Search - Keiko Matsui :: Under Northern Lights

Early, Good, More Mellow

Neil Green | Nashville, TN USA | 03/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Keiko's second release. I find it to be a little more mellow than some of her other CDs. It is a Keiko product and thus better than CDs by most artists, but I hesitantly place it in the lower half of her CDs. If you are addicted to her music like I am, then you should definitely buy it because it is really very good. If you are only exploring her music, then buy "The Keiko Matsui Collection". Half of the songs on that CD are from "Under Northern Lights", and "Collection" contains the best songs from "N. Lights"."

Worth buying, but not Keiko's best work.

Sean Henning | Denver, CO, USA | 11/16/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

""As Far as the Eye Can See" and "High Brow Country Affair" both make me gag.



"Ruins of Sonora" has a Spanish trumpet thing going on that, while it was technically sound in its own right, just didn't jive with anything else I've heard from Keiko. It was like a well-painted piece of the wrong puzzle. I didn't like it.



Take those three tracks out of the album, and you've got the gold standard set by Keiko's other work.



If you're a Keiko collector, buy this album for tracks 1 - 4 and 8 - 10. If you're thinking of trying Keiko for the first time, I recommend one of her other albums -- particularly Dream Walk.



For the rest of the album, I enjoyed it immensely and found it just as engaging as anything else I've heard from Keiko.



-sean henning"

Beautiful

Neil Green | 08/01/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album has brought me to tears. I can listen to this CD for hours. My favorite track is Ruins Of Sonora, which is not included in the Keiko Matsui Collection. If you are going to explore Keiko's music, this is a good choice."