Secrets of the Beehive

David Sylvian | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B000000WG7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,093 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Album of All Time, May 28, 2000

By 

paul darrah (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Beehive (Audio CD)

Every once in a while, an artist will produce something that is larger than themselves, better than anything he has done or will ever do. That is Secrets of the Beehive. I have a CD collection that goes well past the 700 mark, including everything Sylvian has done, and this one stands alone. I bought this record Halloween of 1987 and I have returned to it faithfully every year since then. It still sounds as fresh and perfect as the day I bought it. It's the quintissential melancholic soundtrack for Fall and Winter; an intensely private and moving record. Songs like Let the Happiness In, Orpheus, and (on the Japanesse re-release) Promise-The Cult of Euridyce, are as beutiful as music can get. The lyrics are both deeply intelligent and heartbreaking, "a grudge held from his childhood days/as if life had loved him less." And did I mention his voice? Sylvian is a crooner; he hasn't a fantastic range. But how he sings, his confiding, rich tenor, and how he turns a phrase, no one, NO ONE CAN TOUCH, Not Sting, Peter Gabriel, or any other of his contemporaries! The influences of Beehive are clear: Nick Drake, Scott Walker, even Samuel Barber. But Beehive is an acheivement that surpasses it's predecessors. It is an album for all time, a masterpiece.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Obscure yet hauntingly beautiful, September 17, 2003

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secrets of the Beehive (Audio CD)

As a longtime King Crimson fan, having seen that he had collaborated with KC's heart and soul, Robert Fripp, always maintained his name in the front of my mind. But my first real exposure to Sylvian's work was when I accidentally ran into the song "The Devil's Own" from this album. I was instantly blown away. The tune had a melody that was like floating in the air, with an ethereal quality that made it hard to describe or replicate, yet intoxicatingly beautiful. Now, my music collection is closer to complete (or at least so it feels), since I got my copy of this album by the former frontman from the band Japan.

Produced and engineered by longtime collaborator Steve Nye (Frank Zappa, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry and Clannad, among many others) and with a continued extensive participation by Ryuichi Sakamoto, the album walks a thin line dividing Peter Hamill, Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and the soft side of Fripp: it hardly gets any better than this. Not only are the lyrics great, the music is hauntingly beautiful, and Sylvian gets to display his full range of instrument playing abilities, jumping from the keys to the strings between songs, besides singing in a way that makes you realize that the Duncan Sheik's of the world are just a copycat of this brilliant singer/songwriter. Considered by most as Sylvian's best album hands down, and having been transported by every tune on it, I can do nothing less of highly recommending it!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MASTERWORK FOR THE AGES, March 26, 2000

By 

Don Hammerstedt (Cypress, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Beehive (Audio CD)

David Sylvian is an artist who actually deserves the title artist. The album "Secrets Of The Beehive" showcases the massive depth of Sylvian's talent for all to listen in amazement. His songs are worlds unto themselves, full of imagery and gorgeous textures that weave effortlessly together, one awe-inspiring image after another. Sylvian's music is as dense and atmospheric as a rain-forest overlooking the ocean. His lyrics take root in your soul and only fully reveal their many meanings with repeated listening. He is a poet's poet, a musician's musician. Find a quiet afternoon, put on Secrets Of The Beehive and as evening turns to night, your mind will have been cleansed, and maybe you will even know yourself a little better.