Earth Opera

Earth Opera | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1968
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Wounded Bird Records
• ASIN: B00005RZX1
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,843 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Originally released in 1968, now making its worldwide CD debut from Wounded Bird Records! Earth Opera was part the 'Boston Sound' of the late 60's. Being the most creative of that batch of groups, they put out two albums and evolved into the highly praised group Seatrain. Earth Opera featured bluegrass mandolin player extraordinaire David Grisman and singer/songwriter Peter Rowan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars perhaps the best album of the "bosstown sound", November 3, 2001

By 

Stephen F Mulcahy (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Earth Opera (Audio CD)

This band featured Peter Rowan as vocalist and songwriter- he later went on to join Seatrain and work with Jerry Garcia in Old and in the way, as well as having a solo carreer that continues to this day. David Grisman, who would also wind up working with Jerry Garcia ( as well as playing on AMERICAN BEAUTY), who has also made solo music , was another member.
this band was considered to be part of the Bosstown Sound hype/movement, but was quite different from most of those groups. Earth Opera was very jazzy and the disc also shows the strong bluegrass tradition that Rowan and Grisman had come out of. Musically, this is a quite impressive album that is more advanced than the bulk of other Bosstown Sound bands. and Rowan's quivery vocals can occasionally grate on listeners, however.
The lyrics can be pretentious at times, like in "Death by Fire"-but in other instances the lyrics are exceptional. "Dreamless" is a good example. this is a short catchy , hummable number with a nice solo in the middle. The Red Sox are winning is probably the band's best known number, and maybe its best. Beautiful xylophone, old-timey, 1920's type vocals that must be coming through through a megaphone or something. Fine guitar work and superb bass, as well. The lyrics end with Rowan screaming:" Let's make Boston America's number one baseball city! Hooray! Hooray! Kill the hippies, kill the hippies, kill the hippies!" Weird and dated, but if you hear the song, you'll probably crack a smile today. At the time, the Red Sox had just gone from ninth place in 1966 to A.L. champions in their "Impossible Dream" year of 1967.
This is not really a psychedelic album , though traces of it do exist in songs like the aforementioned "Death by Fire," "The Red Sox Are Winning," and "To care at all." "As it was before" is, lyrically speaking, a long philosophical downer of a track , but the music is fine."The Child Bride" is an eerie dirge that sounds much like Tim Buckley. "Home of the brave" is a bitter track dealing with the horror and insanity of war.There's a boring tune "When you were full of wonder", and some of this doesn't gell very well- but this is possibly the best of the Bosstown sound recorings. As such , I recommend it.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greats, November 6, 2001

By 

Kemlo (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earth Opera (Audio CD)

It's a joy and a delight that this album has at last been issued on CD, since it is one of the true greats of its era. Even lightweight tracks like "The Red Sox are Winning" are still pleasant enough, but there are plenty of true standouts that are timeless, such as "The Child Bride" and particularly "Death by Fire". Like the Love album Forever Changes, this is one that somehow manages to encapsulate a whole era, and it's a crime that it's been ignored so long.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLET, August 3, 2009

By 

Bill Your 'Free Form FM Handi Cyber Print DJ ... (Mahwah, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Earth Opera (Audio CD)

Earth Opera made an album a year in 1968 and 1969. This is their self titled first.

This band combigned small combo orchectrations with mandolin. There is vibraphone, milkshake smooth acustic guitar, and jazzy drumming. The songs are compact--but Earth Opera is no pop group. Their sound is elegent, working ornate dynamics within convental stong structre.

Peter Rowan made this great band brilliant. He had a bluegrass backround-- did the mandolin work here--but it was more jazz grass, so he is ampley able to handle these arrangements.

More important, he is a singer who could make the Boston Phone Book sound good over a Letterman backing track. He has an authoratative, operatic voice. (Hence the groups name? I don't know.) When he sings, you perk to attention. His voice is high, but can be thick with sadness, even doom.

This fits perfectly here, since this 1968 disc is filled with songs about Vietnam and the cultural devide then englufing the U.S. The lyrics don't mention King, RFK or Chicago directly, but listening, to both words and music, you feel the thick air of that long, hot, terrible year.

The next year, this group made The Great American Eagle Tragedy. Click, and I'll tell you that story.