Customer Reviews

DreamCypher

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those rare CDs where I like almost all the songs. Each successive release from the Cruxshadows has been better than the last--with consistently high quality tracks.

Dreamcypher has several great dance tracks (like Ariadne, Sophia and Windbringer), a few beautiful ballads (Memorare, Eye of the Storm) and, as always, stirring lyrics from Rogue. Several tracks make you stop and think about what's being said. Birthday asks a thought-provoking question--life is short, and what do we want to do with it? Once again, ancient myths are used as inspiration such as with Ariadne and Pygmalion's Dream. I have to disagree with the reviewer who wants less mythology. I'm tired of recent music being all chorus and no meat. It is possible to listen to a song AND dance to it! Perfect is a beautiful song to a lover who doesn't realize how much she means to her partner, "I don't think you realize, you are perfect in my eyes." Defender is a nice complement to Return (Coming Home) from their album Wishfire. The only song on the disck I didn't care for at all was Sleepwalking, and others may enjoy it.

My only small criticism is that many of the songs are too long, 6 and 7 minutes. That's great in a dance club, but for listening in the car or at home I'd prefer a more standard edit. Hopefully, there will be an EP with remixes and radio edits. Plus, it may help them get more radio play.

Overall, I highly recommend this album to anyone who enjoys club, or dance music. Cruxshadows fans will, of course, be delighted.

The Cruxshadows have been getting more and more digestable with each release. Dreamscypher is the logical continuation of Cruxshadow's journey into pop-songs, and boy, do they get it right! Wishfire laid the groundwork for the bouncy beats on Dreamcypher, but what's really new are the pop hooks.

"Sophia," the single from last year, played with pop-sensibility, but threw catchiness away in favour of a more "winterborn"-esque dancefloor formula. "Perfect," (a new song) however, takes a truly pop lyric set, and sets it to a bubbly new-wave influenced hook. It's the first song by the Cruxshadows that could concievably see radio play. It's just a little too long, clocking in at a solid 7 minutes.

"Elissia" is the second song with a hook, this time given by Rougue's punchy vocal delivery. And so the album continues. The usual hard guitars and violins are all still there for you purists, but this time they consistently come together into songs, unlike previously, where they would only do so on one song per album.

Dreamcypher, ultimately, feels kind of like the Cure's Disintegration in that it takes pop formulas, applies a romantic instrumentation, and stretches the finished product into 7 minute epics.

The best album yet. I even like the ballads this round.

I don't know how I ended up at the show. I guess I went to see one of the opening bands as well as just to get out, shoot some pictures and have a good night of music before returning to the work week.

My initial plan was to catch the opening acts then leave before it got too late. What happened instead was what I will remember as one of the best performances I've seen. For a band I'd only heard of in passing and maybe heard on a web radio station without realizing who the music was from, I ended up being an instant fan. Rogue's stage (and crowd, and hanging from the rafters while singing) performance captured and commanded me to listen from the second he brushed by me on his way to the stage at the beginning of the show all the way until the very end.

I ended up buying as many albums as I could and while the old material is good too, Dreamcypher is an amazing album from start to finish. One of the other reviews faults Rogue for his (over)use of mythological references, I disagree because his lyrics are so powerful they almost command you to track down all the stories he sings about in his songs and find out why these stories made such an impact to him. If people calmly dismiss this band as fun and danceable without diving into the lyrics and stories (actual stories like the old old days!) then they are missing out. To those of us who like dance music but get sick of the trite lyrics that get embedded into the songs this band is like our generation, full of hyper-linking and sharing. I like anything in general that makes me think as well as give me references to research on my own. I came out of the show feeling a wash of emotions, my friend and I were both entirely speechless on our cab ride home and woke up the next morning with a sense of hope that this planet have some good things left on it after all.

If you don't like well written lyrics, strings in your industrial or a message other than fighting the system then this band is not going to be for you. For me it hit like a cannonball through the heart.

I won't rehash what many of the others have said so far, I'll just agree. I, for one, personally don't mind longer songs. That's just more song to like (or dislike, but there's none of that here). Excellent CD.

I ran Across Cruxshadows when I was searching Amazon for Goth music and fell in LOVE with this band from the first CD I got (Mystery of a whisper). at first I didn't think much of it but by my second listen I was hooked! now, I have to say that I think their earlier albums where better and this is a little to slick, too saleable. that is the only reason I did not give this album 5 stars. the lyrics are great but the music sounds a little too rehearsed (weird, I know) so I would suggest you start with 'Mystery of a Whisper' or 'Ethernaut' to get into Cruxshadow. they have a synthesized sound with male vocals sort of between singing and talking.

This is my first Cruxshadows experience, and I'm blown away. This is a band I've been waiting for, soemthing poetic, somewhat dark, yet danceable. Thank God for this band among many others that are truly original, non-mainstream.

I have to say that being a CXS fan since I heard Eurydice, I am in love with this album. The songs are powerful, intense, and my favorite, mythologically influenced. Being a myth buff myself, I truly appreciate the uniqueness of this album, and the CXS as a band. I'm tired of the old lyrics most bands do, like "I was dumped" or "I hate you". This album has a unique twist to the way they write. I'll admit, some songs kind of go on and on, but i love them anyway. My absolute favorite is Eye of the Storm. this song hit me on the first listen. I was reminecent of Winter Born, but even better! I always start to sing it when I get bored, that song and Kisses 3, that song i like a lullaby. Sleepwalking is sexy and eerie, Pygmailon's Dream jazzy, and Memorare simply intense and beautiful. I totally played Birthday on my birthday. Perfect is just awesome. There is no way to describe how much this band means to me. Being a writer, I've even gotten story ideas from this band. Anyone who says their stail or to electronic, or that they delve too much into the myth, just doesn't get it and it can't be explained to them. You either feel the music or you don't.

Like most of their albums, it took me a few days to get used to it. The first time I listened to it, I was actually a bit disappointed. But I listened again, and I quickly became hooked! As usual, their lyrical imagery is beautiful; and the music (a blend of dark synth-rock and haunting violin) paints a magnificent background. From the inspirational (Windbringer, Sophia) to the melancholy (Solus, Memorare) to the love song (Perfect), this album has a bit of everything. They make several allusions to Greek and other mythology, as any of their fans have come to expect. Overall, a beautiful album.

I'm very pleased with this title. The talent shown in this group, while not mainstream, is undeniable. CXS has had quite a few changes of line-up over the years but the core, the heart reamins the same. The violins and keyboards as always are excellent. The blending of classic tales and mythic imagery with today's darkwave makes this a must have for anyone who likes this style. While not a huge fan of darkwave when I started, I am now. The service provided by this seller in offering this title and their selection makes me a definite repeat customer.

This is, as the title says, my favorite Cruxshadows album to date. Often with albums, no matter what band produced it, there are tracks that I automatically skip after I've listened to the album a few times, but not so with Dreamcypher. From beginning to end, I'm enthralled. Each track is appropriately moody, and the lyrics are very engaging, ranging from mythical struggles to failed relationships to undying love and back again. It's a very beautiful effort that is, in a lot of ways, extremely positive and uplifting, even as the songs deal with depressing subjects.

Ultimately, I would recommend this album to any CXS fan, or anyone with an ear for Dark Wave music.