Am I wrong or does this 'review' say anything about the music itself at
all?!
escrutador schrieb:
Hi Sena!
I've found this review about Gaia Project album.
Gaia
October 12, 2006 | /by/ admin <http://www.scross.co.za/author/admin/>
/Reviewed by Elizabeth Ellis/
Saving the earth, one song at a time, is the driving force behind the
well-meaning Gaia compilation.
Created by French songwriter and producer Alan Simon, the DVD/CD set
features 350 musicians from all over the world. The line-up is
impressive, including Zucchero, Cesaria Evoria, Manu Dibango, Midnight
Oil, Andreas Vollenweider, Heather Small, the late Billy Preston,
members of Fleewood Mac, Supertramp and the Moody Blues, Jane Birkin
and actor Jean Reno, as well as a performance by the cast of the
much-lauded South African stage production /Umoja/. It also features
traditional Tibetan chants and instrumental interludes—as well a
snippet of Neil Armstrong’s voice when he landed on the moon in 1969.
Most of the songs are written by Simon, who reportedly dedicated three
years of his life to the project and sold his song catalogue to
finance it.
The purpose of the /Gaia /project — Gaia is an ancient symbol for
Mother Earth — is to raise awareness about the potential environmental
disaster facing the planet: “There are billions of people who refuse
to see their planet destroyed by the folly of mankind.”
The CD is atmospheric but clichéd — it is really just another
multi-genre world music compilation. It is a shame that modesty isn’t
one of the featured tracks. Even humility places a distant second to
the self-congratulating adulation on the DVD.
Saving the planet makes way for interview after interview with artists
showcasing their sensitivity. The DVD never gives any real insight
into the creative process behind the project, much less explores the
problems the project hopes to raise awareness about.
The Gaia project includes a trek through the Himalayas and eventually
a book and a film, as the creators earnestly entreat that “we do not
inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”,
a commendable sentiment. A booklet provides lyrics to the featured
songs and comments by Simon about the background to the tracks, or how
they were recorded.
Unless one is attracted by the featured artists specifically, there is
little reason to buy this set. Otherwise, to support an undoubtedly
excellent cause, one may be better served by donating money directly
to environmental agencies.