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Dreamsongs from Middle Earth- Pär Lindh & Björn Johansson One long suite makes up the entire Album |
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¨DREAMSONGS FROM MIDDLE EARTH¨
A CD for all progressive rock and Tolkien lovers!
At last the long awaited follower up to the classic BILBO. Björn Johansson & Pär Lindh makes another journey deep into Tolkiens Middle Earth.
A lifetimes worth of compositions goes into this rich and complex album
Reviews:
Dazzling, overwhelming and with a profund sence of directness the impact of this album is more powerful than one could anticipate. This album is made simply for the sake of music and it is good, very good!
Dreamsongs from Middle Earth is richer that its predesessor BILBO. The music succedes in a magnificent way to balance between all the different moods which this CD incorporates. The two multiinstrumentalists combines with ease elements from classical music as well as from folk and modern styles. In short, a work in all ways as remarkable as worth our admiration.
From review by Olivier Pelletant
Cosmos Music
Dreamsongs from Middle Earth is a wonderful example of sophisticated modern symphonic music and deserves a place in your collection. This music is both laid back and elegant. The production was done by the artists and is a 64-channel success.
From review by Duncan N Glenday
ProgressiveWorld.net
Tolkien-inspired music by Pär lindh and Björn Johansson
BILBO (Crimsonic Label 1996)
Dreamsongs from Middle Earth (Crimsonic Label/DiscusUrsi 2004)
Sweden has become especially known as a seedbed for progressive rock. One of the banner bearers of this movement is keyboardist Pär Lindh, who in 1991 organized the Swedish Art Rock Society.
Five years later, with two important albums under his belt, Lindh joined forces with prog guitarist Björn Johansson to record a symphonic narrative of_The Hobbit_.
The album BILBO, was enthusiastically received by the public and was used as the score for a theatrical production of The Hobbit.
The music was initally written to incorporate some of Tolkien´s own lyrics, but pressure from the Tolkien Estate drove Lindh to substitute his own (which preserve the tone and meter of the originals remarkably well).
At times the melodies are reminiscent of Bo Hansson but Lindh and Johansson are more successful than their musical predecessor at expressing transitions of calm into action and back again.
Fans then began to clamor for a sequel that would tackle_The Lord of the Rings_.
Audiences would have nearly a decade to wait for the project to be realised; but now, at last _Dreamsongs from Middle Earth_ has been recorded and released, this time with a more elaborate ensemble of instrumental and vocal support.
Lindh and Johansson express themselves in their chosen medium with a significant infusion of Scandinavian folk melodies, creating a blend of modern and the traditional - which, I suppose, is one possible definition of progressive music. Into this mix is added Lindh´s French conservatory training with the piano, organ and harpsichord, all of which enhance the classical feel of these arrangements. (Tolkien would have approved.) Another plus is Lindh and Johansson´s reliance on ¨real¨ instruments and voices, rather than electronically generated analogues, to realize their compositions.
What ultimately gives these pieces coherence is the intangible, retrospective feeling that pervades the music itself. In this sense,_Dreamsongs_ is not so much a retelling of the trilogy as an extended meditation on its final chapter _ someting which, to my knowledge, has never before been attempted. It is this which sets Lindh and Johansson´s work apart from the mass of Tolkien-inspired concept albums that have appeared over the past three years.
A step forward for art rock and for Tolkien fans.
From review by Chris Seeman (www.tolkien-music.com)
PAR LINDH AND BJORN JOHANSSON
DREAMSONGS FROM MIDDLE EARTH
Long before the ‘Lord of the Rings – the movie’ there already was a sort of tribute to Tolkien’s work in the shape of the ‘Bilbo’ release of the Swedish keyboard (and drummer) wizzard PAR LINDH and guitarist/bassist BJORN JOHANSSON back in 1996, and now they also have a tribute to the Lord of the Rings out on CD. This completely instrumental album is the perfect progressive rock soundtrack to the Tolkien classic book, which is on this CD divided into 10 songs. From start to finish this is high class instrumental Progressive Rock the way it should sound, with calmer and bombastic moments, and of course brilliant keyboard and guitarwork all the time. Even ROINE STOLT (from FLOWER KINGS) makes a gues appearance here, so this is definitely a highly recommended progressive rock masterpiece!
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
¨Dreamsongs from Middle Earth¨ is an amazingly coherent recording due to the fact that all its content conform into a unified, nearly monolithic compositional and stylistic conception. Another important aspect of the integrity of this music is the folksy medieval quality which gives an distinctively fabulous feel to it throughout the entire album.
It is well know that Pär Lindh and Björn Johansson are themselves the correspondence teachers for many of their contemporary musicians, as their music is rich, genuinely inspired and thus highly influential.
There are lots of parts with acoustic interplay with piano, classical guitar and woodwinds. These episodes are like honey to my soul!
Conclusion.
¨Dreamsongs from Middle Earth¨ is one of those sincere, soulful and heartfelt works that will allways be listened to. The sound is crystal clear with a myriad of nuances.
From review by Vitaly Menshikov
Instead of using synthesisers to create the sounds of instruments they couldn´t play themselves, Lindh and Johansson has hired a number of guest musicians. This gives the music on the album a particulary true feel, having real choirs, a real horn section, a real harpist, real trumpets and trombones. One guest musician is quite unexpectedly Roine Stolt the Flower Kings frontman as a bass player on one track.
The music on the album is so incredibly varied that it is almost impossible to review all songs individually. There is rock with heavy drums and guitar, ther is folk with flutes and mandolins, there is baroque with horns and harpsichord, there are Asian influences with sitar and timpani etc. etc.
Track eight is Genesis influenced with marching drums and staccatto organ chords while Pär plays an organ solo that would make Tony Banks proud.
Bart Jan van der Vorst
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