Enchanting Nature

Christopher Franke | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 17, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Earthtone
• ASIN: B0000065GC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,667 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Gate of the Shimmering Cave

2. Song of the Creek

3. Dancing over Pools

4. Celtic Mist

5. When the Sun Loves Trees

6. Silence of the Eclipse

7. Stream Garden

8. Purple Waves

9. Malibu Trail

10. Beach Park

11. Big Sur Romance

12. Silent Waves

13. Woodland Watercolors

14. Inside the Cave

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A collection of simply beautiful melodies, January 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Enchanting Nature (Audio CD)

"Enchanting Nature" is not a completely new entry in the Christopher Franke's discography. Instead, it's mostly a targeted compilation, with four completely new tracks (out of 14 total) added. As honestly indicated on the cover, this release is targeted at a new audience, rather than at collectors, but I am sure that the latter will want to have this beautiful CD in their collection as well. In my opinion, as hard as it is to image, "Enchanting Nature" improves upon the original release, "Pacific Coast Highway". In addition, the CD sleeve is much more beautiful than that of the latter, featuring many stunning nature photographs by Bruce Heinemann. Years later, in 1997, Franke composed background music for Deepak Chopra's audiobook, "Transformation of Mind", an experiment of a kind, and that enhanced CD-ROM edition also featured these extremely beautiful photographs. Don't miss it.

"Enchanting Nature"'s contents are mostly taken from Franke's first solo studio album, "Pacific Coast Highway". The new tracks (first and last two) are composed in a similar vein - light piano melodies with a misty air of soft synthesizer passages. Nevertheless, this is not average easy listening music - laws, no. It's classical in composition structure, perfectly executed, bearing the stigma of enormous compositional experience Franke had within Tangerine Dream. See my review of "Pacific Coast Highway" for detailed descriptions of the musical contents of this CD (since as I said, the latter CD and this one overlap substantially). If you have none of these releases, my sound advice would be to purchase "Enchanting Nature".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE NAMES OF THE SONGS BEST DESCRIBES THE MUSIC., September 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Enchanting Nature (Audio CD)

I'VE LISTENED TO A LOT OF NEW AGE MUSIC, BUT THIS CD IS THE BEST YET! THE SONGS ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL AND FULL OF NATURE. UNLIKE A LOT OF NEW AGE MUSIC THAT'S A LITTLE TOO SPACEY, THESE SONGS ARE HAPPY AND UPBEAT. YOU CAN CLOSE YOUR EYES AND FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AT THE BEACH, IN A FOREST OR NEXT TO A BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN STREAM. THIS MUSIC IS VERY RELAXING AND PEACEFUL. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND PURCHASE OF THIS CD!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly beautiful!, November 27, 2004

By 

Distant Voyageur "Nicholas Computer" (Io) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enchanting Nature (Audio CD)

Christopher Franke is an amazing artist and has composed excellent music for the Babylon 5 series along with many movies over the years. Following his departure from his band of 18 years Tangerine Dream, his solo output has been stunningly beautiful and his 1994 album "Enchanting Nature" is the pinnacle of his solo output barring movie related compositions.

The music overall is very natural in sound and incorporates natural background sounds perfectly into the music. Some of the best examples are "Deep Cave" and "Inside The Cave" which has springtime bird chirping that merges into beautiful Celtic strings and including native flutes in the mix. "Inside The Cave" concludes the album by reprisining the openign track but instead merging into a stunningly beautiful and remote flute solo performance in the background.

My favorite songs though are "Woodland Waterfalls", "Purple Waves", "Malibu Highway" and "Beach Park". "Purple Waves" is my favorite song on the album having a very dark but intense stormy tone with a mix of New Age and electronic background elements including that of a rocket launch in the background. "Woodland Waterfalls" is another contendant for that spot having a tearjerkingly beautiful sound with a deep and sweet ambient sound, Celtic strings, and even some Flugel Horns. "Beach Park" is a Pacific Coast pop-oriented Jazz-influenced track with a tearfully happy mood to it.

This is a wonderful album that you should not pass up, even if you're not a major New Age zealot like I am. The title may be a bit cheesy but believe me, this album is beyond enchanting!