Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A new beginning., August 23, 2005
After Japan had finally recorded an album that realized their talents (1982's "Tin Drum", far and away their best work), they did what so often happens to bands on top of the world (in a fashion). They broke up. Bassist Mick Karn released a quirky, Middle Eastern solo record and began recording with former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy. Shortly thereafter, vocalist and principle songwriter David Sylvian returned with his debut, 1984's "Brilliant Trees".
Often revered by people who were listening back then (I was six, so I was not), "Brilliant Trees" is a brave and exciting album. Like his work with his previous band, Sylvian is prepared to turn his back on his previous accomplishments-- gone are the pseudo-Eastern trappings of "Tin Drum", replaced with a jazz sensibility. Gone is the slithering bass and wailing sax of Mick Karn, instead an atmospheric swirl, or a funky backdrop (depending on the song), carefully constructed by Sylvian and collaborator Holger Czukay, and brass leads (provided ably by Czukay, Kenny Wheeler, Jon Hassell or Mark Isham) dominate the record. And yet, it feels like the followup to "Tin Drum" in it's own way-- certainly Sylvian's voice, while it has gained a depth to it, maintains its distinctive smokey baritone that he was developing, and the presence of Japan drummer Steve Jansen, whose subtle and tasteful playing so delicately worked on "Tin Drum", works here as well. And with appearances by Japan keyboardist Richard Barbieri, frequent collaborator Ryuichi Sakamoto, and producer Steve Nye, there's a sense of continuity.
"Brilliant Trees", as one suspects, excels when Sylvian reaches beyond the sound of Japan-- in fact, Sylvian's penchant for jazz-tinged ballads, which would come to bear so strongly on "Secrets of the Beehive", is pretty apparent here-- no more obvious is it than "Nostalgia". The standout cut on the album-- it features a confident vocal, a great, subtle arrangement with a blazing flugelhorn solo courtesy of Kenny Wheeler, and some superb hand drumming from Jansen. But more often than not, there's a feeling of a lack of confidence in the material-- "Weathered Wall" is a beautiful ballad, but Sylvian's voice sounds a bit tentative and unsure. Still, while this sort of tentativeness is present in part throughout the record, it lends a nice edginess to some of the pieces such that they excel from it ("The Ink in the Well"). And certainly, no lack of certainty is present on the closing title track, and even if it was, there's little that could stop that piece from being as much of a triumph as it is. The only track that really doesn't do it for me is moody ballad "Backwaters", which just feels totally lifeless to me.
This remaster finally gives the album the sonic update it deserves-- put simply, it sounds like it was recorded yesterday. The record is housed in a digipack with the original cover artwork intact and really is quite a nice package.
Invariably though, the album suffers from being the followup to "Tin Drum", regardless of how it should stand on its own, and it also suffers, as a point in history, from being the weakest of Sylvian's three vocal albums of the '80s, and both of these things effected my rating of it. Having stated that, it's probably the strongest three star album in my collection. Recommended.
|
|
|
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still quite brilliant!, August 3, 2005
I listened to this album almost continuously when it first came out (and for several years after that). This weekend when I dug it out again after a long hiatus, I wasn't sure what to expect. It's an album I associate with my (more) angsty youth when I'd lie on my bed for hours and let the music and the sound of David Sylvian's voice sink into my pores. Would I now find it cringe-worthy? Hurriedly delegate it to a teen nostalgia box? Well, I can tell you that I was blown away. If anything I appreciate its magic even more some 20 years later. This was David Sylvian's first solo work after Japan's break-up, and he allowed himself to be much more revealing. The lyrics are deeply personal and spiritual. The musical style I'd describe as jazzy-ethereal-poppy. I also found it more positive and uplifting than I remembered (it obviously bends to many moods). I'm now on a Japan kick (I know that DS has been dismissive of Japan but I think they were wonderful, especially in the last couple of years). Anyway, Brilliant Trees: a modern, quite brilliant album. I'll be listening to this for a long time to come.
|
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
the blood of a poet, the ink in the well, January 8, 2008
The first glimpse of David Sylvian seperation from Japan and a precurser of the direction he chose to take. At first listen, I wasn't thrilled and felt the vocals needed to come forward more. Only years later after understanding the intense and multi-fauceted collage of work he has released did I see the great artist and creator that David Sylvian has become and what a great gem this disc is. I went back and fell in love with Brilliant Tree's as if for the first time. The newer enhanced version with the 3 extra tracks is amazing and I turn it up. Some songs are more pop, others are testing the waters and still others are ambient back ground music at its best. I give it four stars in comparison to his other outstanding 5 star discs, such as Dead Bee's on A cake, the Secrets of the Beehive, and Nine Horses (1 & 2). The only solo disc I have not come to love is Blemish but lets not even start with that.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
