"Opening Doors takes you on a soft deep journey to places in the heart, it's sunlight escaping through lace curtains on a breeze. It's coming home in a warm way. I play this CD every day at work and I love it more each time.A gift of life. Will Ackerman has created beauty. What a gift."
Inferior Ackerman
Paul A. Scofield | Paris, France | 05/03/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The music fan from Ithaca's got it right. I've got all but the first and most recent of Ackerman's cds, and this is the weakest of the lot (8 cds). Somewhat surprising, perhaps, since it comes on the heels of Imaginary Roads and Conferring with the Moon, and followed by The Sound of Wind Driven Rain- all outstanding. On this cd, it seems that Ackerman tried to experiment with adding electric guitars on some tracks- which I found unlistenable (a word which rarely applies to his entire output). Also, even some of the quiet, solo guitar tracks seem uninspired when compared to those on, say, The Sound of Wind Driven Rain. Consider often overlooked releases such as 'Passage' (1981)(his last of the early works based in folk guitar, though I like 'Childhood and Memory' even more), or 'Past Light' ('83)(his first of the 'new age' sound- Imaginary Roads and Conferring w/the Moon are his two major releases during this phase, and sound very similar). Finally, I consider 'The Sound of Wind Driven Rain' to be a sort of return to his early solo acoustic guitar recordings. All of this to say that this is, in my opinion, 'for completists only.'"
The cracks begin to show
Marc Ruby? | 11/14/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The formula begins to get a bit weak here. One can almost hear why, after making this recording, Ackerman sold his brainchild Windham Hill Records and disappeared for seven years. In that time he started his own small label again, Imaginary Road, set up a home studio and eventually returned with 1998's "Sound of Wind Driven Rain" (which is excellent).
Ackerman sounds like he's going through the motions here. He collaborates with the synthesizers of Tim Story on many of the tracks, and Story's sounds are a bit too light and "new-agey" for Ackerman's realistic music. The collaboration with an electric guitarist on "Movie of a Placid Night" is also a little off-putting. That said, there are some songs that work on this record. "Silver Gate" and especially "The Opening of Doors" are really beautiful. There is also an interesting re-recording of "Murray's Song," which originally appeared on 1979's "Childhood and Memory."
This is not the best place to start in order to discover William Ackerman; for that, pick up "Conferring with the Moon," "Childhood and Memory," or "Sound of Wind Driven Rain." But the album is worth hearing for Ackerman fanatics and completists."
This is my favorite Will Ackerman
Russell E. Martin | Salt Lake City, UT United States | 11/19/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. This was my first Will Ackerman album and it remains my favorite. I like the electric guitar and all of the other instruments that accompany his playing on this one."
Falls a bit short...
Marc Ruby? | Warren, MI USA | 09/18/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I've been hesitant to review this album because it is probably Ackerman's weakest. It came at time when there were a lot of things wrong in Ackerman's business and personal life, and it's only natural that some of this filtered into his music. Even so this is hardly a bad album, and some of the work is superb. Listen to the title track, for instance, which is a beautiful concoction for guitar, Paul McCandless on oboe, and friends.
The casting for this album is outstanding. In addition to McCandless, Michael Manring plays bass, Buckethead is on electric guitar, Phillip Aaberg and Tim Story on keyboards. The 1000 Mile Stare and Bahia, Nebraska are examples of Manring's skill as well as Michael Spiro's percussion work.
Another Ackerman/McCandless cut is A Happy Home in Katmandu. Over the whole album, Ackerman only seems to come close to his best in concert with McCandless. I'm not sure if this is chemistry or just an excellent recording session, but this is the work that makes the album worth buying. That and a nicely done solo piece like Murray's song.
With this album out of the way, Ackerman stopped recording for some seven years, at the end of which he issued The Sound of Driven Rain, a much stronger album. Since there is work on The Opening of Dorrs that foreshadow the future of Ackerman's work, you will very likely want to own this. But if you are starting out, almost any other Ackerman album will give you a better sense of what this musician is about."