Chris Franke
Transformation of Mind
Let’s first clarify what this album is not. It’s not purely a Chris Franke album. Chris provides the music (together with the Berlin Symphonic Film Orchestra), however the spoken word is provided by Deepak Chopra. Bruce Heinemann is also given equal billing for providing the photos, and it must be said that his landscape photography is stunning. This is actually an “enhanced” CD, ie it contains an interactive audio/visual show which can be run on a PC or Mac. About the only reason that this album is reviewed here is CF’s past links with Tangerine Dream. In no other way is this album related to electronic instrumental music as we know it, nor does it pretend to be. This album is purely a vehicle for Deppak Chopra’s “mind body techniques” and the music simply provides a relaxing (or numbing) backdrop.

To appreciate this sort of thing you have to be in the mood and/or really switched on to where it’s coming from. I am neither, and consequently I found it all very heavy going. Hence I delved instead into the computer side of things and actually I was rather impressed. Conceptually it’s nothing different with the same soporific music and soul searching commentary, however the visuals come into their own here and it’s all been put together very professionally. The bio’s are rather brief though and in the case of Chris’s ‘London Concert’ factually incorrect (“Apollo Theatre??”). It is interesting though that of all his works they only mention ‘Pacific Coast Highway’, ‘The London Concert’ and ‘The Celestine Prophecy’. Someone obviously knows how to cherry pick Chris’s solo output, and considering some of the very iffy soundtrack work who can blame them?

As for this album, what can you say? If you thought it couldn’t get any worse then think again. Possibly this is an unfair comment, as I said the album doesn’t attempt to be anything other than a mind drifting experience and in this respect it does its job admirably. But all it made me feel was depressed, probably because I can’t forget some of the heights to which Chris Franke has risen in the past. If a future CF project swoops any lower than this then all I can say is be afraid. Be very afraid. (GG)

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