Search - Dancing Fantasy :: Midnight Blvd.

Very good start for a fantastic jazz group!

Distant Voyageur | Io | 09/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Midnight Boulevard is Dancing Fantasys debut album. Released in 1990 it became a suprise hit on the jazz radio. I remember very well when I enjoyed listening to the title track back in it's day over a decade ago. That song is now a classic in my opinion. Cry Nature was another one I remember enjoying many years ago. Cry Nature, like Midnight Boulevard, is a classic in my opinion. I especially love the Andean flute that has become very popular in New Age music today and I also love the metallic beats. These two songs are my absolute favorites off Midnight Boulevard. I eventually got this CD and discovered other gems like the eerie Big River Small Boat, the awesome Mystery Voice with the ambient New Age pop feel and the voice effects,it's awesome guitar sway. The slightly ominous Dark Water is the other one. The album does stumbles though in some areas. Voodoo Jammin while musically it's not bad but the voice effects are very grating and it drags the song down substantially. The last three are dance remixes. One is a dance club mix of the title track. The dance beat works fine with dance mix the title track but the remixes of Voodoo Jammin are almost unlistenable. Like the original version the music itself is good and in fact is actually improved on the remix with the new keyboards but the frantic voice once again gets in the way of the song. However instead of Voodoo Jammin being bad it's actually quite good in all of it's versions. The version on Moonlight Reflections is better though. Midnight Boulevard is a very good album to have in any jazz lovers collection. Dancing Fantasy rank far above the elevator jazz of today. :)"