Baptism [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Joan Baez

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 14, 2003)
• Original Release Date: September 2, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Vanguard Records
• ASIN: B0000AZKNQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #67,049 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Remastered at last, December 4, 2003

By	riwabo "riwabo" - See all my reviews

For every 100 customers who liked Joan's early albums, only one or two cared for BAPTISM. It is not to everybody's taste, so kudos to Vanguard for remastering it. It is a dark, dark collection, a meditation on tears, death, fear and loss, and overshadowed by a deep antipathy to war (this was 1968). Its best parts (COLOURS, WHO MURDERED THE MINUTES, CHILDHOOD III, THE MAGIC WOOD and EPITAPH FOR A POET are my favorites) are very moving. The rewards are worth the effort it takes to get into this recording.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MARVELOUS, October 25, 2003

By	Steven Finch (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This is NOT a recording for "hard-core fans only". With all that's happening in the world today, BAPTISM should be required listening for everyone. In any case, it's much better than the current anthologies of anti-war poetry. This re-working of the original recording is excellent. It is a timeless recording, one of Joan's most experimental and best. Don't hesitate!

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Hardcore Fans Only, October 21, 2003

By	"noodgeslacker" (STUDIO CITY, CA United States) - See all my reviews

First released in 1968, "Baptism" is a collaboration with composer Peter Schickele, who also did orchestral arrangements for the earlier "Noel" and "Joan" albums. On this album, Baez left the lyrics of Dylan, Farina, and Donovan for the verse of Walt Whitman, William Blake, and Jacques Prevert, among others. Sometimes singing, mostly reciting, she is accompanied by Schickele's evocative music. The problem is a lack of variety in the project. Although multi-cultural before its time (with Asian and black American selections), the general tone is quite grim. The original album begins and ends with a hauntingly-sung short piece by Henry Treece. In between are relentless expressions of human misery. Childhood fears, reflections on death, war, and oppression, get a time-out only for romantic despair. A baptism by fire to be sure, and certainly a product of the times.

The seven pieces where Baez sings the poems, instead of reciting them in an understated manner, are all melodically striking, if mostly somber in tone. Her singing is so beautiful that serious fans will want to add this CD to their collection. The stand-out track is e. e. cummings' "all in green went my love riding." The material is perfectly suited to Baez's solemn delivery and Schickele's pristine music. Casual listeners curious about the Baez/Schickele sound will be better off sampling "Noel" or "Joan." The two also collaborated on the "Silent Running" soundtrack later on.

The three short bonus tracks on the remastered edition are all spoken, and non-morbid in content. The liner notes do a good job of recreating the period in which this recording was made. The original liner notes are included as well, but not the text of the poetry (as in the LP edition).