*. Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance) .*

Album: The Silver Tree (2007)
Genre: Prog Rock (New Age/Ambient/Darkwave)  /  Australia

Lisa Gerrard is one of those rarest of musicians: she often manages to bore me, despite her amazing talent and almost superhuman vocal abilities. I love her when she's at her most intense (DCD's "Cantara") and in her rare blissful moments ("Nadir (Synchronicity)"), but at times her style is too repetitive, or worse, "New Age-y". So I'm surprised to find that I really love this album, despite the fact that it's neither intense nor joyous. Most of the songs here are like somber prayers, and musically the album is so minimalist that it could almost be called ambient music. In fact, my least favorite songs on the album are the few that stray from this formula, in which she tries to pick up the pace a bit or inject some of her old new age/world music styling. These few songs ruin the cohesiveness of the album, but otherwise I think it's great. Granted, it's not sunny day driving music...this is the sort of album you play as background music while reading in bed late at night. I can appreciate people's complaints that it is boring, but I actually love it for its quiet beauty. Review by "D" (www.amazon.com).

RATING:  8 / 10

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