|
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"American Dream" Has It's Own Album, Finally, October 27, 2002
The liner notes declare this to be a film score for an as-yet-unmade Sam Mendes film. It's more like what Thomas Newman would compile if he were 20 years younger and an ambient groover. Not that it's a bad thing...Overall, the album has a ebb-and-flow pace repeating over the whole album. American Dream (Intro): A quick snippet of the tune most listeners will be familiar with, building upon Newman's simple, stark piano themes from "American Beauty". An chill classic. It Will Be: A slow, repeating synth groove with ambient keyboard fills. I enjoy this one, but it's not a complex tune by any means. My Vision: Things pick up here. Seal lends a hand, and he tends to make a song in his own image. Again, relying on Newman's beautifully simple themes (this time it's the haunting "Brooks Was Here" from "The Shawshank Redemption") Jakatta's Lee twists the underlying music to move it from a sad, tragic piece into a dance track that is much lighter and airier than the original source. So Lonely: Another gear change. A slight slowdown (but not much). Sitars and snippets of Monsoon's "Ever So Lonely" (featuring Sheila Chandra) mix southeast Asian influences. I also hear a little "Within You Without You" as well. Feelin' Blue: Still slowing down, this casual track borrows from the score of the French film "Betty Blue". More simple piano melodies used to good effect. Not my favorite track, but I don't skip over it either. I Don't Know: I wanted more out of this track (I enjoy the background jazz trumpet teasers), but Ty's rap is weak, unoriginal and out of place with the general theme of the album. American Dream: Dubs and remakes of this tune are on countless chill compilations and, admittedly, got me interested enough to pony up the loot for this album. Yep, Newman's "Dead Already" is the foundation for this song. This version has the dreamy chanting of Swati Netakar but is paced to a fairly aggressive drum machine beat. I really enjoyed the Afterlife Remix of this song more than this version - considering the source material, I found it to be a more appropriate version - but the original here is very enjoyable. just my preferences. One Fine Day: Slowing things way down again, this is probably my favorite track right now. A mellow groove with lots of background string fills and a sweet, steady vocal turn by Beth Hirsch. Her voice isn't unique (like some of the other samples Lee uses to excellent effect), but it works so well with the music that it's a whole greater than the parts. Ride the Storm: Back to a drum machine staccato, this spoken word piece left me feeling flat after the high I felt with "OFD". Groove Armada does this much better. The music is pushed to the back, which is a shame, imo. The Other World: OK, back in business. Lush strings introduce and complement a simple chill groove. Good tune for background music at a dinner party. Hello, John Barry? Home Away From You: More Beth Hirsch, but this sounds too slick. It's missing something, or maybe it's trying to do too much? Not the success that the earlier collaboration was. Strung Out: This is the audition for a film score. A 10 minute piece borrowing (recycling?) many of the samples from earlier songs on the album, this slow potpourri covers many different vibes within a single song. It's actually a summation of the whole album. My Vision (Summer In White Edit): Takes the earlier song and loses the drum machine (almost always a good thing) and adds a simple electric guitar. A nice alternative to one of the strongest tracks on the album. I do like this album, and I'm critical of Dave Lee here, because I think he has huge potential and shows it on many of the tracks here. Other than a few noted clunkers, "Visions" is very enjoyable and will likely be in my rotation for many late evenings and enjoyable chill out sessions to come.
|
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
