Search - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Scholes :: Us & Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd

If sound had color this would be a rainbow

- Kasia S. | New York City | 04/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pink Floyd is one of my all time favorite bands, watching their concerts on a television screen is an exhilarating experience but this album is a whole new animal. I simply adore when my favorite artists do symphonic albums, few others that are good at this are Metallica and Jean Michel Jarre, now if only Juno Reactor could do a symphonic album I would pass out from joy.



All the songs on this album translate beautifully into symphonic music, who knew that they sound like perfect movie scores from movies I wish could exist, I can almost picture made up scenes happening. Someone doesn't have to be a fan of Pink Floyd or even worry if they would like it to really enjoy this album. If I could get into a space ship and travel to deep space I would have this as my soundtrack, it's just an incredible mélange of sounds, one can hear colored dust and clouds, sparkles and rich harmonies - it's simply magical.



Few of my favorite tracks (but oh they are all so good! )



Time - time travel captured in musical notes, relaxing and fantastic. One minute its dusty deserts and next I feel like I'm floating in outer space, totally mesmerizing.



Comfortably Numb - I get goosebumps from the neck down to my toes when this starts. The flutes and French horns in this are stunning, and as a flute player it touches me, almost as if a thin silver needle poked my heart. This is so elegant and sparkling at the same time, its music one can seriously fall in love with. The violins and trumpets give it depth, it almost sounds like an ocean waking up to fresh sun rays peaking out over the horizon.



Nobody Home - sounds like a sunrise in a Hollywood movie.



Breathe in the Air - reminds me of music from Spirited Away, one of my favorite anime movies, totally fantasy dripping into hears like honey.



Us and them - beautiful finish to this artistic creation, at times it reminded me of a mixture of a soundtrack from a Hitchcock movie and the unicorn film, Legend - but still had its own uniqueness, very bold and mysterious at the same time.



Whenever I sit down at night to sketch and draw I put on certain music that puts me in a specific mood, this album really gets my creative juices flowing, it rarely gets any time off from being played.



- Kasia S.



"

Worth a listen for diehard Floydians

Danno | NY, NY | 02/14/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Jaz Coleman, the arranger behind "Kashmir:A Symphonic Tribute to Led Zeppelin," is the mastermind behind the less successful "Us and Them." In theory, this should have been the better of the two CDs; Floyd used orchestras as useful adjuncts on both their "Atom Heart Mother" and "Wall" albums. However, two problems keep this CD from being a must-have. Firstly, the song selection is drawn almost entirely from "Dark Side of the Moon" and thereby lacks variety. Several songs from "Wish You Were Here" would have lent themselves better to a classical treatment. Secondly, Pink Floyd so heavily relied on specific, readily identifiable electric guitar and synthesizer timbres that the music often seem "wrong" without them. It's like listening to one of Bach's harpsichord pieces on a banjo; even if you get it technically correct, it still sounds wrong to the listener.



That said, there are a few standouts. "Time," "Nobody Home," and "Comfortably Numb" are good orchestrations of slower Floyd songs and easily as cinematic-sounding as Coleman's work on the "Kashmir" CD. These are the songs on the CD that I can return to, and enjoy. The rest of the material seems incomplete without Floyd's trademark sound effects and electronic instruments. Still, this makes a good companion piece to David Gilmour's recent solo DVD, in which he reinterprets many Floyd classics within the parameters of chamber music."

The best Symphonic Floyd I've heard

Tony L. Kollman | Aberdeen, SD | 07/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a fan of Pink Floyd, I am oftentimes simultaneously curious and leary of Floyd tributes or treatments. Previous to this recording, I have purchased two different performances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I was somewhat disappointed with those recordings. At times it seemed as if it were a performance by a "cover band" with a back-up orchestra. They included electric guitar, electric bass, full trap set and even some vocals. Not so with this recording. This is pure symphony at its finest. Jaz Coleman's arrangements of timeless songs composed by Roger Waters and David Gilmour do not cease to amaze with their brilliance. The brief and unfortunate sound clips offered above do no justice to the recording as a whole.



Standout movements include "Comfortably Numb", "Breathe" and "That Great Gig in the Sky". This album is perfect for someone looking for a purely orchestral version of some of Pink Floyd's most proficient work."