Into the Labyrinth

I have been a DCD fan since the beginning. In fact, I heard their albums pretty much in the order in which they were released. The fit perfectly with the 4AD aesthetic along with bands of similar dreamy beauty with a splash of somber and contemplative nuance thrown in. It was an absolute formative recipe for many of us at the time, I am convinced that bands like the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance had a tremendous impact on my own intellectual cultivation and aesthetic formation. When Within the Realm came out I was absolutely amazed. It was revelatory. And then Serpent's Egg, and then Aion -- these were all channeling something of a past that was familiar to me, whether it was an indirect evocation of antiquity or subtle hints at Medieval monasticism, it was there. So too were hints at Gregorian Chant, Palestrina, and some odd seasoning of goth rock. Being the fan that I was I got A Passage in Time when that came out, which collected highlights from all the aforementioned albums plus two new songs, Bird and Spirit. It would be an exaggeration to say that these two tracks were a radical departure, but they definitely were different than the remarkable first five albums. Jump ahead to Into the Labyrinth. To be completely honest, by the time this came out I was a bit sold on Shoegaze and Britpop, and so didn't get it, although I think I heard it from a friend. Only recently did I get it, and during a period of a serious return to listening to DCD and reflecting on what I loved so much about them. Everything I said before about the older albums is as much there as ever in my opinion. More than 30 years since I was a young guy getting inspired by them the feeling is still there for DCD unlike quite a lot of the stuff I listened to back in the day.But this album is, I think, a little different. It's a bit like that world music stuff that really started to get moving in the 90's, and which was never really wonderful. It was never bad, but then never great either. What saves this, I think, are the areas where DCD retain their form, and these are largely the Brendan Perry tracks. Or at least the ones on which he sings. I understand that they recording this album apart from one another. If so, perhaps that explains something. I don't know. But look, this is not a bad album at all, and I can see if this was the first DCD you ever heard you may have the exact opposite response, thinking the older stuff is dated, stiff, or too mired in a Neo-classical tinged goth melange. (I shudder at the goth description, but it is apt only as a loose category.) But gustibus non est disputandum, as is said; I just don't think DCD and tribal music are a good match.

Owned this album years ago, glad to reown it again. Love the music and learned what ubiquitous meant because of this album.

Bought for boyfriend, he's happy.

This is a very unique group if you do not know Dead Can Dance.Mood music- very interesting compositions. A mix of tribal, celtic and new age. Such a great listening experience.

I bought this CD for "The Ubiquitous mr. Lovegrove" and "The Carnival is over", about the 2 best DCD songs in my opinion. Maybe I should have listened to the rest of the album tough... Not that's it's bad, but there is several songs featuring silly bird noises which are driving me mad every time I hear them (Yulunga, Towards the within... I litterally skip those songs)We're getting dangerously close to New age music here...If you're like me you probably love DCD for Brendan Perry's awesome voice and lyrics more than anything else. So there's about 4-5 songs you'll fully enjoy on Into the labyrinth. The rest of the album is OK, great balance as usual, but overall it's not as good as, say, Within the realm of a dying sun (of course).

Have original version of this album and I believe it to be a classic. Now the remaster sounds fine, but in the description it stated that there were bonus tracks. Well mine has NO bonus tracks and the sound quality isn't that much better to justify buying this version.

This record is awesome, this band is awesome and this pressing is very good. Quiet in the right way.

I like the Celtic,Middle Eastern and Eastern European. I also like the exotic percussions and sounds.

To be clear, this is classic album, for those who like this kind of music - and it appears the remastering has been worthwhile. But the pressing is suspect. My other pressing of this is the Mobile Fidelity 2010 release which is said to be almost as good as it gets - so a benchmark of kinds. This edition is unfortunately very noisy and has required some pretty serious cleaning, though I've gradually got it to a decent playing standard. My beef is, why should I? Its brand new - it shouldn't be that bad.One odd artifact I noticed is the channels seemed to be swapped around (at least for some instruments) - on the first track for example the percussive shakers that come in after about 90 seconds followed by some tabla type drums have been swapped round - not sure what that achieves, but it feels a bit weird when you know where something "should" be.I'll probably lob this copy back at Amazon, and get a replacement - until then it loses 2 starts for rotten quality control.

Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, take us Into The Labrynth and show us the depths and heights and sheer beauty we can reach with the right guides. Recharges the soul.

As always: the best of the best! Even the new edition of well-known songs are original and excellently performed. An absolute topper!

Bought this aware for my wife a big Dead Can Dance fan. She is very happy with the CD and has listened to I regularly since I gave it to her.

Great