Customer Reviews

When in Rome

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In 1987, I got a British album of Brian Eno's Music for Airports, with an inner sleeve full of cover photos of the Editions EG records available. The ones that really caught my eye were from the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Being Peruvian and living in Peru, if it wasn't for Napster I probably would have never had a chance to listen that "band" that seemed so strangely appealing 14 years ago.

I'm starting to buy the whole catalog, but When in Rome is really a masterpiece. Not only the selection is great (although the absence of Chartered Flight is a shame) but the performance is marvelous. Music to inspire and probably to amazed and excite and seduce you. And incredibly powerful in these live versions, just a little different from the studio ones to demand hours comparing them, to arrive to the oblivious conclusion: you need both of them!

The only problem is how difficult is to describe them. This is an extraordinary experience that anyone with the faintest interest in good, non Top 40 popular music should listen too. An education to the ear and the heart.

Mr. Jeffes, wherever you are, thanks for the bright and brilliant sounds you brought to all of us.

Recorded shortly before the death of Simon Jeffes, this is the culmination of all they worked for. The energy is tangible, the arrangement sublime - their finest hour. Goosies! If you only buy one Penguin Cafe Orchestra album, buy this one.

"When in Rome...", the only live CD of a concert before an audience by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, has long been one of my favorite albums -- a record I have listened to regularly, over an over again for more than 10 years. Indeed, I thought this was the only "live" record the PCO had ever produced. Imagine my surprise when I heard about "Concert Program", a double-CD live recording that had somehow escaped my attention until only recently.

"When in Rome" captures a concert before a packed house at London's Royal Festival Hall in 1987, with all its energy and excitement. "Concert Program", however, is a recording of a "concert without an audience" from 1995. PCO founder Simon Jeffes wanted to record a snapshot of the PCO at the time, reportedly because he felt the orchestra would soon go through some important changes, so he gathered the band in a residential studio in Somerset, England for a concert to be recorded. Jeffes died of cancer in 1997, and "Concert Program" thus sadly became the PCO's last release.

Both albums provide a kind of "greatest hits" collection including the PCO's best-known music, which was remarkable for drawing on a wide variety of musical traditions to create what Jeffes called "imaginary folklore" or "modern semi-acoustic chamber music". The PCO was consistently pleasant and optimistic. There is occasional sadness, but even that is handled in a very affirmative way.

Usually when music is overplayed in advertisements, it becomes annoying very fast. But the best-known works of the PCO became well-known from their omnipresence in advertisements in much of the 1980s and 1990s. Both albums contain the well-known "Music for a Found Harmonium" and "Telephone and Rubber Band" -- but "Perpetuum Mobile", another of their most popular earworms, is found only on "Concert Program".

"Concert Program" with its 20 tracks has the advantage of providing more music when compared with the 16-track "When in Rome". But without the energy of an audience, and a few more somber pieces thrown into the mix, "Concert Program" also takes on a more wistful quality. These include "Cage Dead" a tribute to John Cage, who had died in 1992, and "Vega", a lengthy piece with more than passing stylistic references to Philip Glass.

The lineup at the time of "Concert Program" also means different instrumentation than on the earlier album -- especially noticeable in a more prominent brass section. This makes a comparison between the versions on the two concert albums a lot of fun.

So which one to buy? Well, the easy answer is both -- which is true, but a cop-out. "Concert Program" is outstanding, but if I had to choose, I'd go with "When in Rome". It is a more polished and consistent album, with a slightly more satisfying selection of music. Still, if you like the Penguin Cafe, sooner or later you might think about getting both. Five stars all around.

Had a cassette tape of this album a thousand years ago and it put me in such a great state of mind. This live performance is absolutely beautiful (better than the one I was still playing in my head!)

Penguin Cafe Orchestra is truly difficult music to define. It is as if Django Reinhardt, Brian Eno, JS Bach, and Flatt & Scruggs all got together to make a truly unique piece of music. The music is upbeat, humourous, melodic, and beautiful and I usually feel lifted up by what I hear. This album is especially interesting because the Penguin music, to me at least, was hard to imagine played live, and this concert, performed in what I believe is a usually very conservative concert hall (I saw St Matthew's Passion there 30 years ago) is really a joy. Somehow, the sober, polite response of the audience is even part of the fun because they respond like they are listening to a nice string quartet, and the Penguin Orchestra is a little like classical music, but not quite. The audience just makes it even more fun. Finally, these selections for the most part are my favourites, so this is nice introduction the this music.

The film Malcolm with Colin Friels, I thought was very good. The Musical score from The Penguin Cafe I think, is Invigorating, and Lively,I never get tired of listening to it, even though made in 1986, the film still has magic, Very well put together, and funny, I rate this film and music at the top of my list.

this music is so wonderful, it just makes me happy. The band is HOT!!!!