I made my acquaintance with Lisa Gerrard's music as a first year student in '88 - '89. Two fellow students and friends were fans and taped their Dead Can Dance records for me. I spent a lot of time listening to these cassettes -and, later, my own DCD records- especially while studying my textbooks or doing other work that requires concentration. For the most part it's calm and introspective music, good for emptying your mind and refocusing - despite the fact that it didn't help produce any favorable academic results in my case. DCD consisted of singers/ multi-instrumentalists Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, of whom the latter was to find greater fame as a film music composer. This compilation is divided equally between DCD tunes and her later solo and soundtrack work. As such, it's way too short to provide a decent introduction. On the other hand this compilation (compiled by Gerrard herself) may be a good entry point for new fans who want that elegiac music piece they heard in the movie and are eager to discover more of the same. Or for DCD fans like me, who already have most of that band's output and want a sampler of her soundtrack work. I won't get into the DCD tracks, as we'll get back to that band often, unless to say that the likes of "Yulunga (Spirit Dance)", "Cantara" etc. are a breathtakingly beautiful mix of classical, goth and world music and that there's plenty of that where they came from. You only get the tiniest of glimpses into the world of DCD here. The solo pieces, often produced with the help of fellow Australian musician/producer Pieter Bourke, are not much of a departure from that sound. Possibly downplaying the world music elements in favour of a more neo-classical sound. Gerrard's vocals are still the main attraction: ethereal, mournful and quasi-operatic, with an exotic Arabic flavour. The voice is used as an instrument, singing often wordless or indecipherable lyrics. This CD opens with "Wheat" and "Elysium", two cuts from Gerrard's most successful release, the Soundtrack to the movie Gladiator, co-written with Hans Zimmer. These are atmospheric and classical-sounding, while "Now We Are Free" from the same movie is slightly more rhythmical and even features an African-style chorus. "Sacrifice" comes from the Insider soundtrack and features a majestic vocal performance halfway between opera and Celtic lament. The version of "Sanvean" included here is a live DCD recording rather than the one from her solo debut "Mirror Pool". From that album we get "Swans", a relatively upbeat number reminiscent of Eastern devotional music. The last two songs are more electronic (but no less atmospheric) than the rest of the album. "Go Forward" from Whale Rider is the more experimental of the two, incorporating world music elements in keeping with the movie's maori theme. "See The Sun" from Ali is closer to a pop ballad, as can be probably expected from a big budget Hollywood production. As a compilation, "The Best of Lisa Gerrard" has both strengths and weaknesses: while it offers 75 minutes of heavenly music, as an introduction to the artist it only scratches the surface: it's representative enough, but many of her best songs are left out while others seem to have crawled in by random selection. It'd make much more sense to just compile her best soundtrack/solo moments in one CD. If you want a concise but comprehensive introduction to DCD, I'd suggest double CD "Wake" as the bare minimum.
***** for Elysium, Sacrifice, Sanvean, The Host Of Seraphim, Cantara, Yulunga (Spirit Dance), Now We Are Free
**** for Ariadne, The Promised Womb, Indus, Persephone (The Gathering Of Flowers), See The Sun
*** for Swans, Go Forward
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