Planets [Import]

Tomita | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony/Bmg Int'l
• ASIN: B000026F6Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,025 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mars, The Bringer Of War

2. Venus, The Bringer Of Peace

3. Mercury, The Winged Messenger

4. Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity/Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age

5. Uranus, The Magician/Neptune, The Mystic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space opera, seen through music..., November 12, 2003

By 

R. Mark Anderson "tarzmarkus" (Whidbey Island, WA.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tomita Planets (Audio CD)

After reading a few of the other reviews I had to write one of my own. These guys just don't get it! They keep griping about it not being true to the original work by Holst. The fact is that it was never meant to be like the original. Tomita is telling a story here using electronic music and effects, and he does a fantastic job of it! If the other reviewers just listened without all the judgenent they could see a story unfold in their minds through the awesome expressivness of Tomita's sounds. It goes like this: two friends blast off in space ships, they patrol around, they get some r&r, then there is a huge space battle and one of them gets lost. The other pilot calls to his friend, they can barely hear each other and the lost one knows he isn't coming back. Together they sing their planetary anthem, then the lost guy is taken by a space storm. This version of The Planets is well worth owning, it has a true emotional appeal and different people see different stories as they listen. It takes an open mind that isn't cluttered with expectations to really get into this experience.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very creative electronic adaptation of Gustav Holst's Planets, June 4, 2006

By 

Jeffrey J.Park (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tomita Planets (Audio CD)

This 1976 release by Japanese electronic composer Isao Tomita presents his all-electronic adaptation of The Planets Op. 32, which was written during 1914-1916 by British composer Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934). Holst is best known for this orchestral suite, although he hated the publicity it generated. As a huge fan of 1970's progressive rock, I have listened to my fair share of prog rock bands interpreting bits and pieces of The Planets, e.g. King Crimson, Morgan etc., so an electronic version of the entire work really piqued my curiosity.

Isao plays what sounds like an RMI electric harpsichord, pipe organ, string synthesizer (I think), in addition to the mini-moog synthesizer, which is an instrument that seems to generate an infinite number of sounds, at least in his hands. The sounds of the moog synthesizer dominate this recording and evoke the vacuum and cold of outer space, but are also quite sensitive as well. The seven pieces range in length from 5'22" to 17'26", are blended together (unlike the original) and cover a range of moods and dynamics - much like the original work. Isao injects his own personality into each piece, so I found the listening experience to be very interesting, and at times pretty funny (he has a great sense of humor).

Mars has been called the most devastating piece of music ever written and I think that Isao more or less pulls this piece off, although there are some slightly silly sounding synthesizer tones that render the piece as somewhat less than devastating. Venus was intended to be a dreamy and airy movement and Isao does an incredible job with spacey synth textures. This is my favorite movement and probably the most successful. Mercury - Isao certainly had a lot of fun with this, and the synth sounds are pretty bouncy and vibrant, without being goofy. Jupiter represents the prime of life. Isao injects a little humor into Jupiter by using a synth tone that sounds like a human voice humming the central melody. Saturn was Holst's personal favorite and was intended to show that old age is not always peaceful and happy. I think that Isao conveys this pretty darn well with some creepy and occasionally agitated synth textures. Uranus is a quirky scherzo that displays very odd sounding synth tones and percussion before the tranquility of the closing movement Neptune, which features an electronic version of the female choir included in the original work.

While some movements work better than others, I think that overall, this is a great adaptation of a very important work. Recommended to electronica fans along with other albums by Isao Tomita including Snowflakes are Dancing (1974), which presents his electronic interpretation of Claude Debussy.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Electronic Music Performance Ever, November 13, 2000

By 

Kimba W. Lion "kimbawlion.com" (the East Coast) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Tomita Planets (Audio CD)

I first heard this recording when it was released, 24 years ago. I had only recently discovered Tomita via his "Pictures at an Exhibition" (a masterpiece) and I was eager to hear what new thrills Tomita would unleash in "Planets". I listened to the record once, took it off the turntable, and threw it in the trash. Fortunately, I reconsidered a short while later and retrieved it. "Planets", after all, is even better than "Pictures". What caused that initial reaction of mine was not that it is that bad, but that it is that different. My expectations had been completely shaken up.

Tomita has transformed Holst's "Planets" from a suite to a unified whole. No longer a series of musical sketches, it tells a story-and this is why he introduced "extraneous" sounds and effects and doesn't include every last note that Holst wrote. I'm restraining myself from describing the story or devices for fear of cheapening the effect for others-for me Tomita's "Planets" is beautiful, thrilling, frightening, joyous, poignant, and haunting. It's no wonder to me why Holst's estate tried to suppress this recording: it totally obviates the need for any other recording or performance of this music.

A note on the sound: not all of BMG's remixing of Tomita's albums for Dolby Surround were entirely successful. This one is. It is a joy technically as well as musically. Concept, performance, execution: one of the greatest discs of all time.