My first delerium, my favorite delerium
This was my first delerium cd, and it served as an excellent introduction to new-era delerium. I like all the other cds of the duo, but this is still my favourite. it is probably the most tribal album of theirs, and it is vocal without being a cheap poppish attempt to make money. It has quite a variatey of styles, ranging from ethereal trance/new age (twilight) to ambient/dance pop (but not forced) songs like euphoria (firefly) and silence. the details are below.1:enchanted- I LOVE kristy thirsks voice! it is so sexy, when she comes in with her oohs and aahs. this song is tribal, ambient, poppish, and a little ethereal. So angelic.
2:deunde- When I first got this album this was my favorite song. it has a great powerful beat, some sampled chants, and a great vocal job by camille. It almost makes you feel like you are in the aboriginal outback, but it is still pop influenced.
3:twilight- an ethereal tranceey instrumental track with some chants. very pretty and inspiring.
4:silence- outstanding song. it has monks in the bigenning but after about 1:30 sarah mclachlan comes in, and starts singing. piano is interlaced through parts of the chorus and there is a nice piano solo at the end.
5:forgotten worlds- very otherworldly, you can see why they put the title there. the song takes you to a long forgotten temple and awakens it and brings you inside. it only starts out dark, then it begins to glow. Chanting in this one too.
6:lamenation- definitley tribal, especially during the first three minutes or so. then it gets really pretty. too bad it has such a long introduction. a little weak, could have been on semantic spaces.
7:euphoria (firefly)- two slightly slow instrumental somgs make way for a dancey pop song. this was the first single from the album. it is catchy and danceable. if you heared and liked other poppish songs like silence or deunde you'd probably like this.
8:remembrance- one of my friends claims to have heared this on the radio, but I never knew it was a single. (or is it?) this starts out with some woodwinds, but about 1:00 in this song comes to life with chanting monks and then gets spacey and synthesized after about three minutes, and then the chanting comes laced in with the spacey sounds. very interesting.
9:wisdom- a short song, but still welcome. yay, more thirsk! This song is a little like enchanted, but less tribal sounding.
10:window to your soul- this is not at all even hinted with pop. it is a piece of mood music, very relaxing, and inspiring. and even though it's around 10 minutes, it dosent drag on. it keeps you listening. it starts out dark, but dont skip it, after about two minutes you will be on your way to a very peaceful place. this song has chimes, synthesizers (of course) and chanting. REALLY pretty.
11:til the end of time- this is probably the weakest song on the cd. it is a lot like wisdom, but slower. vocals, too.
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You need this in your collection! there is a little something for everybody, but you will probably end up liking it all. :)
Spellbinding vocals over surrealistic soundscapes
Wow! Wow! I can't hear this CD enough!
I started listening to Delerium through the side-door: I'm no fan of Front Line Assembly or much of Leeb and Fulber's other work produced under various names, including Delerium.
Then a friend leant me the awe-inspiring Semantic Spaces. Shortly, I got ahold of Karma. And it's been stuck in my Rio player for six months now, and I've no plans to remove it any time soon.
It's hard to write about something that sounds so beautiful: words don't do it justice. But imagine ethnic beats, electronic sophistication, angelic lamentations, and ethereal landscapes, and you might get an idea of what this album sounds like. If you're at all a fan of Semantic Spaces, or Enigma's early work, you'll definitely enjoy Karma.
Can't Get Enough Of This Disc
I just bought this CD yesterday and wow, there is nothing like this group in existance. Their music is so lush and haunting. I had used to think Enigma was the height of otherworldly music but Delirium outdoes them everytime. My favorites have to be Enchanted and Silence (featuring the lovely Sarah Mclachlan) A must for anyone who love ambient music.
Leeb, Fulber, you guys have changed man
If you are truely familiar with Delerium you know that it is the oldest and now (thanks to albums like this) the most profitable side project of "Front Line Assembly". That's not because this is their best album, it's because this is the type of music mainstream America wants. If your familiar with earlier Delerium then it's evident that this is not their true style. It sounds like an experiment done by Leeb and Fulber to milk the common American cd buyer of every penny so they can make improvements and upgades on their 2 million dollar homes. Having said that I'd like to reassure you that this review is not going to be all negative. There's nothing wrong with making money and capitolism is how our favorite groups become successful. Hey, I gave this album 4 stars. It's a good album for what it is. It's for a very specific mood. To me it's for getting girls in that 'specific' mood. Women seem to like this album more than us guys. Although us guys have a taste in softer music too even though we may try to hide it behind our heavy metal, beer drinking and love of boxing.
So Leeb and Fulber have a good idea here. As always they have a vision for creating a style of music unique for any type of mood. Using female vocalists such as Kristy Thirsk creates a sort of sensual feel to this cd. The entire album is solid, with no song sticking out as a best or worst. Like I said it's a cd designed for that 70+ minute mood that we all sometimes feel. It's not at all like early Delerium and certainly different from most Front Line Assembly. If you're a big fan of heavier FLA this album might dissappoint you. If you expect Delerium to sound like they did on "Faces Forms and Illusions" then this album is bound to raise a few eyebrows. But I gave this album a try and liked it. I guess I believe that all music has it's place and purpose.
Some of the best there is!
"Twilight" alone is worth the cost of this CD, although "Koran" and "Duende" are excellent, as well. The CDs Karma, Semantic Spaces, and Poem all bridge the gap between Enigma and Deep Forest with a similar use of subdued tribal chants and haunting female background vocals. I've had this stuff on my Walkman for the last three years and have no desire to remove any of it.
The novelty was stripmined from ethnobeat pop long ago, and this skin-deep confection is surprising only in its lack of edge and invention. On the plus side, the melodies are textured and lush, the beats entrancing, and a parade of gifted singers--Kristy Thirsk, Jacqui Hunt, and Sarah McLachlan included--bill and coo impressively. Lead single "Euphoria (Firefly)" has spark and spirit, while "Enchanted" and "Duende" are strong vehicles for Thirsk and Camille Henderson respectively. --Jeff Bateman