Customer Reviews

World Without Rules

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

 

 

"World Without Rules" is a perfect title for this album, as it bends all the "rules" by mixing things together to create something different. While the sounds put it in the World Beat camp for me, it's different from other world beat albums because of its mood. World Beat albums tend to fit into one of the following types:
1) Western dance beats underneath traditional musical sounds from the world, giving these albums a feel of dancing in a club in such countries
2) Party music
3) Ambient-beat kinds of things that are good for meditative moods, background sound, or a kind of club-trance dancing

This album varies in mood, and at times it has that meditative, trance-like quality, but then next thing you know the tempo and mood changes and you're taken on a wild ride. Sometimes this ride gets so wild that it evokes screams. Now when was the last time you heard someone screaming in terror on a World Beat album? Other tribal chants sound frantic, almost making you feel like--if you were in the midst of them--"What's going to happen next? Something scary is going down."

The climax of the album is "Monkey Brain Sushi"--very wild and intense. Only 2 1/2 minutes, I wish it was longer! "World Without Rules" and "Desert Diva" are the showcase tunes of this album, seven-minute songs full of emotion and power and even quite danceable.

"Dismissal Of The Hemisphere" is nearly ambient, fronted by tribal bells and carried by female vocals. The vocals in "Rainmaker's Dream" have a dungeon echo to them, accompanied by bongo drums. "Asian Blue" uses electronically manipulated female vocals for an interesting effect, although it's dragged out too long. I had listened to this album many times before I figured out that the vocals in this song were sampled from the album's opening song. "Urban Source Code" seems a bit out of place on the album--it's jazz music, albeit certainly not mainstream jazz, and it does fit the mood of the album, but I don't think it adds to the album.

From ambient to danceable beat, from quiet to powerfully loud, from serene to terrifying, this album runs the gamut but does so in a way that is not at all disjointed. You're taken on a sonic trip on this album that matches its cover's description, "Combustible, cutting edge, avant-world pop."

An impressive followup to FUTURE PRIMITIVE, which includes a solid supporting line up including Mark Isham, Nona Hendryx, S'Ange and Loren Nerell. While quite distinct from his music with Tangerine Dream, it gives us insight into the composer's interest in diverse musical styles.

In Haslinger's own words: "Music is inscribed between noise and silence, in the space of the social codification it reveals. Every code of music is rooted in the ideologies and technologies of its age, and at the same time produces them." ...

Anyone familiar with the influence electronica artist Paul Haslinger brought to the German band 'Tangerine Dream' in the mid 80s, and any serious fan of contemporary NewAge music such as that of Jonn Serrie or Michael Stearns, will find this CD to be as refreshing as it is original... The album is a 'sampler society' that captures the sounds and sometimes ancient music of our culturally diverse planet while at the same time mesmerizing us with it's flawless layering of synthesizer generated NewAge inspired renditions...

I LOVE the ambient 'space music' of my NewAge collection and can listen to it for days on end, but once in a while, a return to Earth is a welcomed change of pace... This 1996 offering by Paul Haslinger should be a serious consideration for the inclusion in anyone's library of NewAge music... His credentials as a capable solo artist are here for your inspection...

Probably not for the 'only-NewAge-curious', but more for the adept NewAge listener who realizes mood is the essence of enjoying a mix of eclectic tracks such as this collection is... Personally, I have enjoyed listening to this work-of-art over and over again...

Highly recommended for Sunday morning listening in lieu of jazz.

I figure we need another review to balance out the 2 star review below. Definitely a powerful album. I never got into Tangerine Dream that much so I wasn't suspecting anything better from this release. However, to my suprise, I was taken away by the mix of traditional sounds with state of the art electronics. This one is a keeper.

With all due respect for the 2 star review given this cd by the music fan from Bridgend, Wales, this is a brilliant release. Long a fan of this genre, I first heard it in 1996, and was instantly impressed by evocative arrangements and brilliant production. My first reaction was that Haslinger is one of the few artists today who has truly realized the potential for merging world music with electronica and studio craft in a way that makes anything before it pale in comparison. The studio is truly Paul's instrument. Unlike other World/new age releases of the mid to late 90's, Paul has truly broken new ground with this creative use of instrumentation and sampling techniques. No other new age/world release gets as much airtime at home or in the car, than does this cd. The melodies are not instantly recognizable, and at times the tracks wonder into a different territory than the listener might expect. However, repeated listening to this cd slowly sucks the listener into an entirely different world of rhythm and sound unlike any other I have heard before. This CD is not to be missed, and is definately a Desert Island top 10. Don't leave home without it.

An impressive followup to FUTURE PRIMITIVE, which includes a solid supporting line up including Mark Isham, Nona Hendryx, S'Ange and Loren Nerell. While quite distinct from his music with Tangerine Dream, it gives us insight into the composer's interest in diverse musical styles.

I was quite disappointed in this CD actually. It's so repetitive that I literally checked to see if the CD player had restarted instead of moving to the next disc... nope, it was just track 7. It's basically track after track of drums, all the same beat, with vocals and other things on top occasionally. The drums aren't even organic-sounding -- they sound like my brother's drum kit. The vocals etc are usually harsh and unpleasant. It sounds like someone decided to jump on the "let's make a drum album with chant-y, Deep Forest-y vocals" bandwagon, and it just comes across wrong to me.

I am a fan of Tangerine Dream (both old and new), Deep Forest, Enigma... that type of music. If you're interested in that, I suggest checking out "Big Drum, Small World" by the Dhol Foundation instead; I really like that album. I'll write a review when I get a chance.

I bought this CD on the strength of hearing the composer's haunting soundtrack which accompanied the "concept" video/DVD "Planetary Traveller". As a fan of New Age/Instrumental Rock I was expecting something in the same vein, similar to Tangerine Dream or Christopher Franke. Unfortunately this was not the case. The composer has attempted to bring together different styles of world music and the resulting mix sounds a bit like Peter Gabriel during his ethnic period, but on Mogadon... The title track is okay and a couple of others are just about listenable, but I will not be listening to it in the car. On balance this is not an album I would recommend unless you really like this sort of music. If the composer happens to read this perhaps he would consider bringing out a more conventional album next time.