Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and David Bowie into one., December 6, 2005
The Good
"Mantra" plays out like a sixties rock track with its clean thumping drums, driving bass lines, and catchy rhythms. The vocals are melodic and very classic rock sounding. "Stars" is trippy on two different levels; one being the twangy guitar sounds and the other being the echoed vocal delivery. Faded vocals are mixed with soft acoustic tones on "Was I There in Your Future." The vocals are sure to sooth and calm any tension you're having. Organ tones tend dominate on "Genius". It helps to give it a psychedelic feel. "Pictures" is a seven minute epic that runs the gamut of tempos and emotions. It starts off as an acoustic ditty, but changes to an off-the-cuff electrical jams session come songs end. "Wrapped Up in You" could pass for a long-lost John Lennon track if it weren't for the `get my rocks off' line. The piercing guitar licks help enhance the mood.
The Bad
Nothing notable
The Verdict
When a CD arrives with no jewel case, no press materials, and has a sleeve that feels like it was printed on recycled shopping bags, you're expectations aren't very high for the music to come. That's why Meditations was such a surprise. It's a straight-up, down-the-middle, classic and progressive rock record that combines the best of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and David Bowie into one.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best, October 18, 2005
Matthew J. Tow became known in Australia for the band Drop City. The band toured all over the world and became a curious wonder. I became aware of him when he was hanging out with Anton Newcombe and Brian Jonestown Massacre in 2000. So after The Lovetones formed and released their first amazing album, that contained many wonderful songs, The Lovetones toured with Morrissey in Sydney. Tow worked with Newcombe and sang two self-written tracks on a BJM record. After a lot of success with this band, they have returned with new producer a load of new and better songs. A few seconds into the first song "Mantra" I know everything is going to be great. I feel that excitement when I first heard the Dandy Warhols in the first tow songs here. The Lovetones have always been into the early Beatles and The Byrds. "Stars" is the first slice into psychedelic rock with a little Lennon on the shoulder. "Inside A Dream" reminds me of the early 1970s and singers like Bowie and Lennon. Some cool original tunes come in the middle with "Sea Shanty" and "Come Home." These songs have amazing emotion and evoke just so much. The melody of "Come Home" is simply wonderful. A few spacey and slower acoustic numbers follow this. "A Place For Us" has that Spaghetti Western vibe to it. This record is a special journey through fourteen unique songs. Matthew Tow is a major songwriter in his own right now. The Lovetones are a major force in music. Nobody can deny the greatness of this music. It is one of the year's best recordings.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lucid Dreaming, December 5, 2005
"I want to be everything
A sea that becomes a flower...
I've been looking for my mantra
I've been trying to find the answer
Making sense of all I see and know"
Matthew J. Tow's introspective lyrics float between psychedelic textures and lush pop melodies and then escape into ethereal landscapes of Descartes-style contemplations on the nature of existence. Seas become flowers as Matthew J. Tow seeks to understand all he sees and knows. "Mantra" is spiritual and ecstatic all while grounding you deeply in a serious contemplation of your place in the world.
What may first appear as lysergic soliloquies soon turns into a portal leading to deeper contemplations on the nature of existence. There are lyrics to ponder and lyrics to escape into like dreamy water ponds of sound reverberating out in all directions complete with swirls of sitar ecstasy.
"Inside a dream I found you" is an almost innocent revelation while the lyrics in "Wrapped Up in You" delves into a sexy mature territory with adult contemplations and desires complete with images of cooking.
"Was I there inside your dream," continues the ethereal landscape of lyrics as voices drift off into galactic atmospheric soundscapes that pull you in and out of reality.
An element of mystery pervades the meditations focusing on daily life as seen through a deeper field of vision. We are transported into a mind's eye view of the universe, energetic forces and love's magic. "There's A Place for Us" is reminiscent of "Somewhere" from West Side Story with a much more upbeat mood set within cosmic contemplations.
If you enjoy U2, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Freedy Johnson, Magnet, David Bowie or the Beatles, there are mirrors of their musical souls in this gorgeous Australian otherworldly 60s/70s experience. While listening to this music you can almost imagine you are dreaming while being aware of dreaming. If you could dissolve into the hauntingly euphoric instrumentals, your life might seem more real than real. Meditations is one of my top 10 musical discoveries of 2005.
~The Rebecca Review
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