Customer Reviews

The Forest (Music Composed By David Byrne)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When this album first came out, the CD at the record store had a bright orange sticker with black text on it that said, "WARNING: CONTAINS ORCHESTRAL MUSIC" on the cover. Indeed it does.

While not a complete depature from what is expected from David Byrne (he's done several orchestral pieces), this album was a total shock to every David Byrne fan I knew at the time I'd gotten it the first time. And like another reviewer, not everyone of them liked it. To me, it's such an emotional album. It takes you on a ride from a quiet cello that drips with emotion to hammering percussion that rises into a fervor. It reminds me of performance art. I remember my best friend doing this spastic, gyrating tribal-like dance to a number of the tracks.

Do yourself a favour, listen to the track samples and see if they elicit a positive or a negative response. This is not a David Byrne album that appeals to the masses. You'll either feel the music move you or you won't. I lost this CD while moving to a new house a few years back and I didn't know how much I missed it till I received it today and listened to it again for the first time in years. It brought back a lot of great memories of friends that I haven't seen for a long time. I love this album.

David Byrne's The Forest is not your common CD from a pop artist. It was recorded in 3 studios, 1 in Berlin and 2 in CA. There are 10 movements in the orchestral excursion. It seems to compare and contrast modernt technology and mechanization with early and primitive culture. The most of the vocals on the CD are used at vocal instruments and the only english language used is in "Dura Europus". He develops the movements from instrumental to vocal and back with great ease and versatility. The orchestration of the album is quite a feat. Using traditional intruments from a modern western orchestra he evokes feelings and power. This is not an album to be dissappointed in. A few movements, to me, are lacking in structure, but maybe thats what it is all about. "6. Ava" has a developement like no other ive seen. From the lone Cello in the beginning to the warm fullness of the orchestra. Then the male soloist on top of that. Eventually reaching a percussive area concluding with a chorus.

An album like this is not to be missed.

I love this. I have always liked Mr. Byrne's music but the scope and realization of this work is astounding. Deeply profound & different. Like nothing else I've ever heard. A masterpiece.

I had a cassette version of this cd and witnessed David perform this it in its entirety with the Seattle Symphony when it was released. It was probably one of the most amazing concerts I have ever seen. Watching tux stuffed, season ticket holder patrons, jaws dropping as David Byrne barked like a hyena on "Teotihuacan" (I think that was the cut). If only every day could be so sweet.

I have never bought an album by David Byrne other than this one, and I was guided to it by a sort of sixth sense. I am really disappointed to discover its a departure from his regular style. But in a way this is not unexpected for this is an amazing achievement. I get the impression Byrne could have carried these ideas in his head for many years.
This music has the same feel and freshness, the same beauty and craftsmanship that inspired Mike Oldfield to create Tubular Bells. Oldfield is the utter master of this form of extended instrumental music using voices as instruments, but Byrne in this one piece has proven his virtuosity and the depth of his abilities that is every bit as impressive as an Oldfield opus. It takes amazing powers to wed together material as diverse as this using so many musicians and sounds and to keep the tapestry intact.
I dare say this album, which will never lose its power to impress itself upon the listener, will be beyond the reconing of some ears and no doubt its initial impenetrability would have submerged its commercial impact at the time of release. Reviewers in the mass media don't like and can seldom handle music that does not admit them access in one quick and dirty movement. So much the better. Byrne's incredible journey through the Forest, with its many incantations and illumninations, is a true revelation that is better for the listener to take alone. A little work in the listening seems the least we can do for the effort and artistry he has expended on its creation.
If Byrne has ever produced more work in this vein one can only surmise that it is a form for which he has a gift.

One of the pure joys of music is the unexpected discoveries that you make. THE FOREST is one of these.Owing more to WAGNER and SIBELIUS than rock,THE FOREST makes for some compelling listening
and if you were familiar with DAVID'S music thru TALKING HEADS and his distinctly tropically flavoured outings such as UH OH and you want some of the same erm.. dont buy this.However if you yearn for a beguilling,beautiful,emotional and brave piece of music making then grab this.Stunning.
Me?Im going to whack this in the walkman and head for the forest and maybe hug a few trees.When you hear it you will want to as well!!

This powerful music is good for dreaming... Music that invokes grand themes of humanity and technology, the modern and the primitive, and our place in the world.. For anyone who likes good ,dramatic, romantic, adventure music.

Great composers aren't always good orchestrators. Prokofiev often needed help. Here, David Byrne hired someone to help with the orchestration, and, to be honest, it's a horrible job. There's a lot of good music here, and some of the musical choices- such as a duet between a violin and an accordion- are very good. But this needs to be rewritten and rethought.

that begins "My life is beautiful" only is written in pigeon english/german??

I really tried to like this. Been listening to DB in whatever incarnation since the early-mid 80's. Love the vast majority of his stuff. Not this, though. I've bought it and sold it three times now. I even got a nifty maxi-single right after the initial release back in the day. But. This. CD. Is. No. Good.

Really, it's just half-baked. It sounds (to me) as if DB threw his initial song impluses into the studio mixers and 16 tracks and played with them for a while. Never mind the usual requirement of developing a real song. He doesn't even bother to explore some new territory (like he did in Catherine Wheel and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts). As it is, it reminds me of Yanni, Enya, and all that other new age lazy music crap that makes me wanna pop some J5 or Del or PUTS into my deck.

If you dig that sort of thing, give this album a try. But if you're in it more for, well, music, try "Uh-Oh" or "Rei Momo" by this artist. Both albums are quite nicely crafted and very, very fun. And you can tell he put some effort into them. Unlike this one.