TALIESIN ORCHESTRA
Sacred (Compedia Music Group)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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Not what I want to hear when I put on something with the word "Orchestra" on the cover. There's this incredibly annoying, adult-contemporary choir that sings throughout most of the songs (especially on the opening track, "Amazing Grace"), making this more of a gospelly-New Age collection than anything. The parts I do like involve no singing whatsoever, or when the singing is wordless and just following the music like another instrument in the "orchestra." I understand the concept of the album - to bring together an assortment of well-known religious songs and modernize them - but there's something so bland and sanitized about these remakes, where even Mozart's heady "Lacrimosa" is a quasi-disco track suitable for use in car commercials. Other butchered tracks include Handel's "Glory to God" (synth drums, tinkly keyboards, and whispered, computer-altered vocals), The Lord's Prayer (set to bubbly synth samples, guitar, and percussion), and, well just about everything on here makes me feel like I'm trapped in the Crystal Cathedral. I like my religion awe-inspiring and scary, and this just ain't it.

© 2003 - Holly Day