Customer Reviews

Pages

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This group continues to amaze. It is a shame that Country Radio isn't listening. The albums opening song "Safe in My Lovers Arms" sung by Lydia, who is more often singing backup, pulls you in and doesn't let go. For those of you who know the group, Ilya is not listed as a member any longer, but he did contribute to the album. If you read the credits his presence is definately there, and if you know the music you can hear it! "Cruel Man" is another great tune belted out by Natasha the lead singer. My personal favorite at this point is "Just Imagine". It is a great country ballad. Musicians they definately are, as heard in the albums two intstrumentals. Whoever you are if you like music you'll love this album. BUY IT!!!!

Those enterprising Russians who name themselves Bering Strait and call Nashville their home base are back with their second album, PAGES. And in much the same fashion as their self-titled debut of two and a half years ago, they go for a sound that only SEEMS to be tailor-made for corporate country radio. For their second go-around, they got country/bluegrass maestro Carl Jackson, who helmed the 2003 Grammy-winning country compilation album LIVIN', LOVIN', LOSIN', and prove that, as Tift Merritt had done last year with her sophomore album TAMBOURINE, they have every intention of not falling into a sophomore slump.

PAGES, like the debut album, takes elements of newgrass, country, and rock and blends them into a very unique package that sets them apart from every other Nashville band, all of whom have long since sounded the same. Natasha Borzilova still handles much of the lead vocals, but her second-in-command Lydia Salnikova gets things off and running with her own self-titled composition "Safe In My Lover's Arms", as well as co-writing "Long Time Comin'" The band no longer has the direct services of banjo wiz kid Ilya Toshinsky, but he's still there on a few tracks, including the instrumental "What's For Dinner?" and the newgrassy version of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 FM rock classic "You Make Lovin' Fun." Their Russian roots are clearly shown on their adaptation of the Russian folk song "Oy, Moroz-Moroz." Dobro master Jerry Douglas also wrote and produced the track "From Ankara To Izmir", a perfectly fine newgrass instrumental with a rock feel to it.

If Bering Strait gets lost in the Nashville shuffle, it won't be out of lack of trying; it will be because Music Row only thinks of art in terms of dollars, rather than art in terms of creativity. This group has it in spades, and deserves to be far more popular than it is. PAGES is proof of that.

Circa 2002, I saw a vignette on 60 minutes about a band touring the Nashville area. No big deal, until they started showing some footage of this band in concert. The audience was stomping, hooting and hollering. The song they were reacting to? Something in Russian! Boy had we come a long way from the days of the Cold War, Glasnost, and the Berlin Wall coming down. Here were cowboy hats and boots dancing to something that the house of un-American activities might have issues with.

Needless to say, I sought out a copy of their recording. This was a direct kick in the teeth of Nashville. Here were these kids from halfway around the world who had somehow nailed that uniquely "American" sound. Then, towards the end of the album, these kids pulled out their musical chops and showed some of the more intricate layering that they could produce. Interesting, I thought, but at the heart of this album was an overall country feel. You could stick most of the tracks on any Country radio station, and they would have gone over enthusiastically.

So, with baited breath, I peeled the packaging off my new copy of "Pages". This time around, the overtly non-country came at the beginning, with the pseudo-country following later.

The first song, "Safe in my lover's arms", is a haunting song full of depth and longing. Think Siberry's "Calling all Angels" with an upbeat message.

"Oy, Moroz-Moroz" is what appears to be the homage to their hometown roots. Delivered in their native tongue, this song lacks the get up and go of the "Parushka-Paranya" and has a dirge feeling to it.

"From Ankara to Izmir" is the instrumental piece along the lines of "Bering Strait". At just over 6 minutes, this gives the group a last chance to stretch their musical wings before embarking on the more pedestrian sound that follows. Instead of this being the the climax of the album, shoving it in the front makes the rest of the album a sort of letdown.

From the first chords of "Long Time Comin'", we know we're back to the Country, going so far as to say that if this song, singer and all, were to have been transplanted onto a Jo Dee Messina album, no one would be any the wiser.

"Just Imagine" moves strongly towards the Adult Contemporary Pop sound, with a steel guitar, so they don't stray too far from their audience.

The title track, "Pages" may be the closest homage they pay to the mountain music they site as influencing their music.

Fleetwood Mac's cover "You Make Loving Fun" is technically note for note well produced, however, it feels over-produced. There's an old saying in music, if you're going to cover another band's music, you need to make it your own. In this case, with the possible exception of the non-heartfelt delivery of the lead singer, this could have been lifted directly from an unused studio track from the Rumours album.

"Cruel Man" is about as Rhythm and Blues as they get on the album. Listening to the song as I write this, I'm trying to picture the pain that might be conveyed in this song, and find the delivery, once again, sterilized.

From the opening notes of "What's for Dinner" I found myself thinking this is the "Jam" song on the album. Every performer gets their 30 second spotlight.

"Choose Your Partner" is one of the more solid country outings on this album. The right amount of emotion. This is a song where the listener seems to feel that the singer emotionally knows what they're talking about, rather than just merely running through the words.

Finishing off the album is "Hurts Just a Little". Another solid country Pop song.

All in all, this is a producer's album rather than an album of the artists. This is what happens when a record company spends too much time reading statistics and not enough time listening to the artists they are sitting in front of and recording. The album is aimless in just about the same way that the first album seemed straight ahead. I just kept feeling that this album was about to take off, it went in another direction in cruise control.

While the first outing seemed to be raw with emotion even in what otherwise would have felt pedestrian, this album's lack of emotion from the singers detract significantly from the songs, with the sole exception of "Safe in My Lover's Arms" which seems to distilled all of the emotion available to the rest of the album and presented it up front.

If you thoroughly enjoyed the first album, you’ve probably already got this one. If you’re looking to get into Bering Strait for the first time, definitely start at the beginning and work your way up to this album.

Otherwise, if you’re still not sure, wait for the 3rd album which, if Bering Strait is focused on who they really are, should be a much more solid album than this sophomore outing.

I would have to agree with the other reviews that these guys are extremely talented. I continue to wish that they would step off the Nashville wagon though and take their music to a bit more rock and roll sound as well. A must have CD!

Oh my God did they ever get it right on this one!!!!!!!!! This is what we all knew Bering Strait was capable of. After the first album, I was a little worried that some Nashville producer would force them to do another "accessible" album, as opposed to the artistic brilliance that the title track of their debut hinted at. But my worry was unfounded, cause here it is, and it is fantastic.

First off, before even opening the box, one notices from the photograph on the back that they're a slightly smaller band than they were on their 2003 debut. Sergei Passov (violin) quit the band around the time that album was released. And more recently, the band's founder Ilya Toshinsky called it a day as well. But that's ok, Sasha is more than capable of taking over all the guitars, the Borzilova/Salnikova harmonies are every bit as present as you'd hope, with Spooky and Alex living up to every expectation set by the first album.

The opening track is an almost Irish sounding mornful tune sung over a drone with a string orchestra doing the best Hans Zimmer this side of Gladiator. And if that doesn't prove to you that "Nashville Overproduction" has gone out the window, what will? Track two is Moroz, which anyone who saw the documentary "The Ballad of Bering Strait" will recall as the campfire song. Then we get the first of two instrumentals. And I must say that the instrumentals are the highlights of the album. Just like on the debut, the instrumentals MAKE the album!!!!!! The first one here is very jazzy and subtle, the other one is more upbeat, and exciting.

After the first instrumental, they spend about 5 songs pretending they're on the debut album again. The bookends of this little segment are the weakest points of the album: "Long Time Coming" and "Cruel Man" sound like outtakes from the first album, or bad copies of songs like "Jagged Edge of a Broken Heart." On the other hand, "Just Imagine" and "Pages" both show off just how great this band can be.

And as much as I hate the idea of Bering Strait doing a Fleetwood Mac cover, I've gotta admit they did it VERY well. So overall, they've impressed me. They've impressed me A LOT with this record. Only two weak tracks, and I can forgive those two because they're lost among 9 FANTASTIC tracks.

And BTW, they're STILL the only country band I listen to. I'm not a country music fan. I like progrock (Yes, Dream Theater), goth (Lacrimosa, The Cure), Eurometal (Nightwish, Lacuna Coil), and Europop (Enigma, Ozone). Country is NOT my cup of tea, yet this band is so great that they've won me over completely. That should tell you something.

Abandoning the bland, country radio-friendly approach that marred their first album has proven a blessing for the Russian folk/country band Bering Strait on their excellent sophomore effort "Pages". Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first album and play it often, but I never thought it did their considerable talents justice, especially after seeing the rocking live concert video that was released with "The Ballad of Bering Strait" DVD. I was afraid they'd take the same approach with this album, pandering to country radio with substandard material, but they blew that idea out of the water with their first three tracks, none of which have any commercial prospects whatsoever. But that's not to say they aren't excellent, engaging tracks--"Safe in My Lover's Arms" is a beautiful, nearly acapella ballad written by Lydia, who takes over lead vocals on it and four other tracks; the Russian folk ballad "Oy Moroz" is gorgeously sung by Natasha, and it is followed by the Jerry Douglas-penned instrumental "From Ankara to Ishmar", which is on the same level as their Grammy-nominated "Bearing Straight". They don't even start to flirt with mainstream country until track 4, the engaging "Long Time Coming", while "Just Imagine" and "Pages" are in the same league as the debut album's highlight "Jagged Edge of a Broken Heart".

While I love their take on Fleetwood Mac's "You Make Lovin' Fun", I wonder if it is too early in their career to be covering old hits, especially since this is the first single. I would have preferred something new, although Sasha's dobro riffs add a wonderful new dimension to the song. Ironically, it is the second half of the album where you'll find most of the uptempo tunes. And the last track on the album, which is usually the spot you would find songs like "Safe in My Lover's Arms", is probably the album's most funky and commercial: "It Hurts Just a Little", cowritten by Sasha. In fact, it's encouraging to see that nearly half of the album's eleven tracks were either written, co-written or arranged by one or more of the bandmates, all of whom show a remarkable gift for writing songs in a second language none of them even knew ten years ago. And did I mention the presence of a second instrumental, "What's for Dinner?", which is even better than "From Ankara to Izmar"?

In all, this is an sparkling sophomore effort for the band, where they show the courage to move more toward their own sound instead of pandering to commercial country radio play which may never come their way, experiment successfully with writing their own songs, and let Lydia's beautiful voice take some of the lead vocal duties from Natasha, allowing two great vocal talents to shine instead of just one.

The only detriment? Finding out in the liner notes that Ilya Toshinsky, the brilliant banjo/guitar picker whom the band was built around, is no longer a member of the group, although he is prominently featured throughout the album and still an intregal part of the band's sound. (A quick search of the internet found that he is on an "indefinite hiatus" from the group so he can pursue a more rock-oriented sound.) How his absence effects the group's live performances, and future recordings, remains to be seen. Here's hoping he makes a quick return. Until then, we still have him all over the wonderful "Pages".

I figured initially from that 60 Minutes piece that Bering Strait was a pretty reasonable facsimile of an American-style country band, and as neat as that is, given that they're Russian, that'd probably be it from them. The music business is a cold place. But, being game for the unique hook of the story and liking some of what I heard, I gave the first record a chance, and was very impressed. Great songs, and impressive musicianship.

"Pages" has appearently gotten some of the same criticism usually afforded sophomore releases, but I hope, for their sake, they ignore all of it. Pages has a spark of creativity and seems to be more personally theirs (that is, the band's) than the first record. I think it's an attempt to get past being stereotyped into one style of music. Though they do country extremely well (better than most country bands I've ever heard, and I have heard quite a few, thanks), they are quite adept at other styles, and the result is engaging to listen to, throughout.

Some highlights (for me, anyway):

The first track, apparently written while Lydia was harmonizing to an air conditioner, is nothing short of gorgeous. Stunning, strong vocals. I'm not kidding about the air conditioner...genius is where you find it. Totally lump-in-the-throat material.

Oy, Moroz-Moroz is another Russian folk tune. They do these extremely well...and I am hoping its a stock feature on their records in the future.

Ankara To Izmir is a barn-burner of a tune, written by one of their favorite musicians, and has, as they've admitted, precious little to do thematically with Turkey, though it was written there.

Long Time Comin' is a great straight-ahead tune. I'd say it rocks--catchy hook, makes you want to sing along.

I was suspicious of the Fleetwood Mac tune until I gave it a chance (I had to consciously do that)...but when I did, I realized that it's a great, unique read. I'll listen to the Bering Strait version more than I ever would the Mac version, because they've made it their own. If you hear it live, it'll become even more apparent how great this version (and their performance of it) is.

So the initial hook of the little band from Russia that wanted to take on American country music was cute, but that's not what Bering Strait is about, really. They're great musicians. They have musical ideas that are (well, should be) appealing to a broad range of music fans. And I feel compelled to write this because it would be a shame for listeners to overlook this effort because, of all the silly reasons, it isn't like the first record. Don't miss an opportunity to hear this record with new ears. I'm giving it five stars to balance out some of you that didn't give it a chance. It's probably like 4, but whatever.

As an aside, if you can see them in concert, you must. What a quirky, fun, and wholly enjoyable show!

Thank you so much for your interest in this album!

To answer those of you who have wondered where the band members are now and what they are doing... Bering Strait is no longer together, but you'll be pleased to know that everyone is still in the United States and still pursuing music, to varying degrees - as solo artists, studio musicians and/or road musicians. So the journey continues.

If you're curious to check out my debut solo album "Hallway", you can click here. Or, for more information about it, and to download a free live performance mp3, please visit my official website, LydiaSalnikova.com.

Ok, look. Maybe some of the tracks on this second offering from Bering Strait aren't as impactful as those on the first. But if you're not lifted out of reality by Lydia Salnikova's "Safe In My Lovers Arms" then you should check for a pulse.

That song is unbelievable. It's the best thing about this CD. Maybe you dont want to dance to it or work out to it or anything, but turn out the lights and close your eyes and give it a real listen. If it doesn't transport you somewhere then you're just not tuned in properly.

I never knew her voice was that amazing. She was always somewhere in there on the first cd but, like most people, I thought she was just a backup vocalist. If there's anything to learn from this new cd it's that Lydia needs to take front stage. Check back in five years and I'll bet you'll see her voice on solo records, movie soundtracks, commercials, anywhere. I just hope she writes more music and sings more, because I think this is the beginning of something really great.

So that guy who's using Pages as a coaster? You havent learned how to tap into that dreamy space that Lydia can take you to. When you figure that out, try this track again.

Thanks to the entire band for seeing the light and putting this track up front and center. It makes Pages worth it.

A bunch of Russian kids that define bluegrass/country where it grows or is played