Immortal Memory

Patrick Cassidy, Lisa Gerrard | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 26, 2011)
• Original Release Date: January 20, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 4AD Ltd
• ASIN: B0000D1C6T
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,523 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #44 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > General
  • #75 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Dream Pop
  • #83 in Music > Dance & DJ > World Dance

Editorial Reviews

LISA GERRARD & PATRICK CASSIDY Immortal Memory (2004 UK 10-track CD album picture slipcase with 24-page colour booklet insert and picture label disc CAD2403CD)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Music for Counting Stars, May 10, 2004

By 

Aranion (Dayton, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Immortal Memory (Audio CD)

Some music is best listened to intently, with anything else done during that time incidental. Some music is best listened to while focused on other activities.

"Immortal Memory" is firmly in the second category.

That should not be taken as a negative criticism. To some degree, much of the music Lisa Gerrard has created (or participated in) seems custom-made for background or secondary focus. Of all the CDs she's made, this seems to be that more so than any other.

However, there is a sweeping, haunting quality to the CD that paradoxically emerges when it's in the background. Lisa's voice has always had an otherworldly quality to it, whether she's singing in a "real" language or in her own private glossiola. The slow swelling of the strings and synths on these songs act almost as sister currents to the stream of Lisa's singing, fluidly though deliberately pouring into your ears.

Let me share how this CD has hit me two ways: initial listen, and then "applied" listen.

My initial listen was right after purchasing the CD, and I listened intently, thoughts and attention really focused on the music. I was mostly disappointed, a bit bored, and not enthused. The CD went onto the shelf, and sat there for a while.

My "applied" listen was recent. A late night drive into the country, to see the stars, contemplate the state of my life, and perhaps even some soul-searching prayer....and I wasn't sure what (if anything) I wanted to have playing in the car stereo. I grabbed "Immortal Memory" with a handful of other CDs. "Immortal" turned out to be the perfect soundtrack to a night spent counting the stars and looking inward. Twenty miles from the city, civilization's presence an annoying but mild white glow to the west, I let the stars and the dark wash over me, and Lisa's music was the score. One song faded into another, and yet they were perfect: tuned into the spirit but not demanding, complimentary to the natural magnificence of sky and land. I was very, very glad to have it along. The songs on the CD were like fellow travelers, quietly evoking their own parallel journeys as I thought about mine. Perhaps that's too melodramatic for some, but I suspect if it is, then you're not a big fan of any of Lisa's music.

The only song on the CD that seems to be structured like a "proper" song or piece is "Sailing to Byzantium." The deep bass of the building drums and Lisa's parallel building of vocal power and intensity are echoes of her past work, though still subdued compared to much of it.

If you were hoping for another Dead Can Dance CD, or Duality II, you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for songs more about atmosphere than melody to play during reflective times in your life, you'll be richly rewarded.

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, but..., August 17, 2004

By 

B. Niedt (Cherry Hill, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Immortal Memory (Audio CD)

Fans expecting a revival of Dead Can Dance, or even the exotic stylings of Lisa Gerrard's solo releases, may be in for a disappointment. This recording is closer to her soundtrack work, and perhaps even closer to the "new sacred" music of composers like John Tavener. I am not sure if Patrick Cassidy is part of that group, but the influence of his arrangements here certainly evokes that type of music - meditative, church-influenced, vocally rich and luxurious with strings. My only previous exposure to his work was a few selections on the Windham Hill "Celtic Christmas" collections. (His "Lament" on "Celtic Christmas 3" is one of the saddest and most beautiful compositions I've ever heard.) The teaming with Lisa Gerrard is effective, and several of the compositions here, by themselves, are quite beautiful, including "Sailing to Byzantium" and the sublime closing track, "Psallit in Aure Dei". The problem is, an hour of this is a bit much - I found my interest flagging by the middle of the CD - and dare I say it - I even found it a bit boring. There is really no variation of mood throughout the recording - it is all quite somber, even funereal. Do I recommend it? Yes, I still do, because of the quality of the work. But be forewarned, it may be a bit tough to listen to all the way through.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Haunting, January 22, 2004

By 

o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Immortal Memory (Audio CD)

Lisa Gerard's latest, this time with fellow Irish composer Patrick Cassidy, is one of the most hauntingly beautiful CDs I have heard since Robert Fripp's BLESSING OF TEARS. Beginning with the Arameic "Maranatha" the tones are set in her cross cultural exploration of what provokes the soul to contemplate its fate. The art work throughout the booklet augments the music as few other graphic designs ever do. Much as John Miller's work captured an essential visual in Robert Fripp's Soundscapes, so to does the imaginative use of film and superimposed images work for Gerrard.
A quotation from Yeats, the Aramaic transcription of "The Lord's Prayer", a couple of poems and a few lines from Milton resound powerfully through the layers of soundscapes that Cassidy and Gerrard sculpt. In many ways, her spiritual power puts me in mind of Rautavaara and John Taverner. There is both a Baltic and Byzantine influence that weaves seamlessly with her very powerful Celtic spirituality.
I would imagine that this is a deeply personal effort for both of them, particulaly Cassidy, who comes from an enormously influential family of musicians. His Gaelic speaking cousins, Na Cassaidaigh, reset the bar dramatically for Gaelic song in the 80's and 90's and were in no small measure among the artists, including Andy Irvine, who were unceremoniuosly and uncreditedly pinched by Riverdance. No matter, this is light years away from Radio City Music Hall. This music of deep solitude that reverberates in those quiet moments when your guard drops, a slight disturbance in the calm reflection, suggests that something ineffable in your life has changed.
If you have admired Gerrard's work with Brendan Perry in Dead Can Dance, or her soundtracks for such movies as "The Insider", you will get blown away by this incredible disc. Put this and Habib Koite's FOLY CD on your must have list this year - for very different muisc, but absolutely artists at the peak of their powers.