Customer Reviews

Turtle Dreams

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being introduced to Meredith Monk was one of the smartest things I have ever done. A friend of mine knew who she was and had me listen to her late one night. Needless to say I was blown away. I don't consider myself a 'singer' although I vocalize. I do not have any sweetness to my voice and don't write the norm. Well, Meredith Monk made me feel like an amature. I heard her and it was like the gates of music opened up. I absolutely fell in love with her. She made me realize that I don't have to sing like stinkin' Mariah Carey, who I do not care for anyway, and have a successful career. In my opinion, what Meredith Monk has done is more important than anything a pop singer could ever come close to. This album will make you happy. It will make you sad. It will make you dance. It does everything for the mind. If you think you can master singing in these styles you deserve an award. Like the many she has. If you also compose along with it than you need me to hear it because this is just heaven to me. Mentally and physically this should be heard. Especially for the passionate. If you like passion written in sound then do yoursalf a huge favor. Get one of her albums and shut down your life because this will bring you into something you should love.

Listeners looking for categories should avoid this album but they should avoid any kind of music demanding your attention and concentration. Meredith Monk is NOT a pop musician, this is very idiosyncratic and beautiful because it leads you into a new universe. Her extraordinary vocal technique is enchanting and amazing becuase it opens your mind onto something new and unexpected. If you're ready for a new musical experience, if you're interested in new musical horizons, if you're not a consumer of music, you should go on a journey with Meredith Monk because your imagination will lead you towards pictures of dreams, dance and daring. This is musical poetry at its best.

This is a fantastic album. I first heard the title track "Turtle Dreams" and knew I had to have the album. The other works on the album are amazing as well. If you like avante-garde music this should be in your collection.

I give this two stars because I am drawn to the shifting chords and slow moving harmonic progression, but then people start singing and then it gets microtonal and I don't like it anymore. This happens in View 1, where sudden sounds explode, in not precisely the same tuning as the slow and gorgeous piano melody. It's like looking at a moonscape and then donald duck appearing in all technicolor glory. The affect is clear and startling. Turtle Dreams, I suppose is more effective given a visual, but I can't be sure, although once the initial startling sprechstimme ( if you could call it that...As Schoenberg rolls over in his grave) gives way into chanting and vocalized glissandos, there is a certain captivating, and deeply frightening evocation of pure emotion drawn from the guttural voices. Not my emotions, but I guess I feel sorry for who ever does feel that way. Give Monk a chance...if you can bear it. I am glad I bought this CD, but I look forward to returning it too.

if you plan on purchasing this album, first listen to it while sleeping at night..over and over. this album is quite good and altered the way i listen to music.

I have listened to a great many things, and believe that I can appriciate many forms of music, from traditional and classical styles, to pop, to new age. I like most of what I hear. Having said that, I have never heard anything as absolutely terrible as this album. This is the exact opposite of music. Music is supposed to make you feel something or move you in some way on some level. This album fails that miserably. The only thing I felt was a headache, which was self induced by slamming my head against a wall to try to block out the noise, for that is all that Turtle Dreams really is, noise. It is simple chord progressions accompanying various vocal screeches, pops, and whistles, all incoherant, and terribly out of tune. You can't sleep to it, you can't even think while it is in the same room as you, all you can do is wish that it was over. Do not buy this CD, do not check out this CD, do not recommend this CD to a friend unless they did something to really make you mad. Avoid this like the plague, or wish for a plague to come down upon you and remove you from this world before you remove yourself.