Escala

Escala (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 23, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Columbia
• ASIN: B001XURI1U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,997 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #6 in Music > Latin Music > Latin Rock
  • #8 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > General AAS
  • #10 in Music > Latin Music > Latin Pop

Editorial Reviews

ESCALA, the gorgeous electric string quartet who caused a sensation in the final of ITV's Britain's Got Talent 2008, finally unleash their astonishing, Trevor Horn produced debut album on June 23rd. Fusing contemporary sounds with classical instruments, ESCALA boast the freshest and most innovative sound of the year and are destined to take the charts by storm.

The quartet comprises four sophisticated, beautiful and intelligent girls in their twenties. These talented, dedicated and disciplined musicians studied at London's most prestigious music colleges, becoming highly trained, professional classical performers. The four girls became close friends after being recruited as part of a large string section for a UK arena tour, and decided to work together to create a new musical phenomenon. The album, produced by Trevor Horn (Cher, Paul McCartney, Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Charlotte Church) features "Live and Let Die", "Kashmir" (featuring Slash), and "Palladio".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Escala: Bond with Darker Intensity, March 7, 2010

By 

William Holmes "semloh2287" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Escala (Audio CD)

The comparisons between "Bond" and "Escala" are inevitable and well covered in other Amazon reviews--each group is a "pop" string quartet consisting of four beautiful and talented young musicians. Although I enjoy the work of both groups, I find Escala's work to be more intense and haunting.

Bond often offers a cheerful, upbeat interpretation of the piece they are playing--not a bad thing, but a little different from what Escala does. Escala displays a darker and, to me at least, more moving sensibility. Pieces like "Requiem for a Tower," "Sarabande," and "Adagio for Strings" are powerful and intense, and you can get a sense of what I mean just by listening to Amazon's sampler for this album. My favorite track is the quartet's relentless version of "Palladio", the piece composed by Karl Jenkins (of Adiemus fame) for de Beer's "Diamonds are Forever, People are Just Shadows" commercials. To hear how Escala differs from Bond, compare each group's version of "Kashmir," the Led Zeppelin standby.

I'm looking forward to future offerings from Escala and highly recommend this CD!

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new here..., June 26, 2009

By 

MJF - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Escala (Audio CD)

Been there, done that as they say. Trevor Horn/Escala are Mike Batt/Bond wanna-be's but it's a good effort none the less. All the sales hype about new and refreshing, etc., etc., is exactly that - sales hype. Classical-cross over has been around for a while and this is not new. Bond is the biggest selling string quartet of all time and if Escala is your first foray into the genre and you enjoyed it; you'll love Bond. Explosive is their "greatest hits" - start there. I give it 4 stars because I do enjoy the album, but as I said, nothing new here. As a matter fact, most of these tracks have been done by Bond.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Escala- I love this CD!, November 19, 2009

By 

Dale R. Carpenter "Dale" (Houston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Escala (Audio CD)

There are several all female string quartets out there, but as for music, this one is the cream of the crop. I like their careful blend of classical style and modern, without the drone of dance style music. There is a good mix of soft and loud, slow and fast music. I also like that I can hear all of the stings due to the really good music arrangements. I cant wait for their next CD to come out and even better yet if they will go on tour.