Customer Reviews

Pure Mark Isham

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

 

 

A compilation of a number of Mark Isham tunes - this CD is an excellent CD to put you in a mellow mood. I did not find it to new agey -- as I do not like New Age stuff generally. Very sweeping soundscapes with a jazz influence - that really shows off a good stereo system if you own one.

There is no bad track on this CD. Eerie, beautiful, moving, powerful...this selection of Isham tunes is a great introduction for anyone unfamiliar with his work, and a wonderful compilation of choice cuts for the fan.

Several of the selections here are from his early Windham Hill albums Vapor Drawings, Film Music (re-release), Songs My Children Taught Me, Tibet. While each are original and unforgettable on their own, taken collectively you realize what range and imagination Mark Isham has. The first two are nearest my heart, as it was before he became a regular soundtrack composer or alternative star that he did these personal works. His first few soundtracks still give me shivers, they are so subtle and powerful. Songs My Children Taught Me is a rare disc of his instrumental music for several Rabbit Ears productions of childrens stories ... though the music is marvelous, it's a bit odd without the narration of the actors who read the stories. Tibet inhabits that strange land where original instrumental compositions had a popular moment in the sun in the 1980s care of Windham Hill; it builds slowly to a plateau of musical benevolence.

Compared with a lot of "new age" and contemporary music that has been released since the 1980s, Isham's compositions stand out as coming from a man with musical vision.

The collection here selects some of my favorite selections (and in the case of Mrs. Soffel, excerpt from a longer suite), but if you really want to enjoy Isham's compositions, try to find his original releases. They're "keepers."

Interest in Mark Isham was piqued in knowing he wrote the score to "The Cooler". This is pleasant listening, but is not as rich and velvety as the music in "The Cooler". That soundtrack is incredible and marks the zenith of his talent. This CD is rather ho-hum.

I was a bit dissapointed by some of the songs in here. I admit I was expecting something more like Isham's work with the soundtrack of "Crash", and found most of the album to be pretty much (basic) new age. There were a handful of great songs where he pulls it off (mostly the ones where his trumpet work stands out, reminding me of Miles Davis at times). The rest was just OK. Can't give it more than 3.5 stars.