The Reality of a Dreamer

Mythos (New Age) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00018QIC0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,713,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Alchemy

2. Kaleidoscope

3. Venice

4. Vision 1 [Instrumental]

5. Requiem

6. Solstice

7. Fantasy

8. Destiny

9. Reveries

10. The Ring

11. Redemption

12. Vision II

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a dissapointing follow-up from Mythos., June 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Reality Of A Dreamer (Audio CD)

When comparing this cd to all the junk one hears on mainstream/top 40 radio, it's brilliant. But when comparing it to Mythos' former album "Mythos" it comes as a bit of a dissapointment for me.

While Mythos has never been very intense compared to other bands within this genre of music, there were some beautiful stand-out tracks on their other album like "November", "June" and "Angel's Weep". "Mythos" was a very dreamy and exotic album with subtle ethnic elements and great vocal arragements. But on "Reality of A Dreamer" the ethnic elements have been dropped for even more classical influences (which Mythos doesn't seem to be able to thrive well on alone) and emotionally distant songs. The music isn't bad - it's just bland, and the "soulful" vocal arrangements on "Venice" are downright annoying.

When it comes to the world/ambient genre of music I was much more impressed by Govinda's follow-up album 'Entwined & Entranced' and the recent album by Enigma 'The Screen Behind the Mirror', which go beyond mood music - they are an experience!

I want to be able to remember an album after I've heard it, or have certain tracks linger in my mind for hourse or days afterward. This certainly wasn't the case with "Reality of a dreamer".

It's serves as great backround music but that's about it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Follow Up Worthy Of The Original, July 17, 2000

By 

"d-moonshadow" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Reality Of A Dreamer (Audio CD)

From the opening piano solo, to a more club groove to a blues/new-age mix, this follow up to Mythos' debut quickly allays doubts that anything was lost in the time between the two releases. The CD opens with a beautiful piano-centered track, with minimal background instrumentation, and doesn't stop. There are more heavenly, female, wordless vocals (save for a second version of "Vision" at the end of the CD), plenty to spare. Also, we have a more club edge on some of the tracks, probably from Mythos' recent collaboration with DJ Cosmos. Also featured at the end of a few tracks are some more gutsy blues-tinged vocal performances. A worthy debut with even more to offer!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy sucessor, but a little disappointing, July 21, 2003

By 

David Michael Cook (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Reality Of A Dreamer (Audio CD)

Let's get this out of the way first: I love Mythos. The debut CD was filled with enchanting, wordless, timeless melodies from start to finish; every track is 5-star in my book. From the haunting opening of Brazil to the last second of the last track, MYTHOS was an album that utterly captivated my senses.

Reality of a Dreamer is not that album. It is good, there is no doubt, and compared to the commercial music most people hear all day, it is an effortless work of art. However, it falls short of its predecessor. Gone are the haunting, memorable vocals (no words, just beautiful humming) of November, gone is the dark and mystical sound of Sunless Sea, gone is the beautiful solo guitar of La Cathedral...

Reality of a Dreamer is a worthy investment for the Mythos fan, however, its tracks are quite consistently of 4-star and not 5-star quality. Some are even rated 3 in my iTunes player, shocking coming from a huge fan of the duo (Venice is really THAT bad)... but overall, it's still a great disc. The sound is a little tired-sounding, the euphoric perfection of the first is not quite up to par in the second, and the melodies are a bit recycled... but it is still Mythos, and that means it is still good.

Favorite tracks include Alchemy (admittedly, it took me a while), Redemption, Requiem, the two Vision tracks (although I am upset by their use of two very old and very overused samples), and Fantasy. However, all too often I feel a bit anxious to skip past the overused "lalala" style singing, only used sparingly in the first track and seemingly overapplied on this album...

You know what's wrong with Reality of a Dreamer? It's too happy, too meaningless, too insipid almost. It's a great piece of work, but compared with the drama and power of MYTHOS, it comes off being almost bubblegum-y in comparison.

Listen to all the tracks, and decide if this is really what you want to hear. If you've never heard Mythos, buy their first CD, MYTHOS, first. If you have, I'm sure you'll enjoy parts or even all of this CD, but it would be hard to say that this is better than their first.