David Garrett - Rock Symphonies
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CD Details
Artist: David GarrettEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2010-07-20
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
- Teen Spirit
- November Rain
- The 5th
- Walk This Way
- Toccata
- Vivaldi vs. Vertigo
- Master Of Puppets
- 80's Anthem
- Live And Let Die
- Asturias
- Kashmir
Music reviews of Rock Symphonies
Music Review: Lacks the sparkle of earlier albums...
Rating: 3 Stars
David Garrett's new album "Rock Symphonies" marks his first new crossover work in several years (2009's David Garrett was largely drawn from David's existing European albums Free and Virtuoso). I loved his mashups of classical vs. pop on his previous albums, and had eagerly awaited "Rock Symphonies." Starting with the majorly-airbrushed album cover (note a partially bare-chested David brandishing his 1772 Guadagnini like an electric guitar that's about to get shredded on stage) and liner notes, David rocks the Kurt Cobain grunge look well...almost an eerie resemblance. Unfortunately, the album itself left me disappointed.
Now, I'm not a big fan of rock / metal, so I'm probably not the intended audience for the album, although I did watch MTV in its infancy and had a fascination with White Lion, Poison and Guns n' Roses as a kid. David's violin is eerily effective at angsty caterwauling on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and imparts menace on Metallica's "Master of Puppets." However, I question some of the production choices: in the middle of Paul McCartney & Wings "Live and Let Die," the interlude sounds like the soundtrack from the classic computer game The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition [Online Game Code]. Led Zepplin's "Kashmir" fares better; the haunting "Kashmir" has echoes of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Song of India" woven throughout. "Walk This Way" had a kind of hoedown vibe; it would have been infinitely cooler to mashup "Walk This Way" with "Cotton-Eyed Joe"(see Vivaldi vs. Vertigo below).
The classical side of the house fares better, with hardcore versions of Albeniz's "Asturias," Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor (the unofficial Halloween anthem) and "Winter" from Vivaldi. The version of "Asturias" veers into ad-libbing, but also incorporates some delightful Spanish flair into the orchestra's cues. The Toccata was great. Vivaldi vs. Vertigo, however, lacked the rock punch found on David's version of "Summer" on "David Garrett." U2 was almost lost in the background; I would have added some much-needed drama by moving the U2 vocals as the intro to the song, counting in with "uno, dos, tres, catorce" rather than muddying the vocals in the background (again, I wasn't familiar with "Vertigo," so I had to look it up and listen to the song to recognize it woven into Vivaldi vs. Vertigo).
In my opinion, the original song "'80s Anthem" was bland; it sounded a lot like some of David's original compositions off his previous albums (songs like "A New Day," "Chelsea Girl," "Eliza's Song," etc.). I would have much rather seen David's earlier works "Rock Prelude" and "Rock Toccata" recycled; those tracks are way more hardcore than anything on "Rock Symphonies." The much-hyped appearance of Orianthi on "Walk This Way" was kind of muted (although I've heard that the David / Orianthi duet really rocks in his live concert DVD from Berlin); there are more poignant guitar solos elsewhere (there's a lovely call-and-response line in the intro to "Live and Let Die" that was heavenly, but the guitar mostly fades into the background).
Overall, Rock Symphonies is a good album, not great. It kind of grew on me after a few days of listening, but there weren't nearly as many catchy songs as on David's previous releases, nothing with the edge-of-your-seat intensity of "Smooth Criminal" or AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" or even David's original crossover compositions like "Rock Prelude" or "Rock Toccata." If I had to sum up "Rock Symphonies" in one word, it would be "underwhelming." However, David's one of those artists who is even more impressive live, so I'm giving these songs another chance. I've pledged to PBS and am looking forward to seeing David perform these songs live in concert on his Rock Symphonies DVD filmed in Berlin. I'll also order the German version of the Rock Symphonies DVD, which has nearly twice the tracks as the PBS version.
Verdict: fans of David will want to snap this up (and the accompanying PBS pledge exclusive Rock Symphonies DVD filmed in Berlin), but newcomers are better off checking out David's earlier work such as his eponymous North American debut David Garrett or Virtuoso.
Description of Rock Symphonies
Recorded at the historic Electric Lady Studios in the heart of Greenwich Village in New York City this release further shows Garrett's love of the classics and rock. Spanning decades; David interpets some the all time classic rock hit's such as Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" (featuring Orianthe on guitar) "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from Nirvana, Led Zepplin's "Kashmir", the Creedance Clearwater Revival classic "Rocking All Over The World", Guns N Roses "November Rain", Metallica's "Master Of Puppets", Queen's "Bicycle Race" and more. Also included David show's his versatility on tracks such as Vivaldi/Vertigo (U2), Peer Gynt, Beethoven's 5th. and others.Classic Rock CDs
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