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Artist: 2002 Reviews:
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I find it difficult to listen to music by 2002 "objectively" because their music often stirs up memories of a past relationship I had with an American woman. I first heard 2002 after buying River of Stars when browsing the New Age shelf in a Borders bookstore during a visit to America. Subsequently 2002's music has for me become indelibly associated with my ex. The blurb on the back of the CD asks "What does the ocean dream?" Not surprisingly the musical answer is that the dreams are pleasant ones. I would say that Across an Ocean of Dreams just avoids crossing the line from the pleasant to overly nice and sweet - something which New Age music can be. Opening up the album "The Ocean Dreams" has all the 2002 hallmarks of ethereal voices, synths, flute and strings, and harp-like strings. It's a slightly stirring track that builds up from a gentle start, reaching majestic peaks of sound that reflect the immensity and grandeur of oceans. The next highlight is "The Sea at Night" which features piano as well as the strings, voices etc. At one point the piano reminded me a little of Vangelis. Following on from this "Valley of Healing Waters" is an atmospheric piece also using piano, and with some lovely drawn out flute sounds. Listening to this one can imagine a slow moving river in a serene, maybe otherworldly, valley. Rather than describing the rest of the album I would say that fans of New Age music will enjoy this. For those not sure about New Age think of a lighter version of Enya's music with strings and you'll get some idea of what 2002 have to offer. To sum up, Across an Ocean of Dreams is a pleasant album containing easygoing sounds and melodies. Ideal for relaxing to, it's probably a good album to play during quiet moments with someone special.
2002, the duo of Pamela and Randy Copus, have finally shed some of the overly sweet msucial trappings of some recent albums. While their newest release, River of Stars, will never be confused with anything except new age music, it shows a decided maturation of their talents. Cutting back on the use of lush synth chorsues and, instead, emphasizing piano, guitar (especially) and wind instruments, the recording also borrows liberally from a Enya-esque slant on music. Elegant overdubs of Pamela's voice mix with a certain melodic sensibility to produce music that cuts (i.e. beats) anything Enya has produced lately. There may be less of a Celtic influence in 2002's CD, but the diversity of musical approaches (again, notably, the use of guitar, usually wonderfully reverbed) helps to push River of Stars to a higher level of sophistication. "Stella Maris" is a good example of what I'm talking about. The song will doubtless remind Enya-philes of her more uptempo tunes like "Anywhere Is" but there is more going on with "Stella Maris." During the first bridge, the plucked strings and overdubbed breathy sighs are counterpointed by that guitar and, later, a flute. These added dimensions started growing on me by the third listen. Of course, songs like "Starwalkers" still feature the patient and serene new age beauty that is 2002's stock in trade. But even on songs like "Starwalkers," I hear a newfound sense of subtlty, a restraint in the melodrama. I have never questioned Pamela and Randy's motives (they obviously are sincere in wanting to make music for relaxation and contemplation). However, past albums always seemed over the top to me. I'm happy to say that such is not the case with River of Stars. Songs like the uptempo "Lovers' Bridge" wth its piano arpeggios and graceful guitar are welcome on my stereo system any day. Maybe I can't tell ambient or space music fans to run out and buy River of Stars, but I can certainly recommend it highly to those out there who favor warm melodic new age music. Given the genre defined by that statement, it doesn't get much better than this. |