Priest = Aura

The Church | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 10, 1992)
• Original Release Date: March 10, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B000002VLR
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,872 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #31 in Music > World Music > Europe > Scandinavia > Finland

Editorial Reviews

Audio CD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An aural masterpiece, February 17, 2000

By 

M. Haswell (Nagoya, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Priest = Aura (Audio CD)

This album right here embodies every little aspect that I love about the Church. Although they put out some amazing material before this and some great stuff since, this work still remains in my mind the greatest effort of their career. Marty Willson-Piper's guitars move from soaring walls of feedback and overdriven bliss to hauntingly chiming 12-string melodies on his trademark Rickenbackers. Peter Koppes holds up the rich undertones, filling in all the gaps with his precise, smooth playing and atmospheric touches. One-time drummer Jay Dee Daugherty keeps a tight, jazz-like feel on the skins throughout the songs, dropping down to light brush-work on "Swan Lake," and charging up to rolling toms on "Chaos." And Steve Kilbey maintains his throbbing bass tones, while weaving delicate, surreal tales in his rich and distinctive baritone voice. Each song smoothly glides into the next one, creating a complete piece from all the component parts. This ain't a collection of songs here, folks - this is an ALBUM.

The key to Priest=Aura is to listen to it LOUD, preferably even with headphones. There are layers of sound to sort through in this album. . .even after owning it for eight years, I still catch new parts every now and then that I hadn't noticed before . The music here is something you absorb, not just listen to. The lyrics paint out epic scenes, the guitar textures fashion a landscape of sound, and the bass and drums set a tight intensity and dynamic for each musical "setting." Still, it is the songs that create the whole, so it would be unfair not to recognize some of them. "Aura" opens the album with a lush keyboard line, before eventually transforming itself into an incredible mass of guitarwork. "Ripple" continues with the aural magnificence, highlighting what is likely one of Peter Koppes's best solos ever. "Mistress" is a delicate, beautiful song, accented by sad string effects and exquisite guitar touches, while "Kings" underlines that famed Willson-Piper/Koppes interplay, as the guitar parts bounce back and forth over Kilbey's melodic Bass VI parts. Among the most interesting tracks, however, is "The Disillusionist," which possesses such intense imagery in its coupling of Kilbey's lyrical tale and the guitar parts that it is almost frightening. The grand epic though, is definitely "Chaos," which rumbles and roars in sonic power, building up in intensity until it finally cascades and collapses downwards into nothing again.

Forget the radio and MTV, kids. . .this is music that can really take you places.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Church CD to date, January 10, 2000

By 

Michael J. Thompson "aspiring game designer" (North Attleboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Priest = Aura (Audio CD)

When I first purchased Priest=Aura back in '92 I didn't really like it. I was still hoping for something that sounded just like Starfish, which at the time was my favorite Church collection. I put this aside with many of my other CDs for some time.

A couple of years ago I started listening to all of my older CDs, especially the stuff by The Church. I discovered that with time my yearnings for that one particular sound by the band had faded, and I could appreciate each CD on its own merits. I really listened to it this time, and I was surprised to find I liked it better than any other Church CD.

The beauty of this CD is that each song stands on its own in a way that is unique from every other track. My personal favorites are Ripple, Halo, Kings, and The Disillusionist.

In my mind, the Church wasn't really the same after Peter Koppes left, and it wasn't until his return on Hologram of Baal that they really stood out for me again. Priest=Aura remains their best CD, followed by Hologram of Baal, Box of Birds, and then Starfish (4th, if you can believe it!)

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wasn't expecting this..., November 9, 2005

By 

Stargrazer "the lost mixtape of my life" (deep in the heart of Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Priest = Aura (Audio CD)

After Gold Afternoon Fix's abundance of songs, and after hearing the lead single "Feel," I really expected this to be more of the same. Instead, it manages to be darker and lusher simultaneously, with songs that are unconcerned whether they undershoot or overshoot the 3-minute mark. Instead they unfold at whatever pace fulfills them, allowing for complex word imagery beyond the boundaries of most conventional pop songs. I enjoy the moody, evocative poetry of the lyrics and the layered production. A high point for the band.