Customer Reviews

The Best of Delerium

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

 

 

This is definitely the best of Delerium from their work on their 4 major album releases: Semantic Spaces to their most recent, Chimera. A decade of beautiful music.

So unlike most "Best Of" albums out there, this is a very good compilation of their best singles... including a few re-mix singles (though some true Delerium fans would have to disagree because Delerium's earlier work, like Spheres, were not included). Ten years (Semantic Spaces was released in 1994 and Chimera released in 2003, spread over 10 years) of Delerium. So anyone who does not own any Delerium albums, but would like a sample of their greatest, this is the album for you. Good balance of re-mixes and selections from their albums. Trip-hop beats, beautiful instrumental melodies, layers of gothic to electronic to ambient sounds, etheral and moving vocals... Delerium is one of moving artists of it's genre, if you can truly classify what they do as one genre.

I recommend this to anyone who already are fans of Delerium as well. It has 2 un-released original songs by Delerium, available only though this album. "Paris" feat. Aude and "You + I" feat. Zoe Johnston. It also has a re-mix of the classic, "Silence (21st Century Remix" feat. Sarah McLachlan by Above and Beyond. It is another great re-mix, featured on the upcoming updated single of "Silence", Silence 2004. The two new songs and re-mix are worth it... Instead of the original versions, re-mixes of "Truly (Wise Buddah Edit)" and "Underwater (Above and Beyond 21st Century Remix)" are put on this outstanding compilation.


Tracks are as follows (all songs are not truly original, they are all edited for time, original appearence of tracks are listed next to songs):

01. "Flowers Become Screens" feat. Kristy Thirsk [Semantic Spaces]
02. "Silence" feat. Sarah McLachlan [Karma]
03. "Paris" feat. Aude [previously un-released] *
04. "Truly (Wise Buddah Edit)" feat. Nirina Pallot [Truly - Single, original version on Chimera]
05. "Terra Firma" feat. Aude [Poem]
06. "Incantation" feat. Kristy Thirsk [Semantic Spaces]
07. "After All" feat. Jael of Lunik [Chimera]
08. "Underwater" (Above and Beyond 21st Century Remix) feat. Rani [Underwater - Single, Odyssey: The Remix Collection, original version on Poem]
09. "Run For It" feat. Leigh Nash [Chimera]
10. "Remembrance", Instrumental [Karma]
11. "You & I" feat. Zoe Johnston [previously un-released] **
12. "Innocente" feat. Leigh Nash [Poem]
13. "Euphoria" (Firefly) feat. Jacqui Hunt [Karma]
14. "Silence (Above and Beyond 21st Century Remix" feat. Sarah McLachlan [previously un-released] ***

* "Paris" feat. Aude is a song that is reminiscent of Johann Pachelbel's masterpiece, "Canon". Very similar in style and sound of the [Poem] album.
** "You + I" feat. Zoe Johnston, is a unique, amazing track, most likely recorded during the recording of [Chimera] though most likely not used on the album because of its very different sound and mood (I was thinking more of Conjure One when I heard this). Zoe's vocals shine in this track, beautifully done. Beautiful track.
*** "Silence (Above and Beyond 21st Century Remix)" feat. Sarah McLachlan, is a great re-mix of the all-time classic. Similar in fast layered trance beats of Above and Beyond's other remixes, this one is no different in quality of sound and arrangement. Nice new remix.


If the great song playlist isn't enough, the artwork on the album should be able to pull you in. Artwork for Delerium is credited to the wonderful, Carylann Loeppky. Her artwork seen on the Best Of album should not go un-noticed, it is her best. It is strange and beautiful at the same time resulting in a great combination of emotions.

A album highly recommended to all.

...but they would be wrong. Yes, back in the early nineties Delerium was an ambient project of instrumentals with dark synth rhythms and industrial-influenced drums layered in ethereal pads and chant samples(the stuff is awesome- if interested check out Delerium's 2 Archives double-disk collections)
Some of this can be heard on the Semantic Spaces album(where Flowers Become Screens and Incantation are from) but that album was a turning point for Delerium. Kristy Thirsk provided the element missing from the Delerium package: Angelic Vocals for some of these songs.
Bill leeb and Rhys(pronounced 'Reece') Fulber have been involved with MANY projects over the years(for info, check out mindphaser.com) and in fact, the duo continued to make the same music from early Delerium, but changed the name to SYNAESTHESIA.
With the release Karma came an interesting concept- What if some songs written would feature a guest vocalist? Not just any vocalist, but the RIGHT vocalist for the right song? Enter Sarah Mclachlin, Camille Handerson(Sarah's live back-up singer), the returning vocalist Kristy Thirsk, etc. Things were definitely going a bit more commercial, but guess what? No one else was taking the standard idea of New Age music and transforming it into a new breed of music. Using key vocalists, grooving bass lines, incorporating live guitar and drums with samples and chants to create an absolute mood.
Which leads us directly to Poem, where there were almost no instrumental tracks, and the album hosted vocals by Leigh Nash(sixpence none the richer), Joanna Stevens(Solar Twins), Jenifer McLaren, Matthew Sweet, among others. The songwriting and production was amazing and Delerium was getting closer to what I think it's goal was: Get that right voice for the song.
With their latest album Chimera, Bill and Rhys find themselves in the company of yet another incredible line-up of vocalists with Leigh Nash retuning for two tracks, Kristy Thirsk, Jael(Lunik), Zoe Johnston(Faithless, Bent), Margaret far, Nerina Pallet, and Julee Cruise, among others- again, only two instrumentals. The song 'After All' is the perfect mix of dance, new age, and pop and it features some chant samples in the middle! Who else does that?? The track was made for radio.
Okay enough history lesson.
This Best Of collection will give you a great idea of where Delerium came from to what it is still morphing into. The new tracks, 'Paris' and 'You and I' are very strong tracks. the only drawback to this collection is that some of the tracks are edited, so they are shorter. I am one for the six munite song- as long as there is a reason it is six minutes long. Delerium has songs in excess of 9 minutes- but I never wish they were shorter. If you are interested in any of the guest vocalists here, take a listen because you probably have never heard them singing in the style they do with Delerium. The Best Of album is fantastic, but don't limit your Delerium collection to just that because you'll be missing out on all the mind-blowing material on all their releases.
I was lucky enough to see Delerium live here in Chicago on the only tour they've done(Rhys's solo project Conjure One opened the show...also amazing)and I've never been more impressed at a show- EVER. Kristy Thirsk and Shelly Harland traded back and forth on lead and back-up vocals for the show. It was a wonderful blend of live guitar, bass, drums, and vocals and electronic components and samples. These guys really are
talented.

I have been eagerly anticipating the new best of cd by Delerium for a bit. I have been a fan since a former roommate got me into the group's eponymous album "Karma" which was a drastic change in their sound from mostly instrumental ambient music to ethereal, techno-pop music. I immediately fell in love with the haunting melodies. I bought "The Best of" collection today and was definitely not disappointed. All the songs on "The Best of" are singles that comes from their last few cds dating back to "Semantic Spaces". There are two new songs on the cd "Paris" (featuring Aude) and "You & I" (featuring Zoe Johnston). Both songs are excellent. "Paris" is especially a favorite song off this album. Pachebel's famous "Canon" is sampled on this gorgeous, lush ballad. The vocals are all sung in French. I find myself listening to the song over and over. "You & I" is breathtaking. I love Zoe Johnston's rich, soprano voice. In other words, the new new Delerium songs are worth buying this album. Delerium never fails to deliver or disappoint me. I particularly loved "Paris". Out of the three remixes "Truly", "Underwater", and "Silence", I am partially biased towards "Truly". I thought the Buddah Radio edit for "Truly" was excellent. I liked "Underwater" immensely. It is one of the better remixes in general. The remix for that song is nothing short of greatness. I am rather tired of hearing remixes for "Silence". I guess that is the one flaw I had with this compilation, a remix of "Silence". I heard my fill of remixes of the song, let along the song itself. Overall the song selection was good and is a nice tide me over until Bill and Rhys puts out a new album of original material. "The Best of" is a good introduction to new fans.

Don't get me wrong, I love Delerium--every time I get an album of theirs, I can't wait to put it through several listens, and this was no exception. Unlike some of the fans, I enjoy both their older works and the new, poppier direction they started with Poem and applied even heavier to Chimera. I was hoping to get a handful of my favourites compiled onto one CD, and in this case, it succeeded.

However, it came as a disappointment that nearly each greatest hit track was a jarring radio edit, or dance remix. Having heard the originals, they were the ones I really appreciated, which just made the cuts and omissions even more noticeable. Furthermore, I don't really care for the 2 new tracks "Paris" and "You and I"--anywhere else, I'm not sure it'd be considered a hit.

Some will appreciate the edits and remixes, but I could not, try as I might. It felt as if they were unwilling to give away all of their best-loved songs so easily, filling it with different versions to try and compensate.

This album is a nice blend of 14 really good tracks by Delerium. There is not a single song that I skip on this CD. From what I have read and listened to, if you are going to buy only one Delerium album, make it this one. There are some Gregorian monks chanting, Indian sound clips, good special effects and synth use, beautiful sounding female vocalists, poppy upbeat songs, and more introspective tracks as well. If you like this album I can also recommend Amethystium, Mythos, Blue Stone, Balligomingo, and Sleepthief. I am happy to have them all in my collection. Really exquisite stuff.

Delerium is one of those bands that I've been listening to for what seems like forever. Their ambient/electronic/new age genre defying sound has carried them through the last two decades of excellent music and near constant (if not drastic) reinvention. From SEMANTIC SPACES to POEM and now THE BEST OF DELERIUM, they have shown themselves to be among the best at what they do, walking alongside other greats like DEAD CAN DANCE or ENIGMA.

Essentially a collection of previous songs, some remixes, and two new tracks, THE BEST OF DELERIUM is a more commercial offering that previous albums, but it is still a fresh, beautiful, and well constructed piece. Stand out tracks include "Paris," "Underwater" and the fantastic "Truly - Wise Buddah Radio Edit."

A great place to start a relationship with Delerium, THE BEST OF DELERIUM is a representative look at their long history of creating great music. A must have for any ambient music fan.

I have many of the Delerium CD's but there are songs here that I have never heard before. This is an excellent compliation of the music of Delerium. I'm frankly surprised that they would make it as good as it is since you could buy it and have much of their best music. On the other hand the music is so good it could also inspire you to buy all of their other CD's. If you like Delirium in the least this is a can't miss purchase.

The album didn't flow for me. I know greatest hits albums aren't supposed to, but this was what I enjoyed about their previous albums. Evanescence's Origin album flows as well, much better than Fallen.

Even though it had two good new songs, I think the original albums, Semantic Spaces and Karma, are better alone. The songs on each of those just kinda blended together, I felt an overall Delerium experience rather than listening to individual songs.

It probably didn't help that a lot of the greatest hits were remixes, I usually don't care for those.

After listening to this CD a few times here's my verdict: It seems to capture most of Delerium's best but I really winced while listening to track 14, a remix which of all things is definitely not the best version of Sarah McLachlan's 'Silence'. The remix, with its repetitive and loud thumpings, simply overwhelms Sarah's otherwise fine singing. Eventually I'll make a copy of the CD, delete track 14 and substitute the original from the Karma CD (a must have CD if you are a Delerium fan).

I only found a couple of selections that I liked but that's typical. You pay 20 bucks for two songs. I bought if for "That's price of falling in Love". Love that piece. The rest is OK.