Customer Reviews

Morpheus

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber started Delerium as a side project to release their ambient music. (They released their more danceable music under the nom de plume Frontline Assembly.) Later Delerium itself became danceable and more accessible, particularly with the added vocals of Kristy Thirsk, but this early album (1989) is the best of pre-dance Delerium. Good heavy beats, trance-like rhythms and creepy samples combine to weave haunting and disturbing music which could be used for horror movie soundtracks.

In Greek mythology, Morpheus is the god of sleep and dreams -- not the best choice if you want to dance, but if you're in the mood to light candles and explore your darker inner core, this would be a great addition to your collection.

'Morpheus' is an album that is so unlike later albums like 'Karma' and 'Semantic Spaces'. This one is definitely a more contemplative one, not very dancable, sounds more like a soundtrack to a horror movie, with different dialogues and sounds of breaking objects spliced in; it is basically an experimental sonic collage, intended for a very narrow musical tastes, learn more about it before purchasing. 'Spiritual Archives' is another Delerium album that continues in the same tradition, buy 'Morpheus' if you liked 'Spiritual Archives'

Morpheus is the darkest, most mood altering sampling of Delerium's music. The sound is indicative of the "old Delerium," from the Euphoric and Syrophenikan days before they changed their style. If you your experience with Delerium is restricted to their new stuff like "Silence," then Morpheus is definitely a strong shift in style. In my opinion however, this album has a far superior sound to any of the new Delerium.

As an avid fan of pre-Karma Delerium, I would rate this as easily one of their best albums. Morpheus is the most haunting and disturbing (in the good sense) album in the Delerium series. While Morpheus has a harder edge than any other Delerium album, only 2 of its 11 tracks fall outside the ambient sound of Delerium's other albums (these are "Gaza" and "Coup de Etat" both quite violent by Delerium standards, but damn good tracks anyway). The bonus track, "Symbolism" is worth the album's price by its lonesome. "Symbolism" has to be the most haunting song I've heard, a slow tune laced with some rather violent samples involving a angry person and a sledgehammer. The spooky effect of the sample is magnified by the matter-of-fact way the speaker says it. The samples for "Gaza" displayed a similar quality. In short, this album should definitely be in your collection if you like Delerium's pre-Karma sound.

THIS is the album in which the "change-over" took place. Looking back now it seems so obvious. As Frontline Assembly became heavier and more dangerous sounding, Delerium was "letting it's hair down".
I find this CD best to listen to in the cold weather, at nite. "Symbolism" is truly one of my favorite songs ever. It's that good. The police investigators casually chatting about the brutal events while underneath you can almost SEE them taking place. It builds a staircase of rhythmic tones that leads you up and then back to where you started.
Definately the darkest Delerium album out there. but still, not really brutality for the sake of brutality. This album seems to focus on the beauty within the darkened tones.
Nothing like Karma which wraps you up in clouds and puts you to sleep. No, Morpheus let's you dwell on the darker things but you still sleep. Great album.

50% of the songs on this album are just brilliant, dark and scary, and beautiful at the same time. But the other half seems to be a bit too noisy for my Delerium ears! Very industrial. The covers and designs are brilliant!

This is another great CD...A simple rule when buying this group is...The older the better..The newer stuff gets worse and worse until Karma, which sounds like enigima and one would not recognize its the same band minus its key member... This is one of the better CDs.

Along with Faces, Forms & Illusions this CD Morpheus is my favourite. This is Pre Poem, where Delerium became a main stream group. All songs within this release are poetic and wonderful to listen too. 'Gaza' begins the voyage with a heavy industrial theme within the tune. It actually is rivetting and compelling listening throughout this album.
'Coup de Tat'is a likable song, using industrial beats mixed with slight ambient tones. Overall the CD is a must for early Delerium fans. This CD released in 1990 from Germany shows Delerium at their very best.

I am a longtime FLA fan who recently started listening to Delirium. However, I've never been a huge fan of much of FLA's work prior to Tactical Neural Implant...or maybe even Virus. I enjoy it--but in a nostalgic sense, not because it is complex, lush, evocative music--it isn't. Morpheus is to Delirium as Convergence is to Frontline Assembly. Awful on the ears, but worth the effort if you want a glimpse back into early 90's industrial. I'd like to be more optimistic about this CD, but I can't be.

This 1989 Dossier Records release from Delerium was one of my least favorite Delerium records when it was released. I was expecting them to remain true to their Stone Tower and other earlier releases and was disapointed. Being 15 at the time I was in a mode where I wanted artists to play similair music on each album and I disliked to great changes. Now, with a more mature palate I can see what I missed. This was the begining of the more dance oriented Delerium and a natural progression of things. It is like noise unit, FLA and Delrium sounds met and they made this new and experimental sound of Delerium and the result is great if not astounding. The cover art is odd with a face and the text is cheap. The rest of the book-let is likewise and the photo looks grainy and is they highered an engineer from Dossier Records to take the photo. Even so it is a very fine album that should not be missed by fans of Leeb and Fulber.