The Planets [IMPORT]

Tomita

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony/Bmg Int'l
• ASIN: B000026F6Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #371,654 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Planets/Mars, The Bringer of War

2. Planets/Venus, The Bringer of Peace

3. Planets/Mercury, The Winged Messenger

4. Planets/Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity/Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age

5. Planets/Uranus, The Magician/Neptune, The Mystic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space opera, seen through music..., November 12, 2003

By	R. Mark Anderson "tarzmarkus" (Whidbey Island, WA.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Tomita Planets (Audio CD)

After reading a few of the other reviews I had to write one of my own. These guys just don't get it! They keep griping about it not being true to the original work by Holst. The fact is that it was never meant to be like the original. Tomita is telling a story here using electronic music and effects, and he does a fantastic job of it! If the other reviewers just listened without all the judgenent they could see a story unfold in their minds through the awesome expressivness of Tomita's sounds. It goes like this: two friends blast off in space ships, they patrol around, they get some r&r, then there is a huge space battle and one of them gets lost. The other pilot calls to his friend, they can barely hear each other and the lost one knows he isn't coming back. Together they sing their planetary anthem, then the lost guy is taken by a space storm. This version of The Planets is well worth owning, it has a true emotional appeal and different people see different stories as they listen. It takes an open mind that isn't cluttered with expectations to really get into this experience.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Electronic Music Performance Ever, November 13, 2000

By	Kimba W. Lion "kimbawlion.com" (the East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tomita Planets (Audio CD)

I first heard this recording when it was released, 24 years ago. I had only recently discovered Tomita via his "Pictures at an Exhibition" (a masterpiece) and I was eager to hear what new thrills Tomita would unleash in "Planets". I listened to the record once, took it off the turntable, and threw it in the trash. Fortunately, I reconsidered a short while later and retrieved it. "Planets", after all, is even better than "Pictures". What caused that initial reaction of mine was not that it is that bad, but that it is that different. My expectations had been completely shaken up.

Tomita has transformed Holst's "Planets" from a suite to a unified whole. No longer a series of musical sketches, it tells a story-and this is why he introduced "extraneous" sounds and effects and doesn't include every last note that Holst wrote. I'm restraining myself from describing the story or devices for fear of cheapening the effect for others-for me Tomita's "Planets" is beautiful, thrilling, frightening, joyous, poignant, and haunting. It's no wonder to me why Holst's estate tried to suppress this recording: it totally obviates the need for any other recording or performance of this music.

A note on the sound: not all of BMG's remixing of Tomita's albums for Dolby Surround were entirely successful. This one is. It is a joy technically as well as musically. Concept, performance, execution: one of the greatest discs of all time.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tomita's Planets, October 15, 2000

By	Thomas W. Hullsiek "Musician" (Mancelona, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Tomita Planets (Audio CD)

This album is a virtual sonic roller coaster! I bought my first Tomita album (cassette: Pictures At An Exhibition) over 20 years ago and I was absolutely astounded by Tomita's soaring, expansive synthesizer virtuosity. About that same period, I was attending college and one particularly interesting class was Music Appreciation. This was where I first heard the Moussorgski (forgive any misspelling) epic piece (Ravel's version). Being an aficianado of electronic music, I was most eager to hear how Tomita treated it. WOW, I was hooked and purchased subsequent Tomita works. Thank goodness the CD finally came along, because I wore out all my cassettes!