Customer Reviews

True Love Waits: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Transcription is a very old, very honorable tradition, particularly among virtuoso musicians - and Christopher O'Riley is surely that. A thought experiment: what must listeners who have never heard of Radiohead make of this music? I find it almost impossible to listen "cold" - Radiohead is my "seminal band of the 1990s" and its music is burned into my brain - but the effort is useful.

As piano pieces, True Love Waits is a very mixed bag. Throughout - and, indeed, in passages of virtually every piece - you will hear what may strike you as New Age Pulse Music - the languid, lovely title song, the pretty Knives Out, even Everything In Its Right Place (although the darkly throbbing chords seem a tad too ominous for Windham Hill). In its repetitive motifs, Let Down almost sounds as though it spiraled out of the Philip Glass songbook.

And some of this music will strike you as squarely within the Elton John-Billy Joel genre of banged out block chords, with O'Riley flooring the "loud pedal" for extra sonic effect. I refer specifically to Black Star, but you can also hear this throughout in most of the forte passages.

Still other time we hear lovely, lyrical moments - in, say, Karma Police or Fake Plastic Trees or Subterranean Homesick Alien (I've always loved that title's Dylan reference) - and sweetly wistful sounds that wouldn't seem inappropriate in a piano bar, tinkling-wafting up from a dark corner out over solitary drinkers hunched around their glasses.

And more than once - for example, during the chorus of I Can't, with its dramatic descending major chords over O'Riley's rumbling, roiling left hand - the thought of the original music itself intruded on my little "experiment" in listening, forcing me to muse on "why it is that every band I've ever loved winds up being transposed into elevator music?" Some of O'Riley's arrangements Liberace would have had a ball with. And I could not help but think of the bombastic drama of 1960s pop writers with orchestral pretensions, like Jimmy Webb (MacArthur Park) and Mason William (Classical Gas), who can be heard piped out of malls and elevators throughout the civilized world.

None of this is by definition "bad." This is simply to say I'm not quite certain this CD would have a market in the classical bin without legions of Radio-heads having already been captured by the beauty of O'Riley's realizations. No, what I am certain of is that this is "good music" - Ellington said, and I paraphrase, "Jazz music? Swing? Bop? No. There's only good music and bad music." O'Riley's True Love Waits is - like all provocative, satisfying art - protean: you listen, again, and again, and hear these pieces differently at different times. This is a good thing.

So now I'm preaching to the choir: for those who already love the music - and who, I presume, will account for 95 percent of the sales - several points are worth making.

O'Riley makes intellectual inroads that some will view as novel. What a well-trained concert pianist does that perhaps you and I cannot is literally inhabit a piece of music. They connect with the arrangement of notes in much the same way a mathematician connects with the abstract nature of a math problem, or a chess master with the dynamic interaction of 32 pieces on 64 squares. I imagine it as a different kind of "sight" - think about when Neo realizes he's "The One" and, all of sudden, perceived the slowed-down, pixilated molecular structure of reality. I can't share such perception, but I can watch and listen for those who give signs of having attained a deeper level. O'Riley is there. Period. He sees, quite clearly, that this music stands as music - even though he's attentive to the ways in which the arrangement of notes also reflect the words of Radiohead's lyrics. O'Riley's judgments, particularly of mood, meter, and dynamics, never seem less than apt: grandiose when grandiosity is called for, majestic when majesty is palpable in the music, quietly reflective in pensive passages, and on and on. He has seen to the very center of this music, has touched its emotional core, and with great artistic sweep and skill communicates this essence.

And unlike a few reviewers who claim to have "learned nothing" from the O'Riley transcriptions, I came away from this CD with an enhanced appreciation of the music's satisfying architecture. The world of composition (in which I include the spontaneous "composition under pressure" of jazz improvisation) divides into those who are relatively good architects - who build pieces logically, coherently, with effective repeats and other musical devices, and create a satisfying sense of the whole and of closure - and those who simply cannot pull the "architectonic thing" off with consistency. For all the asymmetries of their music, Thom-Colin-Jonny-Ed-Phil are brilliant architects. The new Hail to the Chief has example after example of sounds meticulously structured and arranged for a total harmonic-melodic-rhythmic effect that is unlike anything in popular music. O'Riley captures these dimensions - indeed, he says he was struck by Radiohead's "interesting textures and colors and harmonies" but goes on to suggest is that the overall structure, the assemblage of elements, is what truly delivers. (See his illuminating interview in the 6 June Boston Herald.)

O'Riley's great respect for this music extends to Stephen Byram's appealing design for the package, which seems appropriately Radiohead-esque.

And so I find Christopher O'Riley's Radiohead hommage to be exciting, provocative, evocative, and, not least, astonishingly beautiful. I was tempted to dock O'Riley a star for his fondness for repeated (some may say "cheap") melodramatic effect, but this impulse was neutralized by the my admiration for, and appreciation of, the fresh light the pianist casts on music I love. This CD deserves a wide audience and, I hope, will lure Radiohead's fans into the parallel worlds of "classical music" and "jazz music" - both of which could use the help of new audiences.

It's always been a perverse fantasy of mine to hear Thom Yorke's subversive tunes in unlikely places (in the mall, on an elevator, in the dentist's office, at a wedding reception, on hold with Dell, etc.). An irresistable irony: the mundane against the hyper-aware, the placid against the paranoid, the superego faced with the realities of the id. Christopher O'Riley has had this one, too, apparently, given his recrafting of some of Radiohead's most despondant melodies into lovely, innocuous solo piano ballads.

Any Radiohead fan with any piano skills whatsoever has already worked out rudimentary versions of piano-friendly classics like "Knives Out," "Everything In Its Right Place," or "Karma Police." But O'Riley is a much more talented technical player than most of us, and his fingerwork allows for some subtle, sometimes startling revisions of songs we thought we knew. Where Brad Mehldau demonstrated the potential for improvisation just below the surface of songs like "Exit Music...", O'Riley teases out their classical perfection.

I was particularly impressed with the song choices. He manages a fairly even spread, pulling selections from "Pablo Honey," "The Bends," and "Kid A" (although three from the former does seem excessive, especially with only two from the "Amnesiac" era), but passing over some of the more obvious favorites in favor of less popular choices like "Thinking About You," "Black Star," and "Motion Picture Soundtrack." At the end of the day, this record has more to say than Mehldau's interpretations and holds more interest than the string quartet recording of "Ok Computer" released a few years back.

I'll be honest, I don't know a single thing about classical music. Nada. But I know Radiohead. And I know that this CD is very good. It's obvious from the first ten seconds of Track 1 that Christopher O'Riley is a virtuoso on the piano....but what makes this CD even more remarkable is how he uses just a single instrument to capture the inctricate layers upon layers of sound that make Radiohead who they are. "Everything In It's Right Place" and "Let Down" are the standout tracks for me....it's amazing, on "Everything" you actually feel like you're hearing Thom Yorke's voice.

A great CD. A nice change of pace for Radiohead fans. It makes you appreciate not just the talent of Mr. O'Riley (which is considerable) but also how the music of Radiohead translates on so many different levels.

I picked this up in Newbury Comics today, drawn mainly to it by the words Radiohead and piano combined on the same cd cover. Once I got my probing hands on a CD player, I popped this in and was blown instantly away. The quality of the playing is very emotive and nearly virtuostic, and when you put together virtuosos and emotion, you get beautiful, poignant music that makes you turn your head and see things in a whole new light. As O'Riley here has made his own transcriptions of these already beautiful songs by probably one of the greatest living bands of today, only blowing my mind even more, and instilling a thirst to play the piano. Someday, I want to be able to play these songs.
Now, if you're expecting just to hear yet another version of your favorite Radiohead tunes (like me), you're about to have your socks blown off. These aren't so much Radiohead songs as interpretations of Radiohead songs. O'Riley's transcriptions are powerful, and almost chronically emotive and beautiful. Something about Radiohead and a grand piano put together just makes me shiver and gape in awe.
Well, if one thing is for sure, it's that if you like Radiohead, you're probably going to like this. Now, if you have some sort of taboo with classical instruments played in a classical way, steer clear of this. If you just like music in all its shapes, forms, and sometimes mutations, you would definitely enjoy this album.

Here's how beautiful O'Riley's work is: to call this a tribute album is belittling it.

Now, I should say up-front that I can't say how this recording will come off with listeners who haven't heard Radiohead's originals. But for me, the reinvention of these tracks was an amazing listen in two senses.

First, in my opinion, they sound wonderful. At times dissonant but never piercing, gorgeous through and through. O'Riley adheres faithfully to the orignals, but adds enough of his own embellishments to create a surprising and entertaining experience for the frequent Radiohead listener.

Secondly, this classicalization of some of Radiohead's most moving songs shows the beauty of their compositions by casting a new light on them. I felt such a rush of renewed love for the originals and for these variations when I heard them played out in this fresh way. This is an album that shows the genius of Christopher O'Riley, yes -- but it also emphasizes the genius of Radiohead, and somehow shows the nuances of their music even better than they do. Or maybe not better -- just differently; but in such a wonderful sense that you will find a new appreciation for both artists. Jumping between the this album and the originals is such an experience.

Specific tracks that I especially enjoyed:

- Airbag, one of my favorite Radiohead tracks and the track I was msot skeptical about beforehand, transfers almost seamlessly to an abrupt and thrilling piano epic
- Let Down's beauty is brought forth vividly in O'Riley's version, and though I miss Thom's falsetto harmonies in the third verse, O'Riley makes his own dramatic build which is very satisfying
- Fake Plastic Trees transfers naturally, as one would expect, into a beautiful, straightforward piano piece
- Exit Music (For A Film), Motion Picture Soundtrack and Karma Police are transformed into tragic, breathtaking ballads

The other tracks are beautiful as well, for the most part. Only when O'Riley really jams in You and I Can't do things become slightly cluttered, but this is such a minor quibble that it doesn't detract from the value of the CD at all. This album is worth every cent.

I had the luxury of attending a performance of Mr. O'Riley about in March of 2003. Just days before, I had happened to hear a lovely tune on National Public Radio (which everyone who claims to be a citizen should listen to regularly) that seemed so familiar and beutiful. It wasn't until the chorus that I recognized it as Airbag...but purely on the piano.

While the majority of Mr. O'Riley's concert performance was made up of classical material (all but my girlfriend and I were over the age of 40) but for the encocre he played Karma Police and True Love Waits. The music he had played before was beautiful, but hearing these songs...it almost brought me to tears.

If you love Radiohead get this CD. If you like Radiohead, get this CD. If you have any appreciation for music at all, get this CD. Radiohead are very protecitve of their music, so I think it says something that they even allowed Mr. O'Riley to make this CD. Truly great music stands the test of time. Truly wonderful music transcends genres.

I love the piano, and I am open to many types of music. Having made this clear, i can say in full honestly and appreciation that this cd isaccurate, honest and beautifully performed. It is important to feel and note the passion that is obvious after the first song on the cd. If you want to hear a giften pianist, playing the music of gifted aftists, give this a try. You will thank yourself.
Radiohead fan.

Most "interpretation" CDs are candidates for the 99 cent bin. This is not one of them. I had never heard of Christopher O'Riley, but randomly came across him on iTunes and all I can say is WOW! As a fan of both Radiohead and solo piano music, this is a dream come true. Somehow, he manages to translate the complex Radiohead songs into simple arrangements that don't sound new-agey. It really reveals how melodic many Radiohead songs are. My personal favorites are "Bulletproof...I Wish I Was" and "True Love Waits." I HIGHLY recommend this CD to fans of Radiohead as well as fans of Satie, Keith Jarrett, George Winston, John McArthur, or Brad Mehldau (who, incidentally, has also interpreted several Radiohead songs, albeit in a jazz setting).

Perhaps understandably, most reviewers here thus far (and most who have purchased this CD early in its release?) are Radiohead fans, comparing their touchstone group to the musings and hauntings of a piano man. Sure, the "buzz" on Radiohead is a lot louder than the buzz for O'Riley's classical projects.

But I come to "True Love Waits" from, in the long term, George Winston especially but also Liz Story, Windham Hill in general, and so many lovely movie scores, including those of Randy Newman ("The Natural") and Michael Nyman ("The Piano"). In the shorter term, I come to this CD as a huge fan of O'Riley's vastly entertaining nationally-syndicated public radio show featuring young classical musicians, "From the Top."

I'd never really paid attention to Radiohead until I heard O'Riley play some of these pieces "at the break" on "From the Top." I was mezmerized and wrote to the show a few years ago asking if and when O'Riley would be recording his Radiohead renditions. In 2002, I was glad to hear it would happen, and now that "True Love Waits" is here, I am so pleased.

There is a large audience which would appreciate this album, thousands of us who have never heard of, been familiar with or even cared about Radiohead. And that is the Windham Hill, Narada, New Age, movie score piano audience, even fans of the more lyrical Philip Glass - and long before him, Eric Satie - piano music for people who want their piano music to be emotionally forthcoming and resonant upon repeated listenings. This doesn't have to be cult rock rehashed. It can stand on its own. So don't fret the specific source: you can start here fresh.

And this CD is FRESH compared to a lot of "contemporary piano" music that is cloying and hackneyed, which dries up with repeated listenings, too dependent on treacly tunes and thin sentiment. Here, combining Winston's emotional evocations, classical fortitude and the modern sensibilities, at least in part, of both minimalism and memorable movie scores, ALONG WITH the echoes (in piano strings) of Radiohead's mod/moogish angst, Christopher O'Riley has created a substantial and, I hope, durable work.

Long live energetic melancholia! Bravo! Encore!

Being the total Radiohead fanatic that I am, I decided to pick this up when it came out... perhaps a fresh take on their music would breath some life back into the songs I've been listening into the ground, I thought. So I took it up into the mountains with me and listened to it for a bit. My reaction to it now is similar to then: it's a dreamy if somewhat insubstantial collection of vaguely familiar tunes.

All of the playing on this disc is superb on the technical level... obviously O'riley is a top notch classical performer. The arrangements are a mixed bag, though. There are some amazing renditions on here - see the impressionistic 'Everything In Its Right Place' and the melancholy coffee house arrangement of 'Knives Out'. Some others are also quite listenable, including 'Subterranean Homesick Alien', 'Exit Music', 'Bulletproof', and 'Motion Picture Soundtrack'. However, the upbeat pop tunes have difficult translating to solo piano. the Pablo Honey tunes suffer the worst here, and feel slightly unnatural; perhaps like a classical pianist paying tribute to a favorite band, rather than the more personal adaptations that make the 'Knives Out' arrangement so effective.

Overall, a nice cd to put on in the background when you're reading or settling in to bed, but Radiohead fanatics beware - don't expect anything that lives up to the band's immense standards.