Tomita is a genius; the CD manufacturer isn't.
Kimba W. Lion | the East Coast | 10/16/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm beginning to get an idea of why the company that released this CD is called "Wounded Bird" records. The first disc I received from them, Manhattan Transfer Live, was made from a severely damaged master tape. This Tomita CD has been seriously mangled.
First there is the track order. Ostensibly, this CD has been made with the track order used for the original Japanese album but, as has already been noted, the last two tracks have been mistakenly swapped. Also, the original cover art for the American version of the album is included without being updated, so it shows yet another track order.
Worse is that the recording has been severely over-amplified for this CD, driving the louder portions into clipping and making what was Tomita's "quietest" album into something bombastic. Also, the mood is changed by the elimination of silent portions between most tracks.
Tomita understands synthesizers better than perhaps anyone else (I won't quibble if you want to bring up Jean-Jacques Perrey), and each time he entered the recording studio he created a unique sonic world. His genius survives the wounds inflicted here, but not in its original condition. If you want to hear the full beauty of Tomita's work in this music, you have to seek out the Japanese CD of this album (which is titled Ravel-Tomita, Daphnis et Chloe).
If you want a version of this album tailored to tooling down the highway with the top down, this CD is for you."
Glorious music, fumbled track sequence
Scott Peeler | San Jose, CA USA | 07/20/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I haven't heard this album in almost 25 years, and I'm pleased to say it's still as wonderful, musically and sonically, as I remember it. However, there is a glitch in the track sequence: the last two movements of the Mother Goose Suite are transposed. The finale, The Fairy Garden, plays before the penultimate movement, Conversations of Beauty and the Beast. It's an odd mistake, which you can remedy by programming your CD player, but a disappointing mistake nonetheless."
Vacation for the Mind
J. L. B. Schulze | Levittown, PR | 01/19/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When I sit down and relax and play a Tomita album, I expect being transported into a dimension of sound and harmony and into a different world of my own. Tomita's Bolero and the other pieces in this album do just that. The enhanced sound in this album is a long shot improvement from the vinyl version I listened a long time ago. The sound has more range and I heard bits and pieces that I hadn't heard before...it was almost like listening for the first time all over. Just about every Tomita album I own have the ability to send me on a mind vacation but this one in particular, I must say, is definetely my favourite. Highly recommend it for all Tomita fans and to those that are just discovering the alternate universe to which Tomita's music can take you."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1