Customer Reviews

Enchanting Nature

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

 

 

"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".

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!

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!

The only reason that I bought this is because I'm a huge Chris Franke fan. I usually hate the type of CDs that you can find in those nature-themed stores (Who thought up recording a thunderstorm and then selling it, anyways?), but since it's Chris Franke... well... I shelled out my 15 bucks and listened. It's actually pretty good. Not as cool as Epic, the Tenchi soundtrack or Babylon 5 vol. 2, not great in the way that future generations will see it as a milestone, but good. I particularly love track 3, "Dancing Over Pools", a happy little tune, Track 4, "Celtic Mist", an uber-cool Celtic-style mix, Track 8, "Purple Waves" (Not to be confused with the Hendrix song), which is simply purty, and Track 11, "Big Sur Romance" (What the hell is a "sur"?), a piano-centic track. Still... for those of you who love New Age relaxation stuff, Epic's a better buy.

I have listened to this CD many times and really enjoy it. A friend of mine listened to it and looked at me in amazement, asking, "Where did you get this CD. I really want a copy of it." This purchase is a b-day present for that same friend who won't give me back my copy!! Enjoy!

This cd is wonderful. I bought it about a year after it came out ('95), and have listened to it whenever I felt I needed a few relaxing moments. Even now, when I've become somewhat picky about my audio (audiophilia at its worst), I still listen to this cd.

Every piece is quite appropriate to its name. My personal favorite is 'Celtic Mist,' which seems to almost take me off back to Ireland ever so briefly.

This album had me slightly puzzled at first. On the face of it, it seemed to be a typical 'relaxation' recording so often found in the tea rooms and craft shops of rural villages and "New Age" communities. It has an autumn scene on the front cover and the list of tracks had me expecting to find "Babbling Brooks" or "Flight Of The Lark". You know what I mean. But wait a minute - could "Christopher Franke" be the same Christoph Franke who was forever associated with 'The Big Moog' used to pound out almost subsonic rhythms by Tangerine Dream in the mid 1970s? Tangerine Dream's sequencers had a noticeable effect on the eardrums and internal organs of concert-goers in the 70s.

But, yes; it's the same guy. What's happened? Has he become a Buddhist? "Enchanting Nature" has exchanged synthesisers and sequencers for pianos and acoustic guitars. It's relaxing; it must be ideal if you have trouble sleeping. It's not demanding music. Yes, I realise that it was never meant to be demanding, but I can't help feeling that there must be thousands of pianists and guitarists out there who could have recorded this.

Very few could produce "Phaedra" or "Rubycon" with Froese and Baumann.