Pure Moods III - A brief CD review

I have actually owned this CD for several years now. When I played it for the first time then, I didn't notice any catchy tracks, especially in light of what I had gotten used to in the first two installations of the Pure Moods series. Recently, on a drive back from a hike in NH, I put this CD on. I played the CD twice and listened to all the songs. Here are my thoughts on which tracks caught my fancy and which fell short.

Some tracks, like Synaesthetic from the Blue Man Group, I skipped right away during the first play. Other tracks like Games Without Frontiers from Peter Gabriel, I listened to fully the first time but skipped thereafter. Yet other tracks like Deliver Me from Sarah Brightman, Only If by Enya and Gravity of Love by Enigma were listened to fully during both iterations and have not been listened to since (but may be listened to tentatively at some point in the future).

Here are the five tracks that I continue to listen to in Pure Moods III (the other tracks are skipped):

#5 Land of Anaka - Brian Eno and Geoffrey Oryema

It was Geoff's deep voice and what seemed like a slow guitar that initially drew me to this song. Now I have taken a very strong liking to it.


#4 Cristofori's Dream - David Lanz

A beautiful, mellow instrumental. This piece should be listened to in a very, very quiet room. Otherwise, you won't do it justice.


#3 Porcelain - Moby

I had been listening to this song on YouTube for a while now without realizing that I had had it in a CD for a long time. I had found it after looking up information on Moby, whose theme from the Bourne movies originally piqued my interest and eventually led me to discovering this song.


#2 On Sacred Ground - Yanni

I had a feeling that this piece, with its grandeur, might be from Yanni (I lost the album cover a long time ago and had to look up the track listing on Amazon). And I was right. However, there seems to be no piano/keyboard (a Yanni signature) in the instruments used. At first I felt that the flute that picks up after the first two minutes of this piece was a bit invasive but now I am used to that. This piece brings to mind visions of being alone in the insides of a very old cathedral or chapel in an ancient town...although the guy who posted the below video had other visions.


#1 Life in Mono - Mono

Y'know, I was worried that this track might have been by some female named Ashley or Kayden something or other. But, thank goodness, it turned out to be by a singer with the lovely name of Siobhan de Maré. This was also the theme song in the movie Great Expectations (1998). Love it!