Dinner on the Diner: Original Music from the PBS Primetime Series

Randy Armstrong (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 16, 2000)
• Original Release Date: May 16, 2000
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Ellipsis Arts
• ASIN: B00004SYD2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,046 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Baile de Gitano (Gypsy Dance)

2. La Alma Desperta (The Soul Awakens)

3. Spanish Skies

4. Phoenix de Amor

5. Romance

6. Viaje de Vuelta

7. Al Andalus

8. Train to Grandma

9. Tarifa

10. Meditacion

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. In and Out of the Harbour/Devil in the Kitchen

2. I'm O'Er Young

3. I'm O'Er Young

4. Cha Till MacCruimean

5. MacPherson's Lament

6. Haslam's Hornpipe

7. The Mathematician

8. Laird O'Drumblair

9. In and Out of the Harbour/Devil in the Kitchen

10. My Bonnie Moorhen

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The old question of a soundtrack score standing on its own, May 23, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dinner on the Diner: Original Music from the PBS Primetime Series (Audio CD)

The trouble with most soundtrack albums is that the music seldom "works" out of context. Travelogues, on the other hand, do not quite have that problem since the music seldom is chosen to support a dramatic situation but rather to create a mood. So when PBS planned a series called <Dinner on the Diner>, which is centered around "the biggest names in cooking preparing exquisite regional recipes aboard the dining cars of beautifully restored, historic trains" (as per the press release) a score had to be devised to create the auditory essence of the locales and of the recipes.

Naturally the audio-visual tie in is lost on the 2-CD box set put out on the Ellipsis Arts label (CD 3680). The score was "composed, produced, performed, and selected" by Randy Armstrong, known to many for his connection with the Do'a World Music Ensemble. How much you will enjoy hearing the music of the series depends on your taste for the music of Spain, South Africa, Scotland, and Southeast Asia. Depending on my own tastes (and whose taste can one depend on?), I found myself greatly enjoying the Spanish and Scottish segments, while reacting less to the rest, many of which are quite catchy but (to me) too repetitious to be fully satisfying. I am sure that even that small percent is going to be very effective in the visual context; but a CD must stand on its own merits.

An attractive booklet accompanies the CDs and helps you visualize what will be on your screen. My wife read the four recipes and thought (a) they were too complicated for your average cook and (b) the fat content was far too high. Also p. 20 has some sort of ink stain that blots out part of the text. Oh, well.

But as far as the music is concerned, many will love all or certainly most of it, based on their own tastes. So whatever a critic says has to be taken with a grain of salt--or 8 lbs of rock salt, as the first recipe demands.

4.0 out of 5 stars The old question of a soundtrack score standing on its own, May 30, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dinner on the Diner: Original Music from the PBS Primetime Series (Audio CD)

The trouble with most soundtrack albums is that the music seldom "works" out of context. Travelogues, on the other hand, do not quite have that problem since the music seldom is chosen to support a dramatic situation but rather to create a mood. So when PBS planned a series called <Dinner on the Diner>, which is centered around "the biggest names in cooking preparing exquisite regional recipes aboard the dining cars of beautifully restored, historic trains" (as per the press release) a score had to be devised to create the auditory essence of the locales and of the recipes.

Naturally the audio-visual tie in is lost on the 2-CD box set put out on the Ellipsis Arts label (CD 3680). The score was "composed, produced, performed, and selected" by Randy Armstrong, known to many for his connection with the Do'a World Music Ensemble. How much you will enjoy hearing the music of the series depends on your taste for the music of Spain, South Africa, Scotland, and Southeast Asia. Depending on my own tastes (and whose taste can one depend on?), I found myself greatly enjoying the Spanish and Scottish segments, while reacting less to the rest, which is quite catchy but (to me) too repetitious to be fully satisfying. I am sure that even that small percent is going to be very effective in the visual context; but a CD must stand on its own merits.

An attractive booklet accompanies the CDs and helps you visualize what will be on your screen. My wife read the four recipes and thought (a) they were too complicated for your average cook and (b) the fat content was far too high. Also p. 20 has some sort of ink stain that blots out part of the text. Oh, well.

But as far as the music is concerned, many will love all or certainly most of it, based on their own tastes. So whatever a critic says has to be taken with a grain of salt--or 8 lbs of rock salt, as the first recipe demands.