Before The Day Breaks

Robin Guthrie

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 16, 2007)
• Original Release Date: July 16, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Darla
• ASIN: B000P6R6K6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,370 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's been more than 20 years since pianist Harold Budd's first full collaboration with guitarist Robin Guthrie's former group, the Cocteau Twins, on The Moon and the Melodies. Primed by their atmospheric collaboration on the score to Mysterious Skin, they pick up where they left off, sans the voice of Elizabeth Fraser, on a pair of matched CDs, After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks. Guthrie lays down his signature deep-echo guitar arpeggios and shimmering electric glissandos while Budd drops piano notes, each placed with the elegance and thought of a Zen garden. The latter, whose 2005 retirement appears to have been greatly exaggerated, has lately been stripping away the electronics and making an introspective solo piano music, often born from melodic fragments and languid improvisations. It's nice to hear them framed by Guthrie in an electric gossamer where melodies flutter like tattered cobwebs in the echoing wind. So it's not surprising that some tracks have a tendency to vaporize. Songs with a bit of grounding like "Seven Thousand Sunny Years," with its spare rhythm track and refracting guitars, tend to hold up a little better, while "My Monochrome Vision" just wanders into the drone zone. Of the two albums, After the Night Falls is more structured and formed, although Budd and Guthrie do wait until the last track of Before the Day Breaks to unleash a welcome slice of contrasting aggression with "Turn on the Moon." Totaling 81 minutes between them, I'm not sure why the albums couldn't have been condensed into a single disc, making a tighter, less diffuse statement. Yet both have more than enough moments of sublime melancholy and deep ruminations to provide a soundtrack for that long lonesome film in your mind. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As beautiful as it's counterpart., October 21, 2007

By	M. Chapman "Michael Mouse" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As with the sister cd "After the Night Falls", this is beautiful relaxing ambient music.
I too wonder why the 2 cd's were not simply released as a single disc, given their length. This way however you do get the individual and complimentary cover art!!
Fans should also try the soundtrack to "Mysterious Skin".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars East of Midnight with Budd & Guthrie, January 20, 2008

By	Winslow Bunny "Winslow_Bunny" (Rockledge, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie, a pair of legendary names in the ambient music world, created a two-album theme of music and emotions with Before The Day Breaks and After The Night Falls. Creating a kind of minimalist sound with these albums, the pair have created relaxing ambient music demonstrating that sometimes less is more, and better. Both are excellent for unwinding after work, for quiet times and perhaps even catching your breath at work. This is a definite recommendation for those who want their music a little calmer & quieter.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for fans, December 6, 2007

By	Christopher Wild "Lover of great writing" (Wauwatosa, WI United States) - See all my reviews

If you are a fan of the Cocteau's Moon and the Melodies, you will enjoy this continuation. Sure, Budd and Guthrie have both had many stylistic changes over the years, and have experimented with various mutations, but there's no denying that when they collaborate, as on MM, something beautiful happens. Fans and newcomers will not be disappointed.