Search - Terrance Barber, Unspecified :: Vocalise: Music by Karl Jenkins

Adiemus still going strong

05/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wonderful, wonderful music. Any Adiemus fans should get this.Three classical pieces arranged for singing (Beethoven, Villa-Lobos, Rakhmaninov), all nicely done. The two last are some of the most beautiful melodies ever written - it seems almost logical that Adiemus should make their own versions of them. Maybe we can expect more of the same.
The singing: Yes, Miriam Stockley's voice was stunningly beautiful. She's not a part of Adiemus anymore - but her replacements are doing a very nice job.
The ethnic stuff - and the mixing of different styles: This CD, like all the Adiemus albums except #3, forms a whole. The new instruments (saxophone, etc) blend perfectly into the mix. It's a little peppier, jazzier and livelier than some of the other albums but whoever said that the everything should always stay the same? Adiemus can't just make more of the same, they need to evolve and they're doing just that. ...My top 6 Adiemus albums:# 1: Adiemus 2 - Still my favorite. One of the best CDs I own. Soothing music for the down days: It's the CD I pop into the CD player when I'm in that mood.
# 2: Adiemus 5 - The more it changes, the more it stays the same.
# 3: Adiemus 1 - The first I heard. I still remember how much I liked it - and I still do.
# 4: Adiemus 4 - The Celt album. I was sceptic before hearing it and waited long before buying it - but Karl Jenkins is like a great cook who can mix different things into his dishes and still make them taste great. (Of course, there's a strong tradition for this in classical music. Rimsky-Korsakov never went to Arabia, but Scheherazade is still gorgeous music, often performed in Arabia. Puccini never went to Japan or China).
# 5: Karl Jenkins: Imagined Oceans. I count this as an Adiemus album. I honestly don't know why it isn't one. Another batch of great melodies - maybe lacking that final magical touch of some of the best Adiemus CDs.
# 6: Adiemus 3. It's funny that this is the last on the list since it contains some of the most riveting Adiemus songs, the reason being that it's too uneven. Some wonderful songs with Miriam Stockley, some not-so-fantastic stuff with the Finnish singers. It's the only Adiemus CD I don't listen to regularly. Still more that worth it's price. Adiemus 2, 5 and 1 are outstanding. The others are very good. But, wait, there's more: Any Adiemus fan should check out Karl Jenkins: Diamond Music (no singing, more like classical chamber music, as always great melodies many of which can be heard on other Adiemus albums) and the two albums by Miriam Stockley."

THE ADIEMUS YOU LOVE, THE ADIEMUS YOU HATE..ALL ON ONE CD!

01/30/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a long standing Adiemus fan and having purchased every Adiemus album, I'm pleased to say that I was not disappointed with Vocalise. For the most part, the absence of Mariam Stockley is something I can live with. What disappointed me was Jenkin's new "innovations", i.e. using the saxophone, improv., etc (although this is not really new, as it was on the LIVE album, its just not Adiemus for me)the only real gem in this for me was "Donna Nobis Pacem" Part I, which is sung beautifully. Bendigedig was also OK, "Mysterious Are Your Ways" is hauntingly enchanting, as is "Vocalise""Mi Contra Fa, Diabolus in Musica" and "Boogie Woogie Llanoogie", in the eyes of this fan, is nothing short of a DISASTER, they really RUIN the CD. They are the reasons, along with Jenkins "innovations" that cause the CD to be 4 stars."

I tried to like it, honest.

tehuti_88 | Cheboygan, MI United States | 08/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I absolutely adore Adiemus's first and second albums, really like the third, and the fourth is all right. So I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. I thought perhaps I would warm to it in time but so far that hasn't happened. (I purchased it when it first came out--advance order. That's how much I was looking forward to it.)



The only song I truly like on the album is "Bendigedig," which sounds like it could have come from "Songs Of Sanctuary" or "Cantata Mundi" with its singing and soaring orchestral sound. Oddly, I also kind of like "Boogie Woogie Llanoogie" (nobody hurt me), but it's definitely not what one would expect from Adiemus. The two pieces for "Schwanda" are cute but strangely, do not feature bagpipes--and are very short. The rest of the music is, unfortunately, forgettable. I do NOT like the coherent lyrics because a big part of the enjoyment of Adiemus is being able to make up your own meaning for the songs--and a lot of the music on this album seemed to have an oddly Christian or religious-sounding bent. When I put this CD in, rather than listening through all or almost all of the songs like I do for Adiemus 1, 2, and 3, I just listen to one track, and that's it.



It's nice how Adiemus changes their style every so often to try to keep things fresh--but would a return to the old style hurt so much by now? I truly miss the great orchestral sound and lyricism of albums 1 and 2 and, to a slightly lesser extent, 3. Those three albums are what keep me coming back for more, even though albums 4 and 5 have rather been letdowns. Yes, Adiemus without Miriam Stockley is sad, but I think they could do just as well without her...if they went back to their old musical style at least once more! "Bendigedig" proves that. If only more of the songs on this album did.



Here's hoping that Adiemus 6, whenever and whatever it should be, is better..."