Customer Reviews

Windham Hill Essential Series

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This is a compilation of much of the second-best music from Patrick O'Hearns first 5 albums. It does not include material from Trust, or Metaphor. It also does not include my favorites from the first 5. But it DOES give a good impression of what most of Patrick's music is like, and "Sky Juice" and the 3 songs from Indigo give good hints of what the best is like. So this album is an acceptable intro to Patrick's music. But for a better one just get the album Metaphor, and listen to it a bunch of times before you firmly make up your mind about it (you'll get really hooked on a couple of songs). OR, there is another compilation "Private Music of Patrick O'Hearn" that might be better.

This is a very good sampler of the meistro of New Age. The best songs on here are the techno space oriented Sky Juice, the misty Subtle Persuation, and the songs off the Indigo album. Good thing they also included the beautiful At First Light on here as well. I once heard that Patrick Ohearn sued dance artist Robert Miles for his hit Children because it sampled the chord structure of At First Light. While I like the song Children alot, At First Light though will remain superior to Children. Sorry Mr. Miles but Patrick O'Hearn rules! My favorite song though on this sampler CD is the space groove 87 Dreams Of A Lifetime from the Between Two Worlds.

Unfortunately I have to lop off a star from my rating for this CD because it should have included Downhill Racer, Irene, and Step from the Private Music Collection. And it doesn't have any songs off the Trust and Metaphor CDs either. Oh Well.

This is a good sampler from my favorite New Age musician but if you fan find it get the Private Music Collection CD for Downhill Racer, Irene, and Step.

With its 13 tracks and play time of just over 66 minutes, this compilation of Patrick O'Hearn's first five albums is pleasing. Released in 1997, A Windham Hill Retrospective covers 1985's Ancient Dreams, 1987's Between Two Worlds, 1988's Rivers Gonna Rise, 1989's Eldorado, and 1991's Indigo. The pieces are nonchronological. Ancient Dreams is represented by "Life Along the River Vaal," "At First Light," and "Malevolent Landscape." Between Two Worlds is represented by "87 Dreams of a Lifetime" and "Sky Juice." Rivers Gonna Rise is represented by "Glory for Tomorrow" and "Subtle Persuasion." Eldorado is represented by "Black Delilah," "One Eyed Jacks," and "Delicate." Indigo is represented by "Espana," "Coba," and "Sacrifice." Even though I find all of the compositions to be enjoyable, my favorite ones are "87 Dreams of a Lifetime," "One Eyed Jacks," and "Delicate." "87 Dreams of a Lifetime" is elegant, while "One Eyed Jacks" exhibits succulent-sounding bass guitar work and pretty keyboard timbres. The somberful "Delicate" displays beautiful female vocals. An example of another interesting track is "Espana," with its appealing, plaintive keyboard work. The sound quality of the material is also gratifying. The CD insert does not include an essay. Actually, I rate this album 3.5 stars. O'Hearn is a talented artist, and this compilation is a nice representation of his work.