Crystal Mass

Tear Garden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2000)
• Original Release Date: October 24, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B00004ZDMI
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,991 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. LAMENT

2. Double Spades Effect, The

3. Desert Island Disc

4. Hopeful

5. Castaway

6. Her Majesty's Trusted Food Taster

7. Feathered Friends

8. To Mourn The Death Of Color

9. Six Of One

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars melody is the king: and good melody, btw, March 12, 2002

By 

D. M. MATALLIN "Origami" (Valencia, Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crystal Mass (Audio CD)

I think Cevin Key and Edward Ka-spel are very talented musicians. Together or separately, they have made very good songs and albums, experimenting with everyting imaginable: experimental electronics, fussion of wind instruments with cold electronics, danceable melody, undanceable melody, etc etc. Now this 'Crystal mass' is maybe their most accessible piece of work Key has ever been invloved in. Once said this, and once said that Skinny Puppy is my fav band and Legendary Pink Dots are starting to be one of my top favourites, I must say: Crystal mass is a good album.
But mind this: don't expect a Puppy influenced album, 'cos you won't get it. You better expect a somewhat melodic industrial (is this industrial? does industrial mean sth? those questions are opened to you, and I won't answer them) with a very good voice, very open-minded. In fact, Tear Garden is a very opened-minded project, don't u think so? they add lots and lots of influences, tastes, styles, such as, for instance, industrial, pop, rock, reggae (it's undeniable, to me, the reggae beat in some songs of this project as well as in some later Download's songs.
The lyrics are good, very good, since Ka-spel is a poet, just as Ogre is, so unlke other composers such as Bill Leeb who, even though I love his music, I must admit he's a very poor writer, and anyway he down't seem to want to be a good one.
Now, the songs, since many people say the order of the titles doesn't correspond with the order of the actual songs, I'll comment them as track 1, track 2, etc.

Track 1: after an electronic intro which makes us clear that this album isn't going to be innovative regarding sound, we get a very melodic song, which reminds me of... New Order, without a shadow of doubt, a sort of darker New Order, but the influence is there for me to see it, at least. Good lyrics, sad atmosphere, melancholy everywhere.

Track 2: it begins alright, again with that blend of retro electronics and 80's beats, but here I seem to find some echoes of indie music from the 90's. With no chorus, the same sentence is repeated at last once and again. It's not one of my fav.

Track 3: in the same vein of track 1, this song has a very good chorus "this is your life...", a very catchy melody, nothing groundbreaking of course, but good.

Track 4: This is the least electronic song in all the album, reminds me once more of New Order, good melody but my leats fav.

Track 5: here we have some reggae influence. A good song, anyway, curious lyrics, reggae chorus.

Track 6: A very melancholy song, Ka-spel sings superbly, he makes me wanna die.

Track 7: maybe the most original song, again reggae influence, as well as trip-hop intonation. Maybe my fav together with the first one. The most experimental song, it seems as if Key wants to remind us at times that he is the man behind the Download experimental project.

Track 8: over a more electronic background, Ka-spel recites couples of verses in which melancholy presides all over.

Track 9: another melodic piece, sad, with slight touches of Download electronics, but all with the accostumed sad melodic touch.

To sum up, i want to say that this is not my favourite type of music, 'cos I prefer more electronic , darker and experimental projects such as Download, Skinny puppy, or Tear Garden's 'Tired eyes slowly burning', but sometimes...

...sometimes I want some good, sad, melancholy, melody: then this is the album.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Album, November 16, 2000

By 

Hey Yeah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crystal Mass (Audio CD)

This is a great album, well worth the wait. It is, however, a bit different then their last disc. This album starts out with a much happier feeling, which sticks throughout most of the cd. Only in the last few songs do they shed the happiness for more a darker mood, akin to much of their last release. Despite the lighter mood of this cd, most Tear Garden fans should enjoy it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars easy listening, November 5, 2000

By 

losingsoul (south carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crystal Mass (Audio CD)

Other Tear Garden CD's have had certain "pop" type songs..like "You and Me and Rainbows", "Romulus and Venus" and "In Search of My Rose". This entire offering is full of them, the most obvious being "Hopeful". I mean it's so clean and catchy it could be a Buzz Clip.(the horror!). It's also the most like a Legendary Pink Dots CD, I can barely tell Cevin Key is here at all except for certain moments of drum programming. There is also an alt-country thing going on here at times. Very strange but supremely sugar honey yellowjacket catchy. The weirdness does kick in on the two most obviously LPD type songs "His Majesty's Trusted Food Taster" and "To Mourn the Death of Colour".Hallucinogenic sweetness.Edward KaSpel's voice is in fine form (as usual). These guys now have more than enough material to grace us with a two and a half hour show.Please TOUR! and have no fear, listener. The Tear Garden hasn't gone commercial, they're just kind of saying "we could if we wanted".