Customer Reviews

Far from the Maddening Crowds

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are reading this review, I recommend that you just go ahead and buy the CD (if it is available). You won't regret it.

Of all the CDs I own, in the huge variety of genre I listen to... this is definitely in my top 10 favorites. Chicane is an absolutely amazing musician. He creates an unmatched sound by blending trance and electronic sounds with sort of a euphoric, relaxing vibe. The closest musician I could compare him to is Paul van Dyk. Perhaps the best way to describe the sound of Chicane's music is "ambient trance".

Very few of Chicane's songs have words in them. Amazingly enough though, the sound of each of his songs perfectly fits its title. Chicane has a way of creating a mental picture in the mind of the listener through music. Track 8 on this CD for example is called "Red Skies". While listening to the song you can almost picture a sun setting on the horizon. Chicane is a unique artist who almost paints an environment with sound.

"Far from the Madenning Crowds" opens with a soft ambient sounding track called "Early", which makes a smooth transition into "Already There" - another ambient track with a nice string solo going on. The next track, called "Offshore", is the one that you might say put Chicane on the map. This track, and "Saltwater" (found on his next album called "Behind the Sun") are probably his two most famous songs. Track 6 ("Sunstroke - Disco Citizens remix) is one of my favorite tracks on the CD. Unlike most of the other tracks, it dips into more of a thumping club techno vibe... but only so slighlty as to maintain the overall relaxing sound of the album. The next track is called "Leaving Town". While it has kind of a sad, depressing sound to it, this is still another one of my favorite tracks. "Red Skies" is another beautifully euphoric track. "Sunstroke" follows it. This track is a nice little "happy track"... a woman chanting in the background over light beats and soothing chords from a piano in the foreground. Track 10 holds the remix to "Offshore". While I prefer the original track, this is still a nice one. It's different though in the fact that it is one of Chicane's few songs with vocals. The album ends with "The Drive Home", another one of my favorites.

I believe that almost anyone could appreciate the music of Chicane. My father listens to nothing but classical music, yet was intruiged by the sounds of Chicane one night when he heard me listening to it. Most hardcore ravers I'm sure could appreciate Chicane as well. It's a nice CD to throw on for the ride home at 8am. I often use this CD to fall asleep to. Sometimes when I've had a bad day at work I'll listen to it on the way home to put me in a better mood.

In conclusion, if you can manage to get your hands on this CD, I strongly recommend buying it. You will not be dissapointed.

I wrote a review on this one in 1999; four yrs. later this album has not lost any of its deepness, tranquility, energy or excelent vibe! It's becoming a trance/ambient classic. By now I listened to Paul van Dyk, BT and Tiesto (similar styles, but less relaxing), but Nick (Bracegirdle) still IS the Master.

If you like 'Behind the sun' as well, try to get your hands on the Chicane live set 'Live at the Palladium 2000' in Cologne, Germany (TranceAddict.com) Not available at CD (searching the net will help, though...), unfortunately. A terrific one hour blend from both albums: So full of energy and emotion, I felt tears the first time I listened to it.

The best relaxing/uplifting remedy I've ever found!

I love this album. Anything else I could say about it would be just icing on the cake. So pardon me for a moment while I get the bowl of icing, because this is one cake that deserves it.

When you listen to the radio these days, you hear a lot of music that sounds the same as everything else. Most of it seems to come off an assembly line, lacking originality, creativity, or even a hint of freshness. If that's alright with you, then don't bother with this CD, because ambient house has never sounded so rich, luscious and layered as has the freshman effort from Nick Bracegirdle, better known as Chicane.

If ever a CD has been aptly named, it's this one. The eleven tracks blend seamlessly together, making you feel as if you're being transported away from the maddening crowds of daily life into a more relaxed place.

So far, four of the tracks have been spun off as singles. The first, "Offhsore," appears twice on the CD; once in it's original form and ag! ain in a remix complete with vocals. The second, "Sunstroke," also appears twice; once in a remix by the Disco Citizens (who, it turns out is Barcegirdle's remixing moniker), and again in it's original incarnation as a drum-and-bass type track. Most recently released is "Red Skies," and finally, my favorite single, "Lost You Somewhere." As I understand it, these have all been Circuit Party favorites, getting play primarily with the other "early morning" music.

However, my favoirte track is the last, called "The Drive Home." So well done is this song that when listening to it, you honestly feel the end to the journey of the previous ten tracks, you cna even hear the road under the wheels through the music.

"Far From the Maddening Crowds" is one of those serendipitous finds. If you've never listened to any ambient music before, take a gamble on this CD. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

As one of the worlds most progressive groups around, this album has some of Chicanes best work ever. The tunes are smooth as silk and you simply glide from one to the next. The album is thoughtfully put together not throwing eveything in at once but building you up and letting it out towrds the end. GO OUT NOW AND BUY A COPY!!

Chicane. What a wonderful world we live in to be able to enjoy music created this way. Maddening Crowds opens slow. Almost Bladerunner-esque in sound and texture. It continues flowing from atmospheric acoustic guitar numbers overlaid with very lush synth and beats to faster trancey tracks. The guitar is featured quite a lot here and I for one love it. Take Leaving Town for example. Never before has a song title captured the emotion of a track like this one. As I listen I visualize looking through a misty car window, always forward with the past receding behind me. Offshore '97 is the only vocal track which is basically the Original slightly sped up and extended. Absolutely uplifting as well now that I mention it.

I also haven't heard another album ( apart from Chicane's other ) which has such a lush sound to it. The synth cords / drones are very deep and will certainly stretch your woofers out. He employs them throughout the album to great effect. Making the entire piece a mesmerizing whole. Sounds like no other.

Chicane is evolving as one of the more progressive sounds of dance music today. This album, his debut, displays an ambient, otherworldly vibe, allowing the listener to latch on to his groove and ride it home. A beatless beginning (2 tracks) is followed by the classic "Offshore" in its original form before heading off into a more progressive house sound. It's a great record to play just before sunset on a night you feel inspired. My favorite tracks are "From Blue to Green", which I feel captures his idea on this album, and the original version of "Sunstroke". I really like the disco citizens mix of "Offshore" but could do without the vocal track (which is the ONLY track with vocals on the entire album). There really aren't any albums like this out there.

I'm very poor and stingey with my CD purchase's. So each purchase is a nerve wracking, "hope I don't get burned experience." Well it came today; I don't write alot of reviews but here it is: Full blown brillance and originality in a genre full of, "gotta Mac and I'm a star," half-wits. Great production value. No duds. A great ride..Buy assured.

This CD has changed my life. I have never been so moved by an album before this one. It has captured several magical emotions perfectly into a handful of fantastic tracks. "Far From the Maddening Crowds" begins with "Early", a perfect start to put you in the mood for the rest of the CD. The rest takes you on a voyage of heartwarming dance and trance tracks. Highlights go out to "Offshore", which is the track that brought me to Chicane in the first place, and "The Drive Home", the finale of the CD, the perfect way to appreciate the album in full. The first time I listened to the album, I played it again 2 more times immediately, just listening to the intricate beauty of it. Nick Bracegirdle's (Chicane's) music sounds much like early BT, Paul Van Dyk, but it much more calm and relaxing than either. Listen to this alone with headphones in a secluded place. Let your mind wander. Have a pen and paper and let inspiration take you over. I would recommend this to anyone seeking enlightenment, peace in their lives, even just a fantastic CD to fall asleep to. It will give you bliss chills, it will make you cry, I hope many more people hear this one, because it is a gem. This is one of the best and most relaxing albums I have ever heard.

Like Nothing you've ever heard! The only gripes about this cd are usually minor and are usually by someone who likes boring standard 4/4 beats(house dj's). but anyone with half a cerebral cortex will appreciate this cd. If you've ever tried producing music, you will really really appreciate the last song titled The Drive Home. It is beautiful, soft, hard, emotional, simple, and complicated at the same time. Just listen to it and ask yourself if there is anything else like this. There is not!

Far From The Maddening Crowds is Chicane`s debut album.It is one of those albums for any mood you are in,it always picks me up when I am down.This CD has hardly ever left my cd player since I bought it.Admittedly,most of the songs are different from the singles,Offshore,Sunstroke and Lost You Somewhere but the rest of the songs are still excellent.The first time I listened to this album,I thought the album was a bit weak but it grows on you.Now I think I like the album tracks are better than the singles.This album is also great for studying,so if you put this on it will really help you.It really helped me revise so just buy it.