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Collected Thematic Works 1977-1987 (Greatest Hits) product details page

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Collected Thematic Works 1977-1987 (Greatest Hits)

Artist: Stearns Michael [1]

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$14.39

List: $16.98  - Save 15%

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tracks.

  1. 1.
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    Spanish Twillight – Michael Stearns 04:46
  2. 2.
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    Her Way [#] – Michael Stearns 03:41
  3. 3.
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    Dark Passage – Michael Stearns 04:43
  4. 4.
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    Space Grass [Edit] – Michael Stearns 04:02
  5. 5.
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    A Moment Before – Michael Stearns 02:50
  6. 6.
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    The Reflecting Heart – Michael Stearns 06:03
  7. 7.
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    Bell Tear – Michael Stearns 01:56
  8. 8.
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    Plunge – Michael Stearns 05:29
  9. 9.
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    Almost Daybreak – Michael Stearns 05:31
  10. 10.
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    At the Bath – Michael Stearns 06:44
  11. 11.
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    Marriage Chords [Live] – Michael Stearns 08:25
  12. 12.
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    3 Faces of the Goddess [#][Excerpt] – Michael Stearns 01:08
  13. 13.
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    Voyager [#] – Michael Stearns 03:05
  14. 14.
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    Floating Whispers – Michael Stearns 01:50
  15. 15.
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    Ancient Leaves [Excerpt #1] – Michael Stearns 03:46
  16. 16.
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    Penguins on Mars [Edit] – Michael Stearns 04:38
  17. 17.
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    Whoosh! [Edit] – Michael Stearns 05:04

This compilation collects early "melodic" works of space music pioneer Michael Stearns; his other compilation album, Collected Ambient and Textural Works: 1977-1987, offers Stearns' classical space music, pieces that used drones, tones, chants, and nature sounds to aurally move the listener into a meditative space. The music on this album (the majority of the tracks taken from his 1986 album Plunge), as abstract as it is at times, is melody-driven. On "Spanish Twilight" (1987, from the Floating Whispers album), Stearns creates an atmosphere of chimes, drones, and vocalese, but an electric guitar (with a Spanish flavor) is the obvious star. Here we have music that is evocative of external scenes, more like an accompanying movie score than a meditative tool. "Her Way" (previously unpublished) is the score for a dance performance titled "Three Faces of the Goddess." An atmosphere, perhaps of a Greek temple, is created. Gongs, broad brass tones, snare drums, create an ominous processional on "Dark Passage" (from the 1986 album Plunge); the piece then accelerates into chaos, then opens to a peaceful plateau with Spanish guitar. Highly processed electric guitar is featured on "Space Grass," also from the Plunge album; the grass does not refer to ******, but the bluegrass, as evident by the fancy fiddling of Dennis Fetchet. "A Moment Before" from Stearn's 1987 Floating Whispers is an ambient piece that yaws and careens; a crystalline metronome keeps cosmic time. These 17 pieces are indicative of Michael Stearns, the film score composer. It's fascinating to compare the two albums; so similar, yet so distinct. Audiophiles will appreciate that Stearns recorded all these pieces on a four-track analog tape recorder. Stearns' liner notes explain the early new age music scene and the early synthesizers and other techniques used to create this music. Carol Wright, Rovi

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  • Online Item #: 11902684
  • Store Item Number (DPCI): 244-11-5755
  • Made in the USA or Imported