Customer Reviews

9 Lives to Wonder

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This album is a particularily good "summary work" of the legendary pink dots' style before they moved onto their present style. Soft, melodic, and very spacy, this would be a great disc to get introduced the dots, especially if you're into the earlier works of pink floyd. If you're familiar with the Dots' other stuff, this is along similar lines as The Maria Dimension and The Shadow Weaver part one.

Broken funk, twisted humor, and some of the finest lyrics on the planet come together all too rarely, but they do it here with a rare panache. Ka-Spel and co. are firing on all cylinders with this release, ranging from the blatantly silly ("Crumbs on the Carpet") to the sweet ("The Angel Trail") to the relentlessly ominous ("Nine Shades to a Circle"). In the wonderful world of appliances that is the Dotsography, this ranks close to the top. Recommended for all who have never heard the world's finest pop band, and absolutely essential for even the most casual fan.

Good mid-'90's Legendary Pink Dots release. More mellow and laid back than their more recent titles, but still very decent. Best described as neo-psychedelic. Seen them play small clubs twice now. You can never tell what 'deep album tracks' they just might play on any given U.S. tour. Tracks here I was somewhat impressed the most with were "Madame Guillotine", the hypnotic "Oasis Malade", the ten-minute "Nine Shades To The Circle" and "Terra Firma Welcome". Always good to check out one of many, {many} LPD discs that you haven't heard yet.

On this album, the Dots retreat from the somewhat self-indulgent experimentalism of their previous release, "Malachai" to produce a brilliantly inventive yet charming and accessible album. Despite the preponderence of keyboards and electronics on this album, it does not sound like electronic music. At times it sounds more like folk music despite the absence of traditional folk instruments. The songs are deceptively simple and uncluttered, but closer listening reveals that they are densely textured, with some brilliant ambient keyboard noodling from The Silverman and fine, subtle work from multi-instrumentalists Niels van Hoornblower, Ryan Moore, and Martijn de Kleer. Skinny Puppy's Cevin Key also plays drums on a couple of tracks. The album also contains Ka-Spel's best recorded "Rants" that those who have seen the band live know and love, on the lengthy "Nine Shades to the Circle." Overall, if I were to recommend three of the Dots' 90s releases to neophites, I'd recommend this one, "The Maria Dimension", and their newest release, "A Perfect Mystery."

Can't go wrong with LPD, 9 Lives To Wonder" was created with The Silver Man on keyboards and exotic divices, Ryan Moore on bass and drums, Martijn de Kleer handling guitar and tympani, Niels van Hoornblower lives up to his surname and of course The Prophet Qa'Spel delivering the lyrics and playing keyboards and destroyed lyre. On this very special occasion Cevin Key of Skinny Puppy is the Pink Dots special guest.

AVAILABLE AT SOLEILMOON records website and Strange Fortune's website for $12.00, don't pay more than this from someone who doesn't know or care about the music. $20.00 used? what a rip off!

this album is like Tear Garden's "To Be An Angel Blind, The Crippled Soul Divided"...it's very somber, ethereal, quiet, sad, odd and beautiful. i'm so glad i picked this record up, it's such a wonderful piece of work. if anyone is looking for music for a rainy day, an autumn day, or a lonely night, get this cd.

There are scores of Pink Dots albums (well over 30) and I have probably 3/4 of them... out of them all, "9 Lives to Wonder" is one of the very best. This album is very laid back, very mellow, and always ethereal.

LPD has always had a penchant for stunningly beautiful, melancholy tracks (see Crushed Velvet or Maria Dimension) but ( Lives to Wonder removes a bit of the passion from the formula. What does this mean, though? It makes for more languid trakcs that feel as if they are almost drifting through a fog. Certainly nothing here is like the beautiful but emotionally charged "New Tomorrow" (one of my favorite LPD track, off Crushed Velvet) or "Tanz der China Dolls" (off the Legendary Pink Box).

In particular, four songs stand out for me on the album. "Siren" is eerie, deft, charming, and a little disturbing. "The Angel Trail" is my favorite song on the album, a sublime lullaby is the only way to describe it. Really, some people I know hate "The Angel Trail" but if this album didn't have that song on here, I'd be inclined to dock this album a star. The song is that good. "A Crack in Melancholy Time" is straight-out techno-industrial, and more accessible anything this side of Nine Inch Nails. Finally, "Hotel Z" is an arching, epic, cosmic ballad that perhaps you may need to be in the proper "mood" (if you understand my drift) to appreciate.

Don't pass this album up.

This is by no means my favorite Dots release, but it's a great starting point for new LPD listeners. The LPD seem to have held back a lot on this release, but 9 Lives offers stories, a few well written pop-style songs, subtle psychedelia, and plenty of chillout. The tone for this trip is definitely somber with some undercurrents of hope... the tracks on this album seem like vignettes rather than the LPD's usual "concept album" feel. The stories are engaging, drawing the listener into the subtle psychedelia (which is more prominent on other cds). Also to note: the obvious noises are fun, but there is another layer o' noisy goodness quivering behind the end of every note on this cd. This release is more accessible for newcomers than the more brilliant LPD, yet it stands up to repeated headphone abuse as well. I prefer "Chemical Playschool 8-9" as their best introductory cd, but that's sadly out of print.

For the tear garden, Skinny puppy, Hilt, Doubting thomas listeners.........you must have legendary pink dots. This CD is a great one check it out!

I'm new to LPD and this album has successfully put an end to further LPD exploration. Perhaps it's just me, but the music which accompanies Ed's droning, impassionate, lathargic mumbling is reminiscent of a cheap Nintendo RPG. This would be somewhat forgiveable if I was referring to the Nintendo 64 or possibly even the Super Nintendo, but I'm talking about the FIRST Nintendo. Skip this and try one of their other albums.