One of the best new age/rock experiments ever
Javier Navas | Milenrama, Madrid | 02/02/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have this record since 1989 and now I can really say this is really a masterpiece and has really glorious moments to never ever forget.This has the structure of a lifetime, and looks like a biography in itself. The first track is superb in its elegant playing of the guitar, and the fretless bass. After a brief interlude, you can hear the rocker-hitter 'The Chuckle', a prodigy of rock piano playing. The drums are perfect as well, and the tune is cyclic and perfect in its simpleness. After that comes 'Africa', the most disposable theme in the album, painfully monothonous and boring. The next one, if repetitive too, is a gem and the fretless bass obscures the guitar in a captivating solo. It's a very deep and meditative theme, and fades out leaving you expecting for the following...A fresh and nice acoustic guitar riff breaks the silence again, going on and on as the Spanish guitars gather toghether in a descending melody. 'Tristesse' ends with a fuzz guitar solo and gives way to an inspired country-rock improvisation on a clean electric, Fender-sounding guitar. So comes 'Tendresse' with another simple but effective riff and an in crescendo that opens wide with another great distorted solo. By the time the music stops suddenly but goes on in a very majestic mood, with the choir and drums banging. This is the most glorious moment in the album, the reprise of 'Heartbeat', and my way to understand it is as it quotes the beginning of a new life, just like the primal theme is a representation of a human life's beginning. It's a personal point of view but reasonable, as the recording has a cyclic shape and it ends up even in a greater way than it starts. I recommend this album to all rock lovers who think new age is only a buck of synthesiser pads going nowhere and played to relaxation. Try it!!!"
New age Chapman
J. W. L. Smits | Heerlen Netherlands | 08/29/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"After making some very interesting albums in the 70s, notably Fully Qualified Survivor and Millstone Grit, Chapman disappeared for a while from the music scene, due to bad health. In the 90s, this exceptional guitar player and songwriter reappeared with several good (try Navigation) and some not-so-very-good albums. You might consider Heartbeat an interim-album, which certainly won't please every fan of his albums from the seventies. It's entirely instrumental and you could call it "new age", and as such it is a bit too much background music for me. It's definitely Michael's guitar playing, but fans of his earlier work should listen to it before they buy. You might have to try hard, but his first album, Rainmaker, and the second, Fully Qualified Survivor (his best) have been re-issued on cd. Wonder if Window, Wrecked Again, Millstone Grit and Savage Amusement will be someday - maybe if lots of people are going to buy this one?"
Track Listings (1) - Disc #1