Customer Reviews

Legend of Pele: Sounds of

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

 

 

recorded on an Ampex three track live in the Kaiser Aluminum Dome at Waikiki, this album is part of Lyman's series riffing on the legend and mythology of the Hawaiian pantheon. I actually believe he sort of meant it. I also believe that he had no idea he had recorded the sonic ancestor to Lifeforms by Future Sound of London, and many other ambient/techno/exotica slabs.

Unlike the previous reviewer, I find the sound on my original copy of the vinyl to be OUTSTANDING! it is well worth the effort to seek out the original ...have fun.

All that the first reviewer has said about this CD I can confirm exept the missing track. When I have bought this CD at Rykodisc London in 1998 I was hardly disappointed about the quality of this issue. It was not only mastered from a mono source but obviously noise reduction was applied to it removing all low frequencies. Therefore it sounds flat and cold.

Since the mentioned review was the only negtive one I thought that Rykodisc has corrected their problems with this CD. But my recent purchase confirms the contrary.

All those people who own the original stereo vinyl LP can be lucky. This CD is no real replacement for the LP.

The correct listing of the tracks:

1. Pele

2. Fire Down Below

3. Ye Lei Sian

4. Hana Pele

5. Hana Maui

6. Cumana

7. Scheherezade

8. Cubana Chant

9. Magic Island

10. Tropical

11. Fascination

12. 76 Trombones

This CD seems to have been mastered from a mono source, with what sounds like a mild electronic amibiance added. I have some tracks from this album on a "Best of... " Lyman CD in real stereo, so I don't know what happened here. Also, the track listings on both the back cover and inside the booklet...are inaccurate, with tracks out of order and at least one item listed, but not actually on the CD.

They're all the greatest. All Arthur Lyman are equally dynamic, adventurous, well-done, mysterious and "great islands exotic". A must-have in any mix whether relaxation, dinner, contemplation or party.

Originally released in 1957, 'The Legend of Pele' was recorded at the Henry J. Kaiser aluminum dome on the grounds of the Hawaiian Village Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii. This early concept album by the Arthur Lyman Group is pure 50's through and through.

Arthur Lyman's attempt to conjure up a sound worthy of expressing the firey and playful nature of the Volcano Goddess makes for a highly original and fascinating project. It begins well and ends quite nicely with very Hawaiian based melodies, however there are some weak spots interspersed throughout the album/CD. Some of the tracks sound more like an evening in a smokey beatnik cafe back on the mainland rather than a night among the gently swaying palm trees of the big island. But I guess that was the prevailing 'big sound' style in the late fifties so it's to be expected. In my opinion Lyman wandered too far from his main theme for this recording and it's this lapse in focus that suggests he didn't quite succeed in achieving what he had hoped for. Successful or not, it's just a little too 'Old School' for my tastes.

Overall enjoyable listening, but essentially ambient background music perfectly suited for adding a little atmosphere to a summers evening pool party for the older crowd.