! Considering that a number of Tomita CDs are over $30, and all the CDs in the box have been remastered, it is almost a bargain! So here is my list, improved and updated for accuracy (August 2009)... As a person who started collecting Tomita and lots of other electronic music when I was 19 in 1979, plus the original symphony orchestra versions of the classical music that Tomita used, I hope you consider me qualified to create the following list of Tomita albums and review them as well.

Note on the 1991 Surround Sound CDs (Snowflakes to Kosmos): Tomita originally mixed his albums for special Quadraphonic LPs and tapes, but for some reason, the rear channel sounds almost completely disappear, no matter what stereo equipment a person listens on.

SNOWFLAKES ARE DANCING 1974
(11 Debussy pieces)
Some say Snowflakes is Tomita's best CD. I think it is in his top three. I love the range of styles in this album, the relaxing beauty, the depth of colors. The Snowflakes album is very enjoyable. One of the few CDs I have that I like to hear again and again.

The newly remastered High Performance CD is audiophile quality and adds Prelude To The Afternoon of a Faun also by Debussy.

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION 1975 (Mussorgsky)
Also in the top 3. For this album Tomita created some of the most unusual, high quality electronic sounds ever heard. Then he used these sounds very effectively in good orchestrations. The listening is as enjoyable as it is bizarre; quite an accomplishment in itself. (Unlike other synthesized music, I have never gotten a headache listening to this or any other Tomita recording. Not even close. Not even when playing his music loud, which I love to do. )

FIREBIRD 1976
(Stravinsky: Firebird Suite. Debussy: Prelude To The Afternoon of A Faun. Mussorgsky: Night On Bare Mountain.)

Firebird is one of Tomita's best CDs. The Round of the Princesses is beautiful. The Infernal Dance of King Kastchei is exciting, scary, and LOUD - much more so than any performance by any orchestra. The Finale is so awesome; Tomita played it at the end of his live concerts.

THE PLANETS 1976 (Holst)
This one album is a completely different mood for Tomita. This is one Tomita album that is far better than any symphony orchestra performance could every be. Imagine Lord of The Rings before CGI. It is as if Holst was so far ahead of his time, that he composed The Planets for Tomita.

KOSMOS or COSMOS 1978
(Star Wars Title. Space Fantasy- R. Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathustra, Wagner: Ride of The Valkyries and Tannhauser Overture. Honnegar: Pacific 231. Ives: Unanswered Question. Rodrigo: Aranjuez. Grieg: Solveig's Song. Dinicu-Heifetz: Hora Staccato. Bach-Tomita: The Sea Named Solaris.)

This is a science fiction album without a theme, really. On this album: Star Wars is cute. The Space Fantasy is pretty good. Pacific 231 is exciting and fun, a quality piece. You can almost see the mechanical motions flying through space after the train leaves the tracks. Tomita's interpretation of the mystery and solitude of The Unanswered Question is far better than any orchestral performance of it! Hora Staccato is lots of fun. And Carl Sagan used the amazing Sea Named Solaris in his "Cosmos." The Sea Named Solaris is one of the greatest works of music every performed by anyone. Tomita fans and collectors should enjoy most of this CD.

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE 1979 - A Musical Fantasy of Science Fiction
(Sibelius: Valse Triste. Williams: Close Encounters. Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Scythian Suite, Symphonies 5 and 6, Violin Concerto 1.)

After nearly 30 years of listening to The Bermuda Triangle off and on, I have decided that it is my all time favorite record album, CD, concept album, and my all time favorite synthesized music.

Another reviewer is absolutely right... Turn off the lights, put the phone on silent, turn the volume way up, and sit down and listen! Really listen!! Because The Bermuda Triangle is an Experience; A Phenomenal, Powerful, Enlightening, Enjoyable Experience!! And it's fun too.

Inexplicably, the U.S. CD releases stopped with Kosmos. The Bermuda Triangle is much better than Kosmos. I could type two pages on The Bermuda Triangle, and you can find many pages on various websites. But I will just say that the orchestrations and performances of the music itself all fit together masterfully to tell a story that is part thrilling science fiction and part impressionistic dream. I especially like the second half- the really good Prokofiev stuff. The sounds Tomita used in creating this album are his most sophisticated and fascinating yet, as innovative and high quality as Pictures At An Exhibition or more. The quality of the recording is bright, full, deep, clear, and clean. The whole experience is extraordinary. I am so grateful the album is on CD.

BOLERO or DAPHNIS AND CHLOE 1980
(Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, Pavane for A Dead Princess, Bolero, Mother Goose Suite.)

This is a very good album with the best performance of The Mother Goose Suite that I have heard, by far. I love the range of musical styles in the Mother Goose Suite. You can actually hear the fairies in the Fairy Garden (they sound like hummingbirds). Plus, there are only two Daphnis and Chloes that I like better than this one. And the Pavane is very nice.

THE GRAND CANYON 1982 (Grofe)
(Bonus track: Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson)

Most music critics would say that this performance of The Grand Canyon Suite is not as good as a symphony orchestra's. But it is worth checking out, as parts of it are far more colorful, magical, and entertaining than any symphony orchestra version I have ever heard. Tomita's Painted Desert gives a feeling of flying low over vast mysterious, enchanted, moonlit sands. On The Trail is a lot of fun, although not as good as orchestra performances. And The Thunderstorm is exhilarating and even a little frightening, especially when turned up Loud. You can actually Hear the Lightning, Feel the Thunder, and then See a Rainbow at the end. Only Tomita could do that!! This is the shortest Tomita album. It would easily fit on a CD with Canon of The Three Stars.

CANON OF THE THREE STARS or DAWN CHORUS 1984
(Pachelbel: Canon. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise. Albinoni: Adagio. Bach: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. 4 pieces from Villa Lobos: Bachianis Brasileiras 2, 4, and 7.)

Sweet is the word I would use to describe pretty much this whole album. Some tracks are even cute, although at least one is solemn and another poignant. The quality of this album is not nearly as great as Snowflakes, Pictures, The Bermuda Triangle, or the Ravel Album. It almost seems that Tomita did this one in his sleep, but some tracks are very good, and since all the tracks are individual pieces it would be worth owning as a reference CD.

LIVE AT LINZ, AUSTRIA 1985 - THE MIND OF THE UNIVERSE
(Live concert with huge speakers on both sides of the Danube River and live soloists. Includes 7 pieces from previous albums- some with new arrangements and live soloists. Plus, Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. Japanese Traditional: Cranes In Their Nest. Vaughn Williams: The Lark Ascending. Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde-Liebestod. Beethoven: Ode To Joy with full Choir and soloists.)

In my opinion, this is in Tomita's top five best albums. It contains some of the most beautiful and unique performances ever put on a disk. The live violin solo (Mariko Senju) of the Lark Ascending is by far the most captivating, lovely, and perfect I have ever heard; the best performance of The Lark Ascending that I know of. The same violinist does an outstanding job on Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1: Moderato; Allegro Moderato. This is the part of The Bermuda Triangle near the end that gets so exciting, and with the live violinist and Tomita's magical orchestral creations, it is truly one of the most thrilling musical experiences I have ever enjoyed.

I also love the Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde-Liebestod (which first appeared on this album). So much depth and feeling, it is hard to describe how lovely it is. This album also has an extended version of Cranes In Their Nest, a very good performance by Goro Yamaguchi, on the Shakuhachi.

Of the two concert CDs, this one has more awe-inspiring moments, and more depth. It is also the longest Tomita album ever made, which is perfect, since it is so enjoyable.

Note on sound quality: I appreciate good sound quality. This CD does have imperfect moments, but over all it is very good. I listened on my pretty good car stereo system last night turned up very LOUD. The most important parts are clean. There is reverb at times, but it is natural, bouncing off things in the area. It could have been mixed better, but it is very hard for a huge concert like this to be recorded perfectly. Also, during The Conversation from Close Encounters and the first couple minutes of Ode To Joy you can hear the helicopter that was holding up a huge speaker during the show. Actually hearing a helicopter on a CD may seem silly... BUT, it is these things that make you Feel as if you are At the Live Concert, and this is a huge Plus.

LIVE IN NEW YORK 1988 - BACK TO THE EARTH
(Live concert with live soloists. Includes 7 pieces from previous albums- some with new arrangements and live soloists. Plus Dukas: Fanfare. Mahler: Symphony 3 in D Minor - 5th Movement. Traditional: Chinese War Lord Going Home. Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue. Fisher-Dvorak: Goin' Home.)

The Live In NY music is less demanding than Live At Linz, which makes it more suited for playing in the background. It is almost as good as the Live At Linz concert (above). But it has fake reverb all the way through, and is not as bright and clear as the other Tomita CDs. Not the best, but worth having.

These last two CDs are my all time favorite live concert albums.

BACH FANTASY 1996
10 separate Bach pieces, which include two tracks from previous albums. (Part of The Sea Named Solaris is mixed different.)

This Tomita CD has found its way into my top 5.

A rare, expensive CD, that is not included in the big new Box Set. This CD features some new sounds and musical styles for Tomita Classical, a really wide variety of them. Several of the tracks are most enjoyable. The popular Toccata and Fugue is a very good, virtuoso straight performance on very cool Synth Organ. My subwoofer liked it too! This is a perfect finale for the entire Tomita Classical Line.

IN CONCLUSION
Other reviewers on Amazon have done a more eloquent job than I of describing Tomita's amazing musical style, but I have enjoyed creating this guide. I hope you enjoyed it too. Thank you.

I used to own a copy of this fantastic recording on one of the 12" Bermuda Coral (pink) vinyl pressings made by RCA Red Seal here in the USA. That recording was destroyed in a basement flood, along with several hundred dollars' worth of other, rare 12" vinyl records.

I am pleased to own a copy of this on CD now. This was definitely worth the $41 I paid for it. To keep a good copy of this, I not only ripped the recordings to my computer, but I also burned an exact copy of this CD to a CD-R AND burned the data along with all my other Tomita recordings to a separate data disk. I listen to the burned copy I made when I take my portable CD player to work with me. The original does not leave the house.

This was one of my favorite recordings when I was a boy. I could tell you exactly where each of the skips and jumps were on the original vinyl. Of course, these are absent on the CD, and I am grateful for that.

What is disturbing about this recording is that Mr. Tomita originally recorded this in five audio channels, arranged two channels at front, two channels at rear, and the center channel suspended overhead, to give an "audio pyramid" effect. Why BMG-Japan has not released this recording in DVD-Audio 5.1 channel to produce this effect astonishes me, and the only reason I can figure is that Tomita is neither a "top-10" artist, nor one from whose recordings rap bangers can extract a rhythm for their recordings.

This is music designed for listening, period. It is a concert of music geared around a science-fiction theme, designed to tell a science-fiction story in sound. You sit and play the CD and listen, and enjoy every nuance and orchestration and re-orchestration of this pioneering recording from 1979. Why Tomita is not much more popular as a result is confusing, for he actually produces real music from an instrument designed for real music production instead of extraction of whoops and blips and boops and bangs so prevalent in "techno-pop," "acid house," "rap/hip-hop," and "trance" recordings, which are hardly music at all.

If you are considering purchasing this CD, by all means, GET IT. Sit back, relax, and enjoy real music performed by a real musician whose time for real appreciation has come.

Great music -- worth four stars. Not my favorite Tomita, but still very good. Why 3 stars, then? No fault of the producers, but I wish there were a US release of this album, like so many other Tomita. Most of the liner notes here are in Japanese (of course), and what little English text there is is in micro-font. A great listen -- but I'll buy it again someday if/when it is released in America.

If there are any technical issues, consider that this work weas created in the 1970's. Isao Tomita uses synthesized electronic 'music' to tell the story of the first open encounter
between humans and peaceful aliens.
There are no words.
There are no pictures.
There is only the 'canvas' of sound that Tomita uses to tell the story. He weaves the elements of the story together cleanly, creating audio imagery that is simultaneously awe-inspiring and human, minutely detailed and cosmic, all at once.
There is only one 'piece' you might recognize on this disc,
John Williams' CE3K theme. Tomita treats it respectfully, but he also makes it his own with many unique thematic touches, moving his leitmotifs delicately into the theme.
This is a work that is very difficult to describe, other than to state simply that it is a truly mind-expanding work. If there is a 'limitation' to this work, it is that it requires an audience with brains and an attention span. There are no three minute 'singles' on it. This is not designed for radio airplay. If Tomita has a flaw, it may be that he is simply too
deep to be commercial.
Do not expect to hear this on America's Top 40.
Do not expect to hear the latest 'new sensation'to do a 'cover version' of "The Bermuda Triangle."
There are no catchy melodies to hum or sing along in the shower.
It will never be muzak.
Thank god for small favors.

On the down side:
Do not expect to get it while driving to McDonalds. You will not get it unless you can PAY ATTENTION. This is ART, not wallpaper.
SO, if you truly want to experience something that will thrill and amaze you, yet leave you completely unable to explain it other that saying 'oh wow,' get this CD.
Turn off the phone.
Lock the door.
Turn off the lights.
Disconnect everything for an hour or so, then plug in and expand your horizons.
This is something truly unique. Do not deny yourself this experience.

It's a close run between this one, Kosmos and Dawn Chorus.
To me Bermuda Triangle is Tomita at his most adventurous with sounds that really bring the subject to life.
So this may be a rare CD, but I fully recommend Tomita and electronic music fans to seek it out.

In Tomita's music I have found serene beauty, relaxation, landscapes of wonder, mysterious spaces, thrilling excitement, inspiration, and plenty of fun. He creates his music with more depth, color, imagery, feeling, and thought than any other synthesized music I have ever heard.

The big box set of all 11 CDs has finally been released! The current price is expensive. But considering that a number of Tomita CDs are $30 to $90 minimum, and all the CDs in the box (and only the box) have been remastered, it is almost a bargain! Well, almost. So here is my list, improved and updated for accuracy (April 2008). As a person who started collecting Tomita and other electronic albums when I was 19 in 1979, plus the original symphony orchestra versions of the classical music that Tomita used, I hope you think that I am qualified to create the following list of Tomita albums and review them as well.

SNOWFLAKES ARE DANCING 1974
(11 Debussy pieces)
Some say Snowflakes is Tomita's best CD. I think it is in his top three. I love the range of styles in this album, the relaxing beauty, the depth of colors. The Snowflakes album is very enjoyable.

The newly remastered High Performance CD is audiophile quality and adds Prelude To The Afternoon of a Faun also by Debussy.

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION 1975 (Mussorgsky)
This is definitely one of Tomita's best. For this album he created some of the most unusual, high quality electronic sounds ever heard. Then he used these sounds very effectively in good orchestrations. The listening is as enjoyable as it is weird; quite an accomplishment in itself. (Unlike other synthesized music, I have never gotten a headache listening to this or any other Tomita recording. Not even close. Not even when playing his music loud, which I love to do. )

FIREBIRD 1976
(Stravinsky: Firebird Suite. Debussy: Prelude To The Afternoon of A Faun. Mussorgsky: Night On Bare Mountain.)

Firebird is one of Tomita's best CDs. The Round of the Princesses is beautiful. The Infernal Dance of King Kastchei is exciting, scary, and LOUD - much more so than any performance by any orchestra. The Finale is so awesome; Tomita played it at the end of his live concerts.

THE PLANETS 1976 (Holst)
This one album is a completely different mood for Tomita. I never liked The Planets much, but I do have to say that what Tomita does with the music a lot better than any Symphony Orchestra performance I have ever heard.

KOSMOS or COSMOS 1978
(Star Wars Title. Space Fantasy- R. Strauss: Thus Spake Zarathustra, Wagner: Ride of The Valkyries and Tannhauser Overture. Honnegar: Pacific 231. Ives: Unanswered Question. Rodrigo: Aranjuez. Grieg: Solveig's Song. Dinicu-Heifetz: Hora Staccato. Bach-Tomita: The Sea Named Solaris.)

Some say this is Tomita's worst CD but I think parts of Kosmos are really very good. Carl Sagan used The Sea Named Solaris in his "Cosmos." Tomita's interpretation of the mystery and solitude of The Unanswered Question is far better than any orchestral performance of it. Hora Staccato is lots of fun. And I love the Space Fantasy. Tomita fans and collectors should enjoy most of this CD.

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE 1979 - A Musical Fantasy of Science Fiction
(Sibelius: Valse Triste. Williams: Close Encounters. Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Scythian Suite, Symphonies 5 and 6, Violin Concerto 1.)

The Bermuda Triangle is my all time favorite concept album. Inexplicably, the U.S. CD releases stopped with Kosmos. The Bermuda Triangle and the Ravel Album are much better than Kosmos and The Planets. I could type two pages on The Bermuda Triangle, and you can find many pages on various websites. But I will just say that the orchestrations and performances of the music itself all fit together masterfully to tell a story that is part thrilling science fiction and part impressionistic dream. I especially like the second half- the really good Prokofiev stuff. An incredible experience! The sounds Tomita used in creating this album are his most sophisticated and fascinating yet, as innovative and high quality as Pictures At An Exhibition or more. The quality of the recording is bright, full, deep, clear, and clean. The whole experience is extraordinary. I am so grateful the album is on CD.

BOLERO or DAPHNIS AND CHLOE 1980
(Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, Pavane for A Dead Princess, Bolero, Mother Goose Suite.)

This is a great album with the best performance of The Mother Goose Suite that I have ever heard, by far. I love the range of musical styles in the Mother Goose Suite. You can actually hear the fairies in the Fairy Garden (they sound like hummingbirds). Plus, there are only two Daphnis and Chloes that I like better than this one. And the Pavane is very nice.

THE GRAND CANYON 1982 (Grofe)
(Bonus track: Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson)

Most music critics would say that this performance of The Grand Canyon Suite is not as good as a symphony orchestra's. But it is worth checking out, as it is far more colorful, magical, and entertaining than any symphony orchestra version I have ever heard. The Painted Desert gives a feeling of flying low over vast mysterious, enchanted, moonlit sands. On The Trail is a lot of fun (although not as good as orchestra performances). And The Thunderstorm is exhilarating and even a little frightening, especially when turned up loud. (You can actually Hear the Lightning, Feel the Thunder, and then See a Rainbow at the end. Only Tomita could do that!) This is the shortest Tomita album. It would easily fit on a CD with Canon of The Three Stars.

CANON OF THE THREE STARS or DAWN CHORUS 1984
(Pachelbel: Canon. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise. Albinoni: Adagio. Bach: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. 4 pieces from Villa Lobos: Bachianis Brasileiras 2, 4, and 7.)

Sweet is the word I would use to describe pretty much this whole album. Some tracks are even cute, although at least one is solemn and another poignant. The quality of this album is not nearly as great as Snowflakes, Pictures, The Bermuda Triangle, or the Ravel Album. It almost seems that Tomita did this one in his sleep, but some tracks are very good, and since all the tracks are individual pieces it would be worth owning as a reference CD.

LIVE AT LINZ, AUSTRIA 1985 - THE MIND OF THE UNIVERSE
(Live concert with huge speakers on both sides of the Danube River and live soloists. Includes 7 pieces from previous albums- some with new arrangements and live soloists. Plus, Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring. Japanese Traditional: Cranes In Their Nest. Vaughn Williams: The Lark Ascending. Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde-Liebestod. Beethoven: Ode To Joy with full Choir and soloists.)

In my opinion, this is definitely in Tomita's top five best albums. It contains some of the most beautiful and unique performances ever put on a disk. The live violin solo (Mariko Senju) of the Lark Ascending is by far the most captivating, lovely, and perfect I have ever heard; the best performance of The Lark Ascending that I know of. The same violinist does an outstanding job on Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1: Moderato; Allegro Moderato. This is the part of The Bermuda Triangle near the end that gets so exciting, and with the live violinist and Tomita's magical orchestral creations, it is truly one of the most thrilling musical experiences I have ever enjoyed.

I also love the Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde-Liebestod. So much depth and feeling, it is hard to describe how lovely it is. This album also has an extended version of Cranes In Their Nest, a very good performance by Goro Yamaguchi, on the Shakuhachi.

Of the two concert CDs, this one has a darker feel with much more awe-inspiring moments, and more depth. It is also the longest Tomita album ever made, which is perfect, since it is so enjoyable.

Note on sound quality: I appreciate good sound quality. This CD does have moments with tape hiss and distortion, but over all it is very good. I listened on my Alpine car stereo last night with Polk Momo speakers, good amp, and Infinity subwoofer all turned up very loud. The most important parts are clean. There is reverb at times, but it is natural, bouncing off things in the area. It could have been mixed better, but it is very hard for a huge concert like this to be recorded perfectly. Also, during The Conversation from Close Encounters and the first couple minutes of Ode To Joy you can hear the helicopter that was holding up a huge speaker during the show. Actually hearing a helicopter on a CD may seem silly... BUT, it is these things that make you Feel as if you are At the Live Concert, and this is a huge Plus.

LIVE IN NEW YORK 1988 - BACK TO THE EARTH
(Live concert with live soloists. Includes 7 pieces from previous albums- some with new arrangements and live soloists. Plus Dukas: Fanfare. Mahler: Symphony 3 in D Minor - 5th Movement. Traditional: Chinese War Lord Going Home. Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue. Fisher-Dvorak: Goin' Home.)

The music on this CD is nearly as good as the Live At Linz concert (above). But the sound quality is not as good. It is less demanding than Live At Linz, which makes it more suited for playing in the background.

These last two CDs are my all time favorite live concert albums.

BACH FANTASY 1996
10 separate Bach pieces in a sweet musical style very similar to the Dawn Chorus album. A rare, expensive CD, that is not included in the big new Box Set.

IN CONCLUSION
Other reviewers on Amazon have done a more eloquent job than I of describing Tomita's amazing musical style, but I have enjoyed creating this guide. Thank you for taking the time to read it.