Customer Reviews

My Secret Heart

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

 

 

From the moment I first heard Michael Whalen's new CD, "My Secret Heart", I was absolutely captivated. I adore this CD. The music is quite beautiful and evocative, it is as if Michael captured a piece of Heaven in his hands, and it spilled forth and transformed into this beautiful music.

"My Secret Heart, romantic meditations for ambient piano" is by far Whalen's most ambitious and revealing project to date. Imagine all your deepest, darkest secrets hanging out for the world to see? Well, that is what is embodied in this album.

From the first track, "I Have Loved You For A Thousand Lifetimes," Whalen succeeds at what I think is the fundamental goal of this album: to make the music accessible and inviting to the listener. Even deeper: to show a side of Michael that few people get to see-a vulnerability, a longing, an HONESTY...who hasn't wanted to express these emotions???

Whalen has chosen exactly the right notes, at the right time, giving ample time for each shimmering note to breathe. More important, the simplicity of this CD invites you into Michael's world, which is about music he cares about expressing-because of who he is, and what he believes in.

I was immediately mesmerized on hearing this on Soundscapes. Michael Whalen has composed and performed the most haunting and lingering piano sounds I have heard in a long time. You feel each piano note deeply, sometimes holding a breath not wanting to miss its penetrating moment. It is not only seductive it is intoxicating. I have played it for listening and for dining, all my friends and guests are captivated by it.

Being partially responsible for this album, I feel Michael presents a very nice tribute to Harold Budd & Brian Eno with a New York feel that showcases his considerable technical abilities. The music is much cooler than the cover suggests, but that is just another reason to own this lovely series of New York images. The constantly spinning Betamax tape Michael recalls in the notes contained Eno's Ambient Music Vols. 1-3 and The Pearl. Michael's video is also very cool and will hopefully be released soon. Excellent music for pounding SQL code or your significant other late into the evening.

I am a LMT and I purchased this cd for song #1- I overheard on XM radio. This cd is awesome. I never get tired of it. It is perfect for relaxation. I play it at home and at work.

This CD is a must have for all of you true romantics out there. It provides a beautiful sonic backdrop that is perfect for moments when you want to escape life's stresses. Michael's ability to create beautiful melodies entwined with electronic processing, makes for a rich sonic tapestry that is at times sad, yet stirring nonetheless. "I have loved you for a thousand lifetimes" is a standout, with a gorgeous melody. It is also the song for which the video was created. Outstanding! I thoroughly enjoyed this CD.

My massage therapist plays soothing cds during treatment. After hearing this CD several times I knew I had to have it. It is wonderfully (some would call bland) ambient music. This is not to say it is not interesting..it is just soothing and relaxing and works almost subconsciously to help defuse tension and relieve the stress of the day. Listening to the CD on the way to or from work is a great way to ease the commute.

Some songs just remind one of the love of their life. The gentle piano of Mike Whalen puts you in touch with you inner self, right where your heart-strings are.

This CD is my Zen. When I listen to this, I feel that the world and I are just fine.

Fans of Harold Budd & Brian Eno's ambient works will instantly recognize something familiar in this set of wonderful piano meanderings. The EQ treatment is there, the ghostly reverb, the melancholy tones. But these precious components are disgraced by annoying background synth sounds that recall a swarm of bees, a high-pitched buzzsaw, or even someone's phone ringing from down the street. Ugh.

Had I first heard this at normal listening volume, I would not have bought it, but unfortunately I heard it while listening at low volume over an internet radio station while at work and was deceptively charmed. As it turned out, this CD fairs better at low volume in order to suppress the background noises, but then you unfortunately lose that beautiful reverb, along with them.

At regular volume, it's like a beautiful painting that someone defaced with long fingernails.

Sorry, Michael. What were you thinking?!!

Lovers of this ambient genre are better off to instead revisit the classic ambient works that inspired this release: Budd and Eno's "The Plateaux of Mirror" and "The Pearl."