The Good: Great sense of mood. Decent instrumentals.
The Bad: Somewhat short, Unclear on the purpose
The Basics: An album that seems to strangely trade on David Bowie and Brian Eno's creativity, Philip Glass's Heroes Symphony is fair on the balance.
As many might know, with my picking an Artist Of The Month to delve into for each and every month, I tend to look outside just traditional shopping sources to find my music. In my searching, I often end up at my local library and I let them see what they can find for me. So, with David Bowie was my Artist Of The Month, I came across an album that was more of a tribute album to Bowie, called the Heroes Symphony. The music is composed by Philip Glass, based upon the works of David Bowie and Brian Eno, but the name is pretty much where the comparison between the artists and prior works ends.
Indeed, one suspects that the big disappointment most fans of the music of David Bowie (and/or Brian Eno) will have with the Heroes Symphony is that it sounds nothing like the works of David Bowie or Brian Eno. In fact, the relation to either Bowie or Eno is pretty much cursory at best.
With only six tracks, clocking out at 44:08, the Heroes Symphony is very much the musical vision of composer Philip Glass. Glass based the six pieces on the works of Brian Eno and David Bowie, but how exactly he based it upon them is unclear. So, for example, the first track "Heroes" sounds unlike the popular David Bowie song. And while I know "V2 Schneider" was on the obscure Bowie soundtrack "Christiane F." (reviewed here!), the track was not so memorable, so it did not spark any distinctive memory for me. In other words, like "Heroes," "V2 Schneider" might be a completely unique track to Glass simply inspired by Bowie and Eno.
What, then is the Heroes Symphony? This is a collection of orchestral works and each one has a distinctive sound and feeling to it. Here are how the various tracks go.
The first track, "Heroes" is a sweeping epic anthem. Filled with bells and offset woodwinds, the piece has a strong sense of movement and a subtle sense of grandeur. Lacking in the anthemic crescendo of Bowie's "Heroes," the opening track still has a sense of power, refinement and a sense of accomplishment. Glass captures the emotions, if not the scale of Bowie's classic song.
Where "Abdulmajid" came from is more of a mystery to me. With a more ethnic sound - Indian, actually - "Abdulmajid" sounds most like the Vulcan mating theme to the Star Trek episode "Amok Time" than anything else. The high woodwinds are offset by deep bass instruments and the track lilts forward with a musing quality that might indicate a great character moment in a film, but independent sounds only mildly inspired. Instead, this is the intensity of an event unknown and the listener's imagination is likely to be piqued, but not satisfied.
This is a sharp difference from track three, "Sense Of Doubt," which starts with pounding bass chords that shake the listener's musical sense of balance when offset by higher strings. The bass breaks into the main melody periodically and undermines it perfectly creating a mood that is confused and the listener second-guesses their comfort level with it. The title perfectly encapsulates what the song is about. It is about establishing doubt within a mind and that works beautifully in this song!
"Sons Of The Silent Age" returns the album to a sense of scale that is more confident and grand. Opening with quiet woodwinds, that slowly build, the song becomes an anthem to a breaking dawn. The bassoons and oboes mix on this track with alternating French horns to create a sense of quiet grandeur and the track swells slowly to a sense of a coming greatness, like the dawn. It is not bullying, but it is an event and Glass composes the track to be sensitive and intriguing without being overwhelming. Again, this track is wonderful on its own, but its relation to Bowie and Eno is not clear.
"Neukoln" continues the album with a sense of movement again and there is a sense of a hero on a journey through a spectacular place. While much of the song explores the emotion of moving through an intriguing setting, there are cutting woodwinds and deep strings that break in to add a sense of menace, as if there is an avalanche or cave-in menacing the protagonist of the musical piece. The track opens and ends on the notes of menace, to there is an uncertain future for the protagonist and those who like their musical storysongs to have some definition are likely to be irked by how the song is unresolved as a result.
The final track, "V2 Schneider" is a theme of a chase. Woodwinds stream against fast strings to create a melody and harmony that sounds like a great chase. In it, the music rises and falls, so the listener has a sense of loop-d-loops and dives. As well, the resolution to the song is definitive and the bass tones that chase the higher notes make a conclusion that is undeniable. Up until that moment, the journey is all right, but it is not as exciting as many of the other tracks on the album.
For those who like Classical music, though, the Heroes Symphony is a decent album, but it is short and the "hype" of Bowie and Eno makes no sense. Glass's work stands on its own and he ought to have made it more clear that this was his vision. Lacking good liner notes, this is not clear. At least the music is rich in mood and movement, making up for the distraction from this as a work of Philip Glass.
The best track is "Sons Of The Silent Age," the low point is "V2 Schneider."
For other instrument-driven music reviews, please check out my takes on:
Living Stereo Respgihi and Debussy
Nocturnes, Volume 1 - Chopin
Karajan Gold Tchaikovski
5.5/10
For other music reviews, please check out my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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