This is about the best rock/classical music project ever - better than for example the pioneering work of The Nice, Deep Purple’s and Jon Lord or Yes’ recent effort. And certainly better than all those “The ABC Symphonic Orchestra Plays XYZ” discs - regardless how enjoyable these may be. There’s one big difference to all of these CD’s, however. All of these projects take music, (mostly) originally written as rock music and arrange this for orchestra. Then the orchestra performs it together with rock instruments. Not After Crying - they take music from their albums, like “Viaduct”, “Struggle for life” or “Arrival of Manticore” and re-arrange these for symphony or chamber orchestra in a way that they sound 100% like classical pieces. One never has the uncomfortable feeling of a rock beat galloping next to an orchestra playing, and - although the band itself plays also on the disc - the orchestra gets the main part and leading role on this disc. The sound, however, remains typical After Crying with a most significant instrument: that typical play on and use of the trumpet. People who are familiar with the band’s previous work should know what a bunch of accomplished (and classically trained) musicians the guys of After Crying are, but even I never expected this rate of perfection. Words can hardly describe this CD – this certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are
into classical music or a fan of After Crying, this is recommended listening with a good set of headphones and a minimum of distraction!
*****

Carsten