Album title: Divinities: Twelve dances with God
Artiste: Ian Anderson
Nationality: British
Year: 1995
Subgenre: New age
Player(s): Ian Anderson (Flutes); Andrew Giddings (keyboards); Doanne Perry (Percussion); Douglas Mitchell (Clarinet); Christopher Cowrie (Oboe); Jonathan Carrie (Violin); Nina Gresin (Cello); Randy Wigs (Harp); Sid Gander (French Horn); Den Redding (Trumpet)
Familiarity: I know of Jethro Tull. I don't like the band.
Favourite track(s): Meh. Maybe “In maternal grace”. That was ok.
Why? Liked the atmospherics in it.
Least favourite track(s): Out of a large bunch I could have chosen, I've gone for “In the grip of stronger stuff”
Why? Thought it was too obvious. Irish track, throw in some reels and jigs. Uh, yeah...
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? Yeah. As I say above I'm not into Jethro Tull, nor do I particularly like flute music. The idea of nearly fifty minutes of same made me shudder.
[b]Artwork: Very new age, very spiritual. Reflects the music well, for what it is.
Factoids you'd like to share? Nah
Initial impression: Oh god no it's
all instrumental! AND flute!
End impression: Meh
Comments: Despite what I say above there is some very good playing on this album, but the problem is I'm no fan of the flute. Given that that instrument is Anderson's signature there was no doubt this album would rely heavily on it, and it does. To his credit, he does draft in a lot of nice other instruments, such as cello, trumpet and harp, and they all work well. But the problem is I lost interest less than halfway through, and began nodding off. Instrumental albums have to be good to keep my attention, and while I'm not saying this one isn't, it's just not for me. I found it boring and meandering, hence my lack of comments on individual tracks above.
Rating: I won't insult anyone by calling it a dud cos I'm sure it's not, but in my opinion all I can award this is a low Windows
3.0. Sorry...