Operating Theatre

Brian Dewan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 27, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Instinct Records
• ASIN: B000059RTR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,570 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Where They Belong

2. The Human Heart

3. The Kids

4. Solomon Grundy

5. Loathsome Idols

6. Rumpelstiltskin

7. Cadavers

8. The Trial

9. Flexible Flyer

10. Sick Day

11. Fruitless Labors

12. First Day of School

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does Dewan Dodge the Sophomore Slump?, March 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Operating Theatre (Audio CD)

(Okay, that was far too alliterative for comfort....)

Happily, the answer is yes. Like its predecessor TELLS THE STORY, THE OPERATING THEATER is a mix of folk music, deadpan sick jokes, nostalgia, and celebrations of both the strange and the quotidian.

Tracks like the sly "Where You Belong" and "Cadavers" (unburied bodies are "kicked aside and picked on by ordinary folks/Employed by student doctors in ungodly practical jokes") reinforce Brian's "Burl Ives meets Edward Gorey" image. The ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY reviewer who dubbed him a "gansta folkie" will be glad to hear "Loathsome Idols," in which Brian rocks out on his electric zither while describing some seriously antisocial behavior (and though he wrote the song years ago, thanks to recent events in Afghanistan it's topical).

Lest I give Brian the wow-ain't-he-clever kiss of death, I hasten to add that many of the tunes are a hell of a lot of fun. "Rumpelstiltskin" often cracks up live audiences, while "Flexible Flyer" will become a winter holiday classic if there's any justice.

Finally, I have to mention my favorite tracks, which happen to be the two quietest songs on the album. The dreamy "Sick Day" makes the idea of staying home "with my hot water bottle and the flu" alluring, and "Solomon Grundy," performed completely straight, is simply gorgeous.

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying in Every Way, August 16, 2004

By 

Jackson Landers (Charlottesville, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Operating Theatre (Audio CD)

This is a timelessly great album that anyone would have to try very, very hard not to like. Mixing baroque, rock and folk sensibilities, this is simple, intelligent and humorous music played with great skill on rarely-heard instruments. I've never thought I'd spit out a cliche like this, but Brian Dewan's Operating Theatre is truly an album for all ages and most musical tastes.

If 'The Princess Bride' were an album instead of a movie, this would be it. Not that they have anything to do with each other, but the attitudes are similar.

Listen to the samples that Amazon makes available. The best songs (in my opinion) are unfortuantely not available as samples, but listen to 'Kids' and 'Where They Belong.' This album is satisfying in every way and has already made its way into heavy rotation for both myself and my infant daughter.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST OF MY 600 plus CDs, October 23, 2001

By 

Jared Morris (Middletown, DE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Operating Theatre (Audio CD)

I purchased this album in 1999 well before its commercial release from Brian himself. I found it then, as I do now, the most beautiful album that i have ever heard. That may sound like an over-statement, however, i truly mean it. There's nothing else to say about it.