Customer Reviews

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No one has reviewed this? It's out of print? Has the world tilted off its axis, lost all 23 degrees of taste and surrendered itself to the boy bands and teen-blonde-of-the-month acts? Alas, perhaps it has. If you can find this album, buy it. These Seattle tripsters were not grunge, not Soundgarden-heavy. Nor were they Paisley Underground school psych, either. When Aniso Romero joined up with Roderick and multi-instrumentalist bandmates, began harmonizing like Marty Balin and Grace Slick, and writing long, swirling jams with excellent production, psychedelia was finally reborn in a manner equal to its origins. This is the best Sky Cries Mary album; Exit at the Axis and This Timeless Turning still earn 5 stars from me; with their move to a major label (which gave them little promotion or support, it seems) their sound began moving towards mainstream pop and they soon disbanded. "Rain," the cover of "2000 Lightyears from Home," and the long jam at the end of this album are more than worth the purchase price alone. I like Mazzy Star, Opal, Rain Parade and all those related acts--SCM is better. I love Syd Barrett and his Pink Floyd, SCM is the natural heir. I love Prog, particularly Robert Fripp fronted sounds, Soft Machine, and Henry Cow--This Sky Cries Mary album fits in my 5 disk player with these and at times overwhelms the others, it's that good.

I was a freshman back in '93 when I bought Sky Cries Mary's "A Return to the Inner Experience". I was looking for music that was different from what my housemates were listening to which was top 40/country garbage. Like anyone in Iowa was going to listen to more experimental, less commercial music like Sky Cries Mary. I was attracted to the beautiful album cover which made me buy it. I was rummaging through my old cassette collection and came across my Sky Cries Mary tape. I hadn't listened to it in years. When I first listened to it ten years ago, I didn't know what to make of it therefore I set it aside to collect dust. I really wasn't familiar with world and ambient music at the time. I was still pretty set in my punk roots. Listening to the tape now, the music makes more sense to me since I have learned to embrace music of different cultures as well as techno music. Sky Cries Mary reminds me of Dead Can Dance, The Cocteau Twins, with a smidgeon of Delerium. The album starts off with the beautiful instrumental "Walla Walla" and from there gets better and better with its more rock-orientated, world and ambient influence songs. Singer Anisa Romero has a beautiful set of pipes. Her ethereal vocals reminds me a little of Elizabeth Frasier (The Cocteau Twins) and Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance). If you ask me, Anisa has that voice that would be ideal for Delerium's music. If she is still around, Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber should ask her to contribute to their music. All the songs are great but I especially enjoy the haunting sounds of "Rosaleen". That song has always stuck out for me. I also especially enjoy listening to "Moving Like Water" and "Gone". If you are looking for something different from what you hear on the radio, Sky Cries Mary is for you. If you want to hear the same old bland, boring so-called alternative music, this band isn't for you.

SCM was too far-out to be aptly described in words, to be commercially successful-- and, ultimately, to reside on this earth. Their live shows were a swirling trip, with pulsating amoebae projected onscreen and the lead female singer dressed as a tree; no drugs were necessary. This particular album captured that feeling perhaps the best of any of their outings, with their cover of (appropriately) "2,000 Light Years From Home" as the major highlight.
Perhaps, from a musical standpoint, it's good that they never made the "big time," as we'd likely have seen a number of pale imitators. SCM was truly one-of-a-kind.

Whenever I feel like relaxing, or there is a bit too much to do whan I work, I put this on. It works wonders for my mood the rest of the day. "Rain" is the definite highlight of this CD.

By all that is holy! How is it that an album so ground-breaking, so mind-blowingly brilliant has ended up out of print, with merely a few ragged used copies floating about? Is there no justice in this world? This is an example of '90s music that we should be putting atop a pedestal, resplendent for all to see (hear?). The music on this disc still sounds as impressively innovative and fresh as the first time i heard it. There is a dark, interstellar vibe running throughout this album, something which sort of ties it thematically together. It is at times very upbeat, other times nearly somnolent, sometimes completely space-tastic! It is a masterpiece of modern rock that transcends that genre without even trying. This humble reviewer HIGHLY recommends it!

Bears some resemblance to Jefferson Airplane and Cocteau Twins some folk music even Daevid Allen at times and a section with a bass clarinet no less, but I really just can't place them. Lots of "little" sound details. You can tell they love sound. They revel in the sounds they make. Nice melodies too. Some sections even 'rock' and not in the cliched way. Lots of stuff to occupy and challenge the mind and test out the stereo.

See most people like one genre that fits their "lifestyle" or validates their taste. This is not smart. I try to go with the best of whatever genre. Even better is no genre. That means they've created their own genre. From some of the other descriptions their live shows must have been a trip. Too bad that's pretty rare too.

Picked one up at a garage sale to sell and decided to keep it after listening to it. I hardly ever do that. I've got a few thousand CDs and a few thousand records what the heck do I need another CD for?

Better pick one up while you can. Certain to be a collectors item. It figures that few know of them. I'm sure no record execs knew what to do with them. No commercial potential right?

The comments already made reflect my opinion as well; but I wanted to post anyway: people always talk about the Stones cover on this album (10000 Light Years from Home) but often neglect to mention that there is another cover on this album as well: We Will Fall is a cover of a often-forgotten Stooges song from their eponymous first album.

All I can say is that I have been through three of these CD's due to the amount I have listened to it.......absoluetly wondeful!