The Magnificent Tree

Hooverphonic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 2011)
• Original Release Date: September 26, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Epic
• ASIN: B00004YC1I
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,355 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #42 in Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Belgium

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Even on it's own, TMT is a dissapointment, October 9, 2000

By 

Jon Huff "designer and aritst" (IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magnificent Tree (Audio CD)

As Jason K said in an earlier review, it is unfair to compare albums as they all have quite unique sounds. Unfortunately, The Magnificent Tree simply does not hold up to repeat listenings. The first time I listened to it, I was really dissapointed. I loved Bluewonderpowdermilk and enjoyed their debut album, but TMT just doesn't have any stand-out tracks. It's agreeable enough background music and if that's all you want then it should suit you just fine. I expect more from my music and TMT rarely delivered.

The album starts out with the rather clumsy Autoharp. Nothing about this song flows. Perhaps that's the point, but the end results are pretty boring and doesn't capture your attention (a bad sign for the first track of an album!)

Mad About You is a pretty nice bit of pop. The orchestration is bright, reminding me of an old movie score. Geike's voice brings to mind images of paticularly adept lounge singer. One of the few songs that come close to being memorable, but it still ends up like sonic wallpaper.

Waves is an absolutely wonderful track. It's probably my favorite of them all. It takes all the nice things The Magnificent Tree's sound has going for it and maximizes it producing a lovely effect. The chorus is dreamy and stunning. More tracks like this in the future would be much appreciated.

Jackie Cane is my second favorite track. It wouldn't be out of place on a St. Etienne record at all. It's got a great retro feel without sounding OLD. The chorus is great and probably the most memorable of any track "Salty days for Jackie Cane..."

I love the title to this album. Something about "The Magnificent Tree" just seems really cool and it's a phrase that's just ripe for being made a part of a cool song. Fortunately track 5 does pretty deliver on most accounts. We start out with some really nice guitar picking and some beautiful voice work from Geike. It's airy and haunting and beautiful.

Vinegar and Salt is pretty forgettable in just about every way. I've often gotten involved in another activity and not realized I've even listened to it.

Frosted Flake Wood is just to bizarre for it's own good. Something tells me someone ate some of the mushrooms the song talks about before writing this song. The song is fun in a way, but it's slow and doesn't go anywhere.

I don't have much to say about Everytime We Live Together We Die a Bit More. I usually hit the next track button when I come to this one.

Out of Sight starts out with some more of the wonderful orchestration that is a halmark of Hooverphonic. It has a reasonably hooky chorus and a really nice sound. It practically cries out for deserved attention, saving what in the largely forgettable second half of the ablum.

Pink Fluffy Dinosaurs is a light peice of trippy fluff. There's nothing wrong with trippy fluff, but then there's nothing to celebrate about it either. Something about the track smacks of underachievement as well as thought no one could be bothered to come up with something to hold on to emotionally for the song.

L'odeur Animals - Slow. Very slow. Not a bad track to nod off too however.

Renaissance Affair (bonus track) - A song I already have, serving as a painful reminder of what Hooverphonic can do when they get going. Yeah. Nice Bonus.

All in all, if your a long-time Hooverphonic fan or just a fan of their earlier work I suggest you do pick up The Magnificent Tree. It's not wonderful but fans will appreciate it. If you've never heard Hooverphonic DO NOT get this album first. Do like I did and pick up Bluewonderpowdermilk, then the debut, and then this.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little more "pop"-oriented for this third go-around., September 26, 2000

By 

David Parker (burlington, vermont United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magnificent Tree (Audio CD)

At first I was a bit disappointed that this new Hooverphonic album wasn't as icy and experimental as the last album "Blue Wonder Power Milk"; i.e. nothing as compelling here as "Renaissance Affair" (aka the song in the Volkswagen "vapor" commercial). Yet thankfully there's nothing as "out there" as the weird, male-vocal "Electro-Shock Faders", either, so really, this album is a compromise. A bit more commercial, but still a perfect blend of trip-hop and melody, with plenty of atmosphere and mood, a la the last song "L'Odeur Animale." My one complaint, and hence one less star, is the so-called "bonus track", the aforementioned "Renaissance Affair" - not a bonus to any true Hooverphonic fan who already owns the song, but rather a bonus to Sony to hopefully drive more people to this album through the Volkswagon commercial. The true bonus track should have been the 10-minute song "Visions" that appears on the import version of this album as a bonus disc. Why that couldn't be offered to U.S. fans is, again, an example of why the record companies will, and deserve to be, eventually usurped by the Napsters and file sharing softwares of the world. A great album, but at 42 minutes, is needlessly one song too short.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Geike is great, but something is missing..., November 20, 2000

By 

Sakis (San Diego, originally Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magnificent Tree (Audio CD)

I happened to catch Hooverphonic live in Boston, on their tour with BT. I didn't know this band at all & I had just only heard of them, so I must say they had a great live show, and a great performance! The songs on this CD are all kinda experimental and yet, inviting and mysterious which draw me to them. "Autoharp" starts off nicely with Geike Arnaert, the main singer talking softly but it ends with Geike raising her voice to a magnificent chant that someone would only expect to come out from someone from the middle east. It's by far the best moment of the CD. "Mad About You" is one of those songs that just stick in your head and you wanna sing over and over, and of course I don't blame people comparing them to Portishead from this song, because they sound very similar to that band. "Waves" is again what the song title says, a nice wave of music and singing that resembles a ride outside in a clear night sky filled with stars, being carefree. "Jackie Cane" was wonderful when they performed it live. It is a rock song and the guitars are great!"Everytime We Live Together We Die A Bit More" is another song I always get stuck in my head mostly from the way Geike sings "everybody wants one, everybody's got one, everybody everybody wants to be loved", it sounds again very similar to Portishead."Pink Fluffy Dinosaurs" is also a gem!!! I adore the cute music on the background, and I find the lyrics very interesting (very tripping indeed)."Renaissance Affair" on the other hand leaves me totally uninterested, but the rest of the songs are nice too. This album gets spooky at times (due to the synthesizers) and at times very playfull, anyone trying to make sense of what Hooverphonic are thinking, won't be able to find the end of it. It's just a nice album to be enjoyed, and played often at your CD players.