Customer Reviews

Xena: Warrior Princess - Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire: Original Television Soundtrack

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a fun must-have for any Xena fan, as it not only includes all of the terrific musical numbers from the Season 5 episode "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts On Fire," (plus a Xena-Gabrielle duet cut from the final ep, The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out," which is one of my favorites on the CD) but also has some previously unreleased stuff like the "Tara's Dance" song from the Season 4 episode "A Tale of Two Muses"...all in all it's the perfect music for a Xenite party or fan fest, or just to sing (and dance) along to when you need a campy musical release. Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi have terrific voices, for one, and the gals who stand in for Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle are top-notch as well and even sound kinda like her (as with "The Bitter Suite". Anyway, Joe LoDuca has definitely scored another winner here!

Lyre Lyre certainly departs from the previous 4 Xena soundtrack releases which explores more "world" music ( a wonderful introduction to Bulgarian female choral singing in Vol.1) or the melodramatic broadway-esque rendition that is the "Bitter Suite". This release is idiosyncratic but for a Xena fan, in a highly enjoyable way. We get the bonus of tracks not actually featured in the episode of the same name. I particularly enjoyed the cover of "We can work it out" - the Beatles visit ancient Thrace! Even more novel, Renee O'Connor makes a valiant attempt at singing on Gettin'Ready which brings out a big ol'cheesy grin, but then I am a biased fan. I must say that Susans Calloway and Wood who perform the more substantial Gabrielle singing parts execute a fine performance and sound like Gabrielle would sound. As usual, this CD is a showcase for Lucy Lawless' "many skills", insofar as the singing department is concerned though, with respect, please don't rap again :). Surprisingly, a standout track is "Dancin'in the Moonlight' sung by Ted Raimi as Jace - although I am neither a big fan of campy cheese or 70s disco/glitter music, this song is positively infectious, as is People got to be free", in the feel-good sense. There we have it, disco, broadway, rap, 60s jingle-jangly music, a hilarious punkish version of "Always something there to remind me" by Jay La Ga ía - a most eclectic collection of songs which will probably annoy the uninitiated but delight the crazy inhabitants of the Xenaverse. It also includes some wonderful LoDuca compositions from Season 4, notably Tara's Song and the moving "remixed" version of "Grieving Dance". Outstanding in its quirkiness and camp and largely upbeat and well, FUN...but certainly not for everyone's palate: de gustibus non est disputandum.

I'm a Xena fan from episode 1. As such I swallowed up everything including the CD's. Each one had great music that let you visualizing their respective show. Lyre Lyre has gone beyond that. With this CD you feel like you are watching Xena in concert. Loduca has included themes from A Tale of Two Muses and the funeral dirge from End Game. Best of all we finally get to hear the real Rene O' Conner on we can work it out, a song cut from the show. Lucy rocks and I have a whole new respect for Ted Raimi. The Guy is good! Where Bitter Suite was an opera (and a great one at that) Lyre Lyre..is a rock show. Complete with cool costumes and hot lyre licks. We must have more Jace! This is a must have for any Xena fan and I would like to see some main air play on some of these great compositions. Hats off and Lyres afire to the cast and crew and Mr. Loduca for a great treat to my ears!

I guess that you only need to listen to it once, without watching the episode, to realise, that this is just the best soundtrack so far from Xena. The songs are just made well, especially Gab and Xena duet (that was cut out of the episode in the end) "We can Work It Out". It was fun to watch, and it's the only CD in my stereo now! If you have the rest of the collection, this must be apart of it, only to complete the 5 stars club! "People Got to Be Free" is also a great and well made song by the entier cast of the show. Great voices there by Lucy (of course) and Jay La Ga'la (Draco). Ted Raimi at his best, and the voice of Gabrielle (unfortunantly not by Renee O'Connor...). We Can Work It Out!

Fans of "Xena-Warrior Princess" will find every soundtrack album from the series enjoyable. This is not only exceptional. . . it will be enjoyed by people who might only be slightly familiar with the TV series. . . and even by people who never watched the TV series at all. It's just a great album of music and song. It's not "heavy" and depressing. . .but a lighthearted and talented collection of song performances by Lucy and the cast and singers from that one memorable "musical satire" they did.
You can't help but smile ear to ear and move when you hear Joxer lead the party with "Dancin' In The Moonlight". He just will tear it up. . . and you'll know why they named him "joxer".
"People Got To Be Free" to my ears sounds even better than the original version by "The Rascals". And one of my all time favorites is given The Warrior Princess treatment: WAR (what is it good for? . . . absolutely nothin'!
So, if you loved Xena you'll love this album. The TV series is history now. . .and this album is one of the best memories of that history. If you never saw Xena. . . this albu,m is your best introduction.-- Thanks Lucy Lawless. . .thanks for being "Xena" and thanks for the music and song. We're awaiting you solo efforts now as well.

Although not a fan of the "Lyre, Lyre" episode, I bought this cd because of the extra tracks included. The best song on the cd is by far Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor's gorgeous cover of "We Can Work It Out." The last 6 tracks are also great, all pulled from various episodes of Season 5. Unfortunately, I could have lived without the rest of the tracks on this disc. Bottom line: unless you're a hard core Xena fan, I'd skip this one & spend my money on a better selection of XWP songs, like "The Bitter Suite" or the Volume 4 soundtrack.

This cd rocks! Xena does her second musical, this time with covers of great 80s rock, such as Sisters are Doing it For Themselves, by Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin. *EVERY* single song is an extended version of what was in the episode "Lyre, Lyre..." plus some great extras, like the Amazon Dance song, which has been in several episodes, but never appeared in any of the previous 4 cds.

I think the best song on the cd is "We Can Work it Out" originally by the Beatles, and I can only imagine how well it would have looked on-screen; Lucy Lawless's voice is beautiful, and Renee O'Connor proves she can belt it out with the best of them, something she wasn't given the chance to do with "Bitter Suite."

In closing, I have to say if you're even a casual fan of Xena, or of 80s rock, BUY THIS CD! You'll thank me for it!

Although I adore Xena and all of the other CD's I found this one slightly dissapointing. Since The Bitter Suite was absolutly fantastic I had high hopes for this one also. Unfortuantly the makers (in my opinion) made a few mistakes. I would have liked to have the songs in the order that they were in for the show making it easy to go with. Also the rap while sung well was awful. I did however totally adore the song We Can Work It Out. It was a great addition that should have been in the episode. But being an ardent Xena fan I can not complain to much. One last thing that made this a disapointment was that the songs were not original like the ones in the bitter suite which was magnificent.

As a casual fan of Classical and New Age/Ambient music, I can't say that the entire "Lyre, Lyre" CD appealed to my limited tastes in the way Xena CD's I - IV did. Matter of fact, I'll leave extensive reviewing of the first 14 cuts (except for a couple of mentions) to those with more appreciation for those styles of music. Fortunately however, the producers of this CD saw fit to provide music for ALL of Xena's fans. If your not into Rap, Metal or Musicals, just skip the first 14 pieces and go directly to...

'Tara's Dance'. The solid mix of vocals and instrumentation bring to mind the music of Loreena McKinnet. Magnificent! My only complaint was that it wasn't NEARLY long enough. The next peice, 'Chertomlik Dance Party', I found interesting, though it may be too funky and offbeat for others. Next came 'Greiving Dance', which fans of the music from "Sin Trade I & II" will appreciate due to it's style, though this piece never appeared on either ep. Fans of the India music from Xena IV will love the next cut, 'Meditation', as well as the one after, 'Honey and Wine'. Both are soft and melodic with a rythmic beat. The last peice, 'Amazon Dance Party' virtually lifts Xena I's 'Gabby Dance' during it's first half, though the second half is a decidely different take on the same piece.

There are a couple of other cuts ('At Long Last Lyre'/'War' and 'Sisters Are Doin' It') that I found fun to listen to; the rest aren't my cup of tea. I would definitely buy this CD again, not only as a rabid fan and collector of all things Xena, but also just to hear 'Tara's Dance' over and over again. Keep up the good work, Mr. LoDuca!

This CD is a must for Xena fans, but not as enjoyable as the other Xena soundtracks. Joseph Lo Duca is an excellent composer and the show would not have been nearly as good without his muscial genius to create mood in every single episode. The Lyre Lyre musical just isn't as good as a Lo Duca original musical would have been. Lyre Lyre is fun, especially "Sisters are Doin' It for Themselves" featuring the lovely voice of Lucy Lawless. "Dancin' in the Moonlight" is refreshing. "We Can Work it Out" didn't make it to the television episode, and it's a crying shame. It's quite possibly the best track on the CD, once again featuring Lucy's voice. If you're a Xena fan or a Lucy Lawless fan, definitely buy this one, but not before you buy the other Xena soundtracks.