The Rose

Mediaeval Baebes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 26, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B000063138
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,690 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They walk in beauty like the night..., April 29, 2002

By 

Steven Cain (Temporal Quantum Pocket) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rose (Audio CD)

(With apologies to Byron.) The first time I ever saw a picture of the Mediaeval Baebes I thought some recording industry guru was attempting the folk/classical equivalent of Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love" video... i.e. take a dozen impossibly beautiful women and form a gimmick band to cash in on their looks. Fifteen seconds into the first track from their first album, Salva Nos, and all illusions had been shattered. These women were the real thing.

The Rose is yet another classic album from the Baebes, and features one of the most exquisite pieces of cover art I have ever seen. If you have never heard the band, I would respectfully suggest that you listen to tracks 3 and 4 for a sample of what they can do. Track 3, Slay Me Suddenly, is an example of classic Baebes, with the most beautifully sung intricate vocals overlaying a typically intriguing musical track. Track 4, The Snake, follows through strongly, with a vocal trio by that truly Divine Trinity, Rachel Van Asch, Katharine Blake and Audrey Evans.

The icing on the cake is the stunning six-minute closing number, Blow Northern Wind, which is quite simply one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. Originally a 12-woman band, the Baebes are currently down to nine impossibly beautiful women, and the excellent booklet features a very classy full-page photo of each Baebe. Sigh.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stupendous....., May 30, 2002

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Rose (Audio CD)

I bought ROSE on a whim. I'd never heard of the Medieval Baebes before. The cd cover art and little snippets of sound Amazon provides gave me a small clue as to what I might expect. But covers and snippets can be misleading. Imagine my delight when I discovered the music is better than the samples.

If you are a fan of Medieval folk music, tunes by composers like Henry VIII, or Celtic tunes and chants you will probably love these songs. The music is joyful, sacred, exotic, haunting, lustful, and sometimes wickedly funny. For example, #11 Dringo Bell, a very old English tune, contains these lines -- "Hogyn cam to bower dore, He trilled upon the pin for love--Hum ha trill go bell" (translation "Hogyn came to the boudoir door, He rang the bell, hoping to score -- Hum, ha, trill go bell"). One of my favorites is #9 "Razreesh" by an anonymous English composer from long ago who appears to have had some familiarity with the music of the Orient.

Baebes sing Madrigal style, which I am told by a friend who is more musically literate than I, is a step above A'Cappella. According to my cd, the website address for this group is medievalbaebes.com if you want to know more about them. I like them so much I bought three more of their cds.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What beautiful voices, April 13, 2002

By 

Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rose (Audio CD)

I am a relatively new fan of Mediaeval Baebes. I fell in love with the group's music with their 2000 release "Undrentide". I was intrigued by the cover on the album as well as the fact that the collaboration with my favorite group Delerium. Two years later, I recently discovered that they have a new album out. I was intrigued to see if there was any changes. Well, there was but not in a bad way either. On their last album, the group incorporated live instruments with the women's breathtaking vocals. Here on "The Rose", their voices are the focus with minimal instrumentse used to back them up. I thought it was just great that a lot of the lyrics were taken from various medieval literature like Chaucer's "Three Roundels of Love Unreturned" for "Slay Me Suddenly". I didn't think that it was possible for me to enjoy medieval music as I do with Mediaeval Baebes. I find it refreshing to listen to a group that focuses on the vocals and less on using instruments that would have otherwise taken away the magic of the women's vocals. Mediaeval Baebes released another winner with "The Rose".