The Millennium Dome attracted a lot of scorn and ridicule in 2000. A shame - we visited it twice with the kids and had a good day out both times, although I can't recall seeing much, if any of the show.
I've done a couple of Genesis CDs, so the draw of Peter Gabriel won't come as any surprise and for a couple of quid in a charity shop, I thought I'd take a punt.
And after one listen through, it's not bad. As said previously, soundtracks aren't meant to stand up on their own, and definitely not meant to overshadow the show, so there's an optimum band of quality!
As you'd expect from both Gabriel, and the setting, it's very ambient and easy to listen to, flowing gently. It opens with Low Light, a slow Celtic sounding piece, voiced by Afro Celt's Iarla Ó Lionáird, a mood which continued into The Time Of The Turning, sung by the late Richie Havens. The pace quickens and the digeridoo is unpacked for the rhythmic The Man Who Loved The Earth, the beats quickening and the temperature rising as a guitar picks up the theme. After a brief reprise of The Time Of The Turning, there's The Weavers Reel, a standard reel piece, neither awful nor inspiring. Gabriel himself sings Father, Son, a slow song which meanders nowhere, but the tempo rises with The Tower That Ate People. and two shorter percussive pieces, Revenge and White Ashes.
A couple of vocal big guns in Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) and Paul Buchanan (Blue Nile) are brought out for Downside-Up, another gentle, pleasant song which is delivered brightly. There's two more instrumentals, one an ambient drone (The Nest That Sailed The Sky), the other another rhythmic piece (The Tree That Went Up) before the finale, the ten minute Make Tomorrow, where all the guest singers feature. I'm sure it was great in the show finale, but on CD it seems to go on.
In all, it's a reasonable listen, neither stunning nor disappointing. Many such spectacles treat the music as background, but this offers more than that.
3* - if you accept this for what it is, a piece to accompany a bigger show, it's not at all bad.
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