Toward the Within

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Customer reviews

review by: Pwchy date: 2008-08-08 rating:
A real disappointment
I found this album very disappointing following high recommendations. I have listened to it several times expecting something more than it is but it never happens. I also find Perry's vocals very limited and I don't feel that they compliment this style of music. Lisa Garrard as usual cannot be faulted and there are some lovely instruments involved. However I don't feel that the execution of this music is as good as it could be. I'm sure if you were there live it would take on a whole new meaning though as a performance in itself I find it quite shallow.

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review by: date: 2008-05-21 rating:
Information on the SACD release
This is a special, limited de-luxe edition. It is a STEREO, HYBRID SACD - in other words, it is not a multi-channel release but it CAN be played on a regular CD player and does NOT require special SACD hardware. The album has been re-mastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in the USA and these pressings are packaged in Japanese, mini-vinyl replicas of the original sleeves, including replicas of any inner sleeves, plus an additional booklet with lyrics.

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review by: date: 2005-01-05 rating:
Something Beyond This World...
Have you ever listened/heard something so beautiful in sound and feeling that it leaves you completely speechless and lost for words as how to describe what your hearing? - THIS IS Dead Can Dance! You will NEVER hear anything like this from any other artist of this time period. They are unique in every aspect. There music cannot be categorised into any one genre due to their vast array of styles, including eastern/western, from medieval/renaissance to modern day sounds. There music takes you through your deepest thoughts whilst simultaneously out of your mind to different places beyond this existence. This may, to some people, sound tacky. BUT this is exactly how i feel about this group and their music. pIf you're a fan of Dead Can Dance then this is a must have album. For a start, MOST of the songs on this album including the fantastic opener 'Rakim' are only featured for live performance and are NOT renditions of previous studio recordings. However, there are a couple such as 'Yulunga (Sprirt Dance)', 'The Song of the Sibyl', 'Cantara' and 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' which do more than justice to their studio counterparts, with both Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard living up to, if not surpassing their studio performances. They are one the best (if not the best) live groups i have listened to.pIf you've never heard of Dead Can Dance or their music, then this is a great starting album (although to be honest all of their albums are fantastic!). This album along 'Aion' were the first two albums i heard, forever making me a fan of this amazing group.

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review by: date: 2002-02-18 rating:
A great collection and on vinyl!
Indeed this is a great album, much like the others, but well worth having. Dead Can Dance have the ability to take you to a higher plain of being (Track 14 especially)and the musical talant to bring it out time after time. This was the first album i heard and has had the greatest effect.


review by: We're all Frankies' date: 2001-10-02 rating:
An excellent live-album.
This was the pinnacle of Dead Can Dance's career (they were 4AD's biggest-selling act Lisa Gerrard's popularity in the wake of 'Gladiator' confirms their appeal), they should have ended it here (both Gerrard Perry's solo-offerings were more enjoyable than the forgettable DCD-album)...pThis is a live album with a difference- much of it is new material. Of the older-tracks, 'Cantara' (from 'Within the Realm of a Dying Sun')and 'Song of the Sibyl' (from 'Aion')are perfect renditions. A live-album of previously released tracks would have made little sense!pThe world-music elements of DCD are explored in the first four songs- opener 'Rakim' (nothing to do with Eric B., sadly!) presents a percussive-track with a Perry-vocal- towards its within, Gerrard's vocals come in and take-over. A fantastic interplay is evoked, leading to 'Persian Love Song'- an acapella performance by Gerrard (you can hear her drawing breath!). Her roots can be found in Turkish music, which this song references; it is also similar to a sample on David Sylvian's 'Maria'...'Desert Song', as 'Rakim', makes use of percussion and Gerrard's yang t'chin- the closest thing to this in rock-music is Jane's Addiction's 'Of Course'. 'Yulunga' is an archetypl world song, the vocals creating a trance- I guess it's the kind of song Madonna does Yoga too!p'Piece for Solo Flute'moves the set to an exploration of Irish music- Gerrard does 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley',while Perry does a brilliant-sinister 'I am Stretched On Your Grave'. Lyrically this is romantic-poetry, with a dash of Edgar Allen Poe's 'Annabel Lee'. The music feels classical and looms with portent and desperate yearning...The following medley of 'I Can See Now' 'American Dreaming' showcase's a 12-string acoustic guitar solo-piece by Perry. Imagine Scott Walker unplugged and you're not far. The former is a conventional blues-style song, while the latter is an awesome ode to love- with some huge percussion and an 'Astral Weeks' feel...'Oman' forms a trilogy of earlier DCD-tracks, blending the gothic with eclectic sounds...Von Strassburg's 'Tristan' provides Gerrard with another solo-spot, which leads to 'Sanvean' (familiar from 'The Mirror Pool' released a few years later an advert for a product that I can't recall)- which along with 'American Dreaming' provides reason enough to purchase this album...The encore/adieu is Perry's 'Don't Fade Away', another gorgeous acoustic song that sounds like Walker singing a Tim Buckley track from 'Happy/Sad'. The Perry tracks make me wonder why his solo album didn't blow my mind?...pThis is a great performance, showcasing the myriad of sounds DCD explored; both this and 'A Passage in Time' would provide a perfect sample of their career (though you will probably want to buy the lot!). One word of warning, avoid the video of this concert. It is very boring to watch- they sit stand perform...And the interviews with Gerrard Perry that form interludes with the tracks portray two people who may be great-artists but seem to be abscent of anything approaching a sense of humour!pAn excellent live album.

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