Michael Garrison Live Volumes 1 & 2

Volume 1 : Arrival / Release / Departure / Rise of the Earth-Star / Synthation Flow / Runaway / Under the Orangish Sky / Aurora Visage, Aurora Mist, Fade the Night / Visions of the Aquasun / Festival of the Earth-Star / Aurora Dawn Part 2 / Glider. Volume 2 : Daydreams / The Elliptical Sun / Beyond the Cosmic Horizon / To the Other Side of the Sky / The Search / Crystal Moon / Theme to the Earth- Star / Airborn / Everybody's Warrior / Escape / Lansdowne Cruise. Unusually this concert comes as two CDs which you can purchase separately just in case you only want to buy one (only reason I can think of), so I've listed the tracks from each to make your choice easier! Michael Garrison live performances are as rare as the proverbial, and even rarer in Europe. This concert was recorded on the 13th August 1994 in Cologne. For those of you unfamiliar with MG's music, simply imagine dense layers of sequences (often pitched at a mid-pace lilt) embellished by busy lead synth lines. The feature I particularly like about his "sound" is the use of foundation shaking bass. Virtually all his tracks feature it, pounding away under the sequence lines and giving the music real presence and stature. It's great to test the hi-fi out and if you want to annoy the neighbours well here's your chance! I've only got a couple of his CDs so expected a lot of the music to be largely unfamiliar. Very soon though my expectations were proved wrong. I constantly kept checking the track listings to convince myself I hadn't heard particular pieces before. One thing you can't accuse Michael Garrison of is playing the esoteric game and leaving his fans behind! This is track after track of formula material. Even the two new pieces on Volume 1 (the opening and closing tracks) sounded like old friends. I wouldn't be surprised one day to see a Michael Garrison fan on TV's "You Bet", challenged to distinguish half a dozen of his tracks by listening to a 10 second snippet of each. I'd bet against him! Volume 2 simply keeps 'em coming. Jarre's 'Oxygene' rhythmics & effects get a real thumping as track after track carries on the incessant barrage of power synthesis (though to be fair there are a couple of "chill out" pieces). I must admit I'd have loved to have been at this concert. I bet the ears were really flapping by the end. Had I been there though, I've a feeling I'd have been slightly disappointed by how close the music sounded to the originals. It's testament to Michael's ability that he can reproduce his studio form live, but many artists have proved how effectively tracks can be radically restructured for a live performance yet retain their original essence. At times I felt that this was simply a "best of" compilation with audience reaction thrown in between the tracks. I could have kept this review straight and described each track heaping praise as and when deserved (which would have been very regular) but hey, this is Michael Garrison here. You already know his credentials. His fans will lap this up, and rightly so. If you're new to his work, it's a good place to start - but don't expect variety to be high on the agenda. (GG)

This page is part of a frame set. If you can't see the information strip to the left of the screen then click on the smd logo above.