"I owe a lot to this disc. It is one of the only CDs I have that I can listen to when going through an emotional tempest. There are no lyrics to cloud your mind, only waves of cutting drum, piano, and a guitar that sounds like it is being played out on the end of a jetty. If you need a good cry, it will draw out the tears. If you need to sit and brood, it will make your time fruitful. If you need to get ready for a long trip at 4:30 in the morning, it will relax and soothe you like a green tea bath. There would have been a hole in my life without this album to take me back to sanity once in a while. One of those albums you thank God you encountered.Thank you for sharing it with me, Tom, even though you were one of the most frequent causes of my listening to it."
What a friend this album is
Deven Gadula | 12/29/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"if you ever brood... if you wish you had a huge window in your bedroom that looked out onto the green ocean in all of its changing moods, you need this album. it has been with me through heartache and clean-scented days, and never gets old. each track has a distinctive personality, and that lonely guitar sounds like it is being played on a black jetty... at times you'll taste raw salt and feel the grit of sand between your teeth-- at others you will be floating on rolling waves, feeling the miles of water that hold you up. this is not a happy CD but you'll always feel better after you've given it a spin... i thank God for it."
One of my favorite 2 albums coming out of ECM Records
Deven Gadula | san francisco, ca, united states | 10/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Bjornstad Darling Rypdal Christensen's 1994 recording The Sea is one of my favorite 2 albums coming out of ECM Records. It is one of my very favorite ambient jazz albums and as a matter of fact, one of my favorite albums, period. It is great music flowing through a very ambient background reminding at times of Gavin Bryars - Sinking Of Titanic. All instrumental parts are superb starting with Ketil Bjornstad's piano, through Terje Rypdal's guitars, David Darling's cello and ending with Jon Christensen's drums. My favorite parts are 2,3 and 5.
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Make certain this is what you want
E. M. Dale | USA | 04/21/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I make it a point to just buy anything and everything ECM puts out. So when I give this three stars, I am agreeing with Aristotle, who said that "virtue is a state concerned with choice which lies on a mean relative to us" (Eth.Nic.II.6.15). The virtue of this album is that, in line with choice, it definitely for some, and definitely not for others.
The musicianship on this, as on all ECM albums (esp. the ones with Darling et.al.) is top notch, and the sound quality is spooky it's so good. The thing is, the drums and the guitar... well, this is the issue which will determine how you feel about this album. If you are looking for another album like The River (1996) or Epigraphs (2000), this probably isn't for you, because it does not try for the same feel.
On the other hand, if you want something more along the lines of experimental, ambient jazz (or think that The River would be improved by drums and a guitar), this is an album you should buy, along with The Sea II. Buy them now, in fact, because these are incredible albums. At the very least, make certain you listen to the samples, which are quite indicative of the music on the album (not all Amazon.com samples are). Just do not think that you are getting another Bjørnstad/Darling improvisational duets album. They tried (and succeeded admirably) for something else with this album, and by bringing in Rypdal and Christensen they created a whole new sound palette for their experimentation.
It will please all fans of Bjørnstad et.al., just not in the same way, at the same time, and for the same reasons."