Customer Reviews

The Wheel of Time

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Then rejoice! The opening track on this CD sounds like an 80's big hair band. "The Wheel of TIIIIIME!!!!" Man, this is not what I'd listen to while reading the books. I was expecting some sort of classical music, maybe some chorals, a work in the vein of Basil Poledouris and his fabulous Conan the Barbarian soundtrack. This first track alone made me nearly want to break the cd in half and use the edges of it to harm myself in some way.

Do yourself a favor and check out soundtracks from fantasy films. Anything by Basil Poledouris, the soundtrack from Last of the Mohicans, Dances With Wolves... those are albums that will put you more in mind of the series.

I am a big fan of the book series so I decided to give this CD a go. I am a fan of celtic music so I find the "soundtrack" to fit my tastes nicely. Personally though I prefered the instrumentals over the vocal songs, with the exception of Dahl.

One thing to note, if own the Wheel of Time PC game most of this music will sound familiar. Robert Berry wrote the soundtrack to the game and positive responce to it spurred on the release of the official Wheel of Time soundtrack. All the songs from the game are here as well as many new ones.

All and all a good buy for fans of the book or people intrested in neo-celtic music.

This CD wasn't terrible, just isn't the normal thing I'd listen to, and certainly not a good musical representation of the Wheel of Time novels. The inclusion of vocals was in and of itself, a flawed idea. Not only that, but there are too many cultures represented both subtly and overtly in the novels (renaissance era culture, pre-Norman, crusades-era christianity, Taoism, gypsy and gaelic, among others) that you couldn't possibly pin it down to one influence in the music. In other words, it seems like a mistake to put such emphasis on gaelic influence in the music, when in order to give a good representation of the books, you'd have to include so many other cultures as well. To be honest, if you want a soundtrack to go with the novels, I'd go for the soundtrack to the computer game. It's on the game CD as an hour or so of mp3's.

This has to be some of the worst music I have ever heard. "Singing" the words "wheel of time" over and over again is hardly what it takes to call a song a theme of something. This soundtrack not only does not suit the books at all, but is not worth listening to for any reason. There is no musical value to be found here, don't waste your time with this one.

A Robert Berry solo project. For those unfamiliar with Berry, he was the keyboard player who briefly worked in the "3" project (with the guys from ELP). More recently, he's become a major producer for Magna Carta and is responsible for a lot of their tribute albums, as well as the past 4-5 releases by Celtic rock band Tempest. Obviously, the bug to write and perform his own music has struck Berry-- and this album is the result of that.

This CD calls itself a 'soundtrack' for Robert Jordan's (still-unfinished) "Wheel of Time" series. I'm not sure that's really the right word though. Although all the songs are derived from the book, it's not the case that each one corresponds to a specific moment, or event, in the book-- as if the album were meant to be a kind of musical accompaniment for those passages. Nor does it attempt to retell the story as a whole. I think it'd be more appropriate to say that this is a *concept* album with songs that all happen to be based (quite strongly) on Jordan's ongoing tale. That means that this CD really can stand on its own merits-- apart from the books. Certainly, those who have read the series will have a better understanding of the intended meanings of the songs (i.e. they'll know *who* the song "The Ladies of the Tower" refers to, and what that means in the context of Jordan's story). Still, familiarity with Jordan's fiction is not a prerequisite for enjoying this music-- it really does stand successfully on its own.

As for the overall sound, there's no great surprise here. Berry's background as a performer and producer of progressive rock,progressive metal, and Celtic rock, has strongly shaped the music on this album. Some moments are extremely folksy, both in melody and instrumentation (lots of acoustic folk/medieval instruments, including mandola played by Tempest's Lief Sorbye), although others rock it up a bit-- occasionally bordering on prog metal). Berry sings a bit (and he's actually OK-- although not outstanding) and there are a few guest vocalists (both male and female) as well. There are also a few guest vocalists.

As for whether the music's any good or not, well-- that's largely a matter of personal taste. I'm not normally a fan of Magna Carta's "harder" approach to progressive rock-- and I actually don't care for the tribute albums that Berry's produced for them-- but I have to say that I find this album quite enjoyable. (That's probably due to the folk influences, which I have a soft spot for). The melodies are interesting without descending into cliched "catchiness", the arrangements are well done, and there's generally a nice, warm "big" sound that comes from extremely high production values. (Maybe this is why the most recent Tempest album sounds so unimpressive-- maybe Berry's been devoting all his energies to *this* project instead?)

All in all, I consider this a surprisingly good (not great-- just good) release. Recommended to folks who like conceptual rock with folk and prog influences. If that's not your thing, you probably won't care for the album, no matter how big of a Jordan fan you are. However, if that *is* your thing, you'll probably like this CD even if you've never heard of "The Wheel of Time".

This music does not go with the books at all. First of all the names of the songs should be a clue. Unlike the Wheel of Time, the producer/producers of this music didn't really put much thought into making this. Listening to the music does not conjure up images of any part of the story. If i had to decide to read the books based on what the music is like, I wouldn't even look at the covers.

I'm pretty much on the fence with this one. It sounds as if...well...like what everybody says it sounds like: Pink Floyd/Celtic music. Now, by itself or on the game I like the music just fine. But when you try to apply the cd to the books, it doesn't really work. I was kinda thinking somthing more along the lines of some dramatic, well-written classical type music...like on the Lord of the Rings movies. Lets face it. Classical music and fantasy go together real well.

I bought the CD thinking it would actually fit the books...much to my surprise, it really didn't. I will admit that Robert Berry does a nice job, but it just doesn't sound like something that would play as Rand and Friends do the stuff that they do throughout the books.

When I first heard there was a Wheel of Time soundtrack, I was quite enthused, and I ordered it. I compared my thinking to the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack. That was based off a book, and I enjoyed the music. Since I enjoy the Wheel of Time even more than Shadows, I figured there might be some correlation between book-based soundtracks.

What a disappointment! The ONLY good thing about this soundtrack is the amazing cover, which features more dazzling art by Darrel K. Sweet. But the fun stops there, my friends, when we put in the CD. "Ok, Track 1: Wheel of Time theme." Now in my opinion the theme song to something should have the same scope as the story itself. In the case of Wheel of Time, I naturally was expecting heroic trumpet fanfares, fantastic cymbal crashes, and everything else that encompasses an epic fantasy (the theme song for The Musketeer is a classic example of this... matter of fact, ANYthing would have been better than what erupted from my speakers at that moment). And instead, I get... THIS?! What is this, some kind of contemporary rock junk? And on top of that horrifying revelation we are ambushed by some astonishingly terrible lyrics that repeat "The Wheel of Time," for a *very* long time, in vicious cycles. No author could adequately convey my reaction to such bad lyrics. And after several purely agonizing minutes, we're past Track 1, praise the Lord, and on to more offensive refuse.

To spare myself the burden, and the painful memories it would evoke, I dare not go into detail on every track. "But why?" you ask. Fairly simple thing: they're just plain bad. I should not have been subjected to such noise, unworthy of the term 'music.'

Now, our featured composer (one Robert Berry), who really shouldn't been allowed to have anything to do with the Wheel of Time, appears to have written many songs, and threw them into a hat. Random song selection, folks, and we have our track listing. Alrighty, let's pick a track... Travelling the Ways? Sure, fine by me, sounds the same as the rest of 'em in any case. So what did you envision when you read about Rand and Co travelling the dark, fearsome and imposing Ways? You didn't by chance imagine some redundant and pounding percussion coupled with screaming guitars? Well, Robert Berry did. See for yourself: go download the little preview at the top of the page and just TRY to imagine a terrifying journey through the ancient Ways.
Enchanting.

All 19 tracks of this CD sound the same. Exact same. That's all there is to it. It's annoying. "Fanfare for the Dragon Reborn." Well, apparently the word "fanfare" has some connotations of which I certainly am not aware. God! Needless to say, it sounds like the rest of this Waste of Money, and perhaps even more insulting (if that were possible). And I shudder every time I see "Dahl of a Chant." Words can't convey the worthlessness of that.

I now end my review. Why the Hand of God did not prevent this soundtrack is beyond me. I have successfully managed to not let this poor quality noise destroy my image of the series, mainly because I managed to pawn the CD off on eBay; so even though I know this desecration still stalks the land, I'll never have to be subjected to its horror again.

I don't actually own the CD, but I did listen to online samples. I personally liked the music, but it just didn't go with the book. I have always thought about the perfect Wheel of Time theme song, and well it was not here.
Take my advice on this though. before you buy the CD listen to a sample online.