Music of Another Present Era

Oregon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 26, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vanguard Records
• ASIN: B000000EKU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,565 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great band, great album, January 26, 2010

By 

Jamiel N. Alkhaja "Jamiel" (UAE) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music of Another Present Era (Audio CD)

To think I just found out about these guys recently...silly! But yeah, if you're into fusion or jazz fusion or world...or whatever the hell you wanna call it (think Shakti)then this should be right up your alley, as it was up mine (my alley I mean). And so far this seems to be their best album (I've still got a couple albums to digest but yes, this is a superb one). For those of you who're into Hip Hop you might also notice that this album has been sampled and used in different tracks. But that's neither here nor there...I guess. Great band and this is a great album.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Sound Quality, August 4, 2009

By 

Ellis Swearangin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music of Another Present Era (Audio CD)

This is a review of the sound quality only, and I am reviewing the 2004 remaster (mine's from Polystar Jazz Library in Japan).

The sound quality here on some tracks is very bad. Tracks 3,6,&14 are definite 'Loudness War' victim (google loudness war for more info). Most tracks have limited dynamics, but on 3,6,&14 there is also clipping and a large amount of distortion. The sound really poor. Basically whoever remastered these three songs has ruined them. I mean this is a Jazz release of all things, why would anyone want to sacrifice sound quality for volume? Do you know anyone who listens to Jazz that doesn't value sound quality, even if only in a small way? or doesn't know how to operate their volume knob?

I'd recommend getting the old pre-2004 version on cd, that's what I'm going to do (through the Amazon resellers of course). I'll post a review of that disk once I get it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful transcendent 'world music', October 12, 2010

By 

Chris Carter (my music room) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music of Another Present Era (Audio CD)

Really - what is 'world music'?? It seems a dismissive/arbitrary term, like it's a different world from the one we live in. Actually, that may be relevant, considering this is a very meditative, introspective album and the world we live in nowadays is anything but. Oregon are one of my favorite ensembles - they made very intelligent, unusual music that breathed. They communicated to each other through notes, dynamics, etc. I would say anything they put out in the '70's was worth owning (can't speak for their '80's output).

The instrumentation on this one mainly consists of hand drums, tabla, sitar, acoustic guitar, piano, and oboe (no vocals). I have a hard time explaining why this is my favorite Oregon album. It seems very sensitive, very pure and natural. I can listen to it anytime, anywhere. I've been listening to it on the way to work and on the way back. I also have a hard time telling the difference between the improvised sections and the written out sections, which I think speaks highly to their abilities. Even when the music gets frenetic, there's a very calming presence guiding the whole thing. "The Silence Of A Candle" (isn't that the title? Kind of pretentious, but anyway) is absolutely Zen-like, beautiful and quite possibly my favorite track. Anyhoo, if you're looking for something not rock and not traditional, Oregon are awesome, unique, stimulating and sensual - definitely a band who should get more credit.