Customer Reviews

The Mirror Pool

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had heard that _The Mirror Pool_ was "darker" and more "sad" than Lisa Gerrard's later duet album, _Duality_, and so I was hesitant to buy it. How very silly of me.

There are two kinds of sad music. One type of sad music drops you into a blue funk even if you're perfectly happy when you start listening to it; it makes you feel morose and depressed. The other type of sad music is comforting when you are actually sad, and if you listen to it when happy, you will find it not depressing but simply beautiful. Sarah McLachlan is a perfect example of that sort of "sad music". And so is Lisa Gerrard, though her style is 180 degrees from Sarah's. And as far as "dark" goes, this music does not conjure up a hellish cavern or "goth" catacomb, complete with the smell of brimstone. (I'll leave that sort of music to my teenage brother.) Lisa Gerrard's music evokes the darkness of a moonlit night, or a candlelit room. It's "romantic" dark, not "oppressive" dark. I liked it very much.

Though it's a sublime experience to listen to this album from start to finish, here are a few of my favorite tracks:

"La Bas: Song of the Drowned"--With its low, chanting vocals and haunting church bell, "La Bas" reminds me of nothing so much as the mythical island of Ys, sunken beneath the waves, whose ghost bells are said to be heard from the shore.

"Sanvean: I Am Your Shadow"--I actually didn't like this song at first. With its swooping melody and mournful tone, I at first thought it was too melodramatic. But I found myself humming it all day after my first listen; it followed me like the shadow of the title. After a few more listens, it became one of my favorites.

"Largo"--Lisa Gerrard sings a Handel piece, and proves she has the pipes to put a lot of these "pop opera" divas to shame.

"Laurelei"--I just love this one. It has a hypnotic melody and a morphing tempo. It's rather long but never seems to get old.

"Nilleshna" and "Gloradin"--the last two tracks, which together close out the CD on a soothing note.

I highly recommend this beautiful, entrancing album to anyone who likes beautiful, entrancing albums.

Like most people, I first came encounter with Lisa Gerrard through the amazing Dead Can Dance. I was never a huge fan of her partner in DCD, Brendan Perry. His voice appealed to me very few times. But Lisa...well, I was blown away, every time I heard her.

And now, for her to have gone solo (after a supposedly terrible break-up of her and Perry's group, I don't know the facts) and to have released albums like this and "Duality" (and God willing, many more), it's a dream come true for me. I could listen to Lisa for hours. She has a haunting, powerful voice that very few other singers come close to matching. The contemporary divas of today--Witney Houston, Mariah Carrey, even Aretha Franklin--don't meet the beautiful and chilling qualities of Gerrard's voice. While these aforementioned singers may be talented, none of them can send a chill through your body like Lisa. I know I like something when I feel a chill go up my spine and into my scalp, and it just doesn't go away. Lisa definitely does that.

This CD should be heard, over and over and over. Every time I hear it, I discover something new that I love about it. The way she can carry her listeners along very melodically, or paralyze them with her prowess. The best track is Track 14, Swans. It's one of those songs that I imagine is impossible to sing with. (I've never tried, and God forbid I dared try to sing.) Lisa starts off rather calm, yet then builds the suspense, and her voice begins to move a little faster, and all of the sudden, she becomes beautifully frenzied. Then it seems as if she's reached her peak...and she hasn't even begun. It's tracks like this that make music like this so great.

It's a shame, how so few people have heard of Lisa Gerrard, yet she sings so amazingly well. Hopefully, her work with the "Gladiator" soundtrack (I was so happy when she won the Golden Globe--she so deserved it!) will bring her more fans, and will heighten her popularity. For now, I definitely recommend anyone who would like to hear this woman sing to buy a Dead Can Dance CD (try "The Serpent's Egg" or "Aion," they're perhaps the best, but save the first two, particularly the self-titled debut, for when you've heard their better stuff, since those two aren't as well-produced) and then pick this and "Duality" up. Lisa's voice has changed over the years, since DCD's first really great CD, "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun" (another recommendation) and "Duality," her most recent, but she has always had a very beautiful and moving voice, and should get the recognition she so greatly deserves.

This music is so fundamentally powerful that I struggle to put it into words. I am a fan of various genres including hardcore punk and metal - yet this CD can tear me to shreds when I listen to it. Pure, raw, spiritual emotion pummels you endlessly through the unearthly vocals of Lisa Gerrard. Her range, talent, creativity, and dynamics here are supreme. She is unparalelled. Her backing musicians are jaw-droppingly talented as well.

This CD is an example of a powerful artist at the top of their game. This takes feminine vocals over the top and beyond. Very much worth your time if you are into spiritual musics from around the globe.

Lisa Gerrard's The Mirror Pool is her first published solo work. It is creative, meditative, mesmerising, and will definitely find its way to the repeat button on your CD player. Bringing the recurring Middle Eastern and Orchestral themes used by Gerrard in the past to The Mirror Pool did not at all become tiresome. Her compositions still manage to prove their abilities to grow, teach, and transcend any musical plain ever reached before. This CD stands out from any of her previously released works in that many of the pieces (Violina; La Bas; Persian Love Song; Sanvean; Glorafin) were recorded live with Lisa accompaning the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra at Eaton Studio (Melbourne, Australia). Recorded in Australia, the album takes shape with the first two tracks (Violina; La Bas) which are remniscent of a dying soul's Opera. With their dissenance and large cello and violin sections, the two pieces bring us into the deepest part of Lisa yet. When speaking with Gerrard in Boston shortly after the release of The Mirror Pool, she explained to me that she has actually composed an Opera. This we would love to hear! The Mirror Pool features previously released works (Persian Love Song; Sanvean), however they are slightly different versions. Gerrard's voice manages to sweep through caverns and fly above the highest steeples all within a matter of seconds. This album is definitely a must-have for any serious Lisa Gerrard/ Dead Can Dance fan. Notable pieces on the Mirror Pool include Glorafin, Celon, Swans, Nilleshna, Gloradin and Ajhon. The use of bird samples in Ajhon brings the listener into a garden of delights and enchantments. Lisa is releasing a follow up to The Mirror Pool entitled Duality. Here she collaborates with Pieter Bourke. Duality is scheduled for U.S. release in April of 1998. Tour information should be available shortly after Duality's release. END

First off, if you're a fan of Dead Can Dance or Afro Celt Sound System, chances are that you'll love Lisa Gerrard's sound. Lisa was part of Dead Can Dance, and this was her first solo album. Unfortunately, many reviewers often compare her style to her mother band's, and while thats to be expected, its not very fair to the artist. 'The Mirror Pool' has a feel and substance all its' own, and is a very critical milestone for New Age Music as a whole.

I first listened to this CD when it came out, and thought it was far too operatic for my tastes (she even covers Handel's 'Largo' in a style never heard before). Then I bought 'Duality', which to this day remains one of my favorite albums of all time (along with Enya's brilliant 'Watermark'). I revisited 'The Mirror Pool' recently and found that I had remembered it all wrong. Even though this is Lisa's first solo album, it makes more sense if you listen to it AFTER you listen to 'Duality' in its' entirety.

'The Mirror Pool' is a phonetic opera - there is no other word to describe what this album sounds like. Very much like Vas, Lisa does not speak or sing with words, but rather forms her own phonetic sounds - a match between keening, gurgling, and speaking-in-tongues, all resulting in a fascinating new language all its own. If my description of it seems incomprehensible, just pick up the CD. Its one of those rare things that need to be experienced first hand to really know.

This album can be also described as a blend between classical opera and gothic hymns. This is most visible in the opening track 'Violina', and especially on the stunning 'Sanvean'. However, while most fans seem to enjoy these operatic pieces more than others, my own preferences tend to lean toward Lisa's experiments with more Aborigine sounds and rhythms. Since she is Australian, she tends to draw from the lands' primitive origins and incorporates these sounds in her music. This is something that Enya attempted with her 'Ebudae' by drawing upon Wiccan and Ancient English hymns. But Lisa's attempts at such experimentation meets with greater success than one would imagine.

The tribal vocal piece 'Ajhon' is a testament to the fact that this woman has a voice like none other. At times sounding like a wounded African tribal woman in battle, and at times alternating between distraught soprano opera star and cool new age chanteuse, Lisa's shift from role to role is nothing short of spectacular. This woman's voice is a gift, and while it is definitely to be admired, its also well worth ones' time to study the album as a whole and not just listen to it aimlessly.

A few pieces on the album are instrumental, others are just over a minute, while still others are grand piano and string compositions with Lisa's soaring vocals taking centerstage. A few tracks were actually recorded with the The Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Fans may remember that the album that came after this was officially called a collaboration between Lisa and Pieter Bourke, which makes this technically the only solo Lisa Gerrard album in existence (at the time of writing, naturally). However, it comes as a topic of great interest that Pieter actually worked extensively on this record, playing the derabukkas, hand claps, bass tablas, camel drum and also singing backing vocal. Of additional interest, is that Lisa's husband Jacek Tuschewski also lends a hand by engineering the album. He also features on background vocals, and is responsible for the brilliant cover art.

All in all, I would say that 'The Mirror Pool' is probably one of the most essential New Age and alternative albums of the last two decades. The others I would include would be 'Duality', and DCD's 'Aion'. As a work of art it is solid and flawless. Never boring, and never uninteresting, 'The Mirror Pool' is a desert island disc, something that one can never do without. Exceptional.

Highly recommended. Also check out 'Duality' and 'Sunyata' by Vas.

Best female voice in the universe. Seriously, if you could send just one disc into outerspace and say "Here, this is what humanity is," this'd be the one. Have followed Lisa since 1994 and KNEW back then that we were dealing with a supreme artist -- a wonderful Australian, a voice for the ages. It may take some time but one day she will be hailed at the greatest Australian female artist of all time. Now that Hollywood has finally discovered her let's hope she will maintain her vision in the face of bland studio execs trying to please all the people all the time. "Duality" is a worthy follow-up. Grab all the DCD discs you can find. Hard to recommend similar artists as she is so far ahead, but you might be pleasantly surprised by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Night Song" and David Parson's "Dorje Ling" -- very different artists, but certainly angels that dwell on a higher plane. Peter Gabriel's "Passion" won't disappoint either.

Let's do this: put Lisa Gerrard's name alongside with recognized sopranos like Sarah Brightman, the latter is totally outshone because she does not have the song writing talent like the former. Then you put Lisa Gerrard's name beside PJ Harvey's, who is arguably the most important female artist in the 90's, she can even make Polly embarrassed because she is neither as eclectic nor as pure as the former. Lisa Gerrard is a musician who is murderously underrated, she is probably one of the most talented musician of all time. Her former band, Dead Can Dance's music could in no way be categorized rationally, it is neither new age nor alternative. They don't confine their music like the rest do, instead, they open themselves to different influences, you may call it multi-cultural music. No, it is just music, music that connects to the songwriters' heart and soul , so true that no mainstream alternative radio stations dare to play them. The music is so alien to us, very often it transcends you into another age, another region, another dimension. This is Lisa's first solo album, the best album she has done so far. Dark, melancholic, full of angst, eclectic yet traditional, without her band mate Brendan Perry, almost everything was done by her. For the first time, she could stretch her wings and fly to whatever territory she wants. Apparently, the sound here deviates from any of the Dead Can Dance albums, although the reincarnation of a couple of tracks on DCD's live album `Toward the Within' appeared here, they sound different from the band version, much more exquisite, to be exact. Her vocal remains an asset, and it is often compared to Liz Fraser's. Lisa's vocal is deeper and much more melancholic than that of Liz, if Liz's voice is the immaculate voice of an angel, then Lisa's sounds an angel that fell from Heaven to the Earth 30 years ago and have been living on Earth ever since. Really, it is much more earthy and human. Lisa has been in the music scene for 15 years or so, in this period, nobody has come close to her achievement. Probably time will prove her worth, time will testify her contribution to music, time will rank her ahead of great female musicians like Joni Mitchell, Patti Smith, Kath Bush and PJ Harvey. Until then, most people still remain blindfolded.

Her voice cannot be human. Seriously. I first heard it on the way to work one night("Hearts of Space,"I think)and was almost mesmerized into driving off the road."So that's the way they capture us,those aliens!" They allow us to hear a beautiful,haunting voice,and we are rendered helpless.Seriously,though. You have got to hear this album. If "Sanvean" doesn't have any effect on you,I suggest you have someone search for your pulse.The words are not in English,but the passion it evokes speak volumes. Her voice is sheer heaven,and rips your heart out of your chest,but you keep going back for more because hers is the sirens song.Too beautiful to describe.

The Mirror Pool begins as a wisp of anticipation fluttering through your consciousness. A creeping intro of harmonic strings in the beginning of the first track, `Violina: The Last Embrace'. The anticipation may be fearful or joyful depending on weather you know the nature of the approaching beast. Then she begins to sing. The track rises and falls releasing Lisa's vocals as if exhaling them after a long, quiet inhale. As the track ends she fades away into the forest as a long dead ghost describing her life and times. And so goes The Mirror Pool, Lisa Gerrard's first solo album.

The music spawns images of times gone by and ages past. Not the cruel dictators or the wars of men. Images are summoned of the quieter history. I see the lost love of someone a thousand years dead. At times I also see an ancient dusty market hosting chattering locals and traders.

We are not told us directly of such things. Lisa sings in a tongue all her own, outside the boundaries of making sense or having to pronounce any prefabricated words. Lisa speaks to us in a way that words would not do justice.

The album is quite operatic, for someone who is just being introduced to Lisa Gerrard; you would probably think it is VERY operatic. The orchestration does not help that immediate perception since it is very low key. We only hear percussion at all on a handful of tracks. That fact is a stark contrast to her '98 album, Duality whom she wrote and performed with a percussionist.

Although The Mirror Pool is wonderful and well thought out the album suffers from a lack of variety. The sparse percussion and little variance in the orchestration might make listening to the entire album in one sitting a chore for some. That includes me, if I'm not in the right mood or mindset. Without full attention the songs bleed together as if one piece and you won't be able to remember if this is a new track or the continuation on the previous one. A few tracks do stand out though.

`Swans' is a wonderful dance that spins around itself, happy to be alive. This track exhibits the only true `speed' on the album and it feels so wonderful, after a long set of artistic and percussion less tracks.

`Savean: I am your shadow' summons a hundred comforting visions from your past at once. Lisa becomes your mother, your first love and your lost sister all as they were, all at once. She is both vulnerable and strong, and you love her for it.

The album is challenging for those not into slow, artistic and beautiful music. But I believe anybody who truly gives it a chance will fall in love with it & Lisa's style. For an introduction to her music I would suggest Duality before The Mirror Pool. Duality has far more percussion, variety, and accessibility than The Mirror Pool.

I purchased this cd after hearing Lisa Gerrard describe the cd in an interview on NPR. In it- if my memory doesn't fail me- she explained that it was recorded in Australia (in a house in the outback...?) and that her approach to singing and composing was to become "possessed" by spirits. Now, while I don't believe in spirits whatsoever, I thought it quite intriguing, and bought it. It is simply a splendid, sublime work. Gerrard's singing is indeed possessed...there are no lyrics here...just feeling expressed vocally. Needless to say, she's a unique talent...and this cd is every bit as good as the good work (that I'm familiar with) from Dead Can Dance. I cannot compare this with Duality (her second solo cd). The reviews that note that it is less melancholic, 'brighter' than The Mirror Pool cause me hesitation. Make no mistake about it, this is 'heavy' introspective, melancholic, angst-driven music- at its best. Finally, those of you that like this work should also check out This Mortal Coil, which are quite similar (Lisa even sings on some tracks), and Tim Story, who's a bit different, but tapping into the same source.