Before Sleep Comes

From the Artist
"I went to the Old Mill, near Naas. I recorded these tracks late at night, with the wind blowing. I recorded when I was tired myself. Its purpose is to bring you closer to sleep, our sometimes elusive night-friend…Sweet Dreams." Luka

Product Description
9 new songs for insomniacs.

Last fall a bout of tendonitis restricted Luka Bloom from playing his traditionally aggressive style of steel-string guitar. While gently strumming on his Spanish nylon string guitar, he came up with a new approach to his art. As he explains in the liner notes to this disc, "Necessity is the mother of invention." New songs began to emerge as Luka fashioned a softer, more contemplative style of playing. Singing in a whisper that almost begs you to draw in closer, Luka performs beautiful new originals and re-interprets classic Celtic ballads like "The Water Is Wide," "I’ll Walk Beside You" and "She Moved Through the Fair." The overall effect is utterly romantic, totally soothing. This is chill-out music for the soul. Put it on and drift away with Luka Bloom, before sleep comes.

Before Sleep Comes,Luka Bloom,Bar None Records,Contemporary Singer/Songwriter,Pop,Progressive Folk,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter

Before Sleep Comes

Average customer rating:

Soothing, just not brilliant
Helps my 4 month old grandchild get to sleep!
Before Sleep Comes...
4.5 Stars actually
Incredible

Before Sleep Comes
Luka Bloom
Manufacturer: Bar/None Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Innocence
Between the Mountain and the Moon
Amsterdam
Salty Heaven
Keeper of the Flame

ASIN: B0002PUHBK
Release Date: 2004-09-21

Tracks:

My Singing Bird
Before Sleep Comes
She Moved Through The fair
I'll Walk Beside You
Camomile
Be Still Now
Nora
The Water Is Wide
She Sings Her Songs With Open Eyes

Album Description

9 new songs for insomniacs.

Last fall a bout of tendonitis restricted Luka Bloom from playing his traditionally aggressive style of steel-string guitar. While gently strumming on his Spanish nylon string guitar, he came up with a new approach to his art. As he explains in the liner notes to this disc, "Necessity is the mother of invention." New songs began to emerge as Luka fashioned a softer, more contemplative style of playing. Singing in a whisper that almost begs you to draw in closer, Luka performs beautiful new originals and re-interprets classic Celtic ballads like "The Water Is Wide," "I'll Walk Beside You" and "She Moved Through the Fair." The overall effect is utterly romantic, totally soothing. This is chill-out music for the soul. Put it on and drift away with Luka Bloom, before sleep comes.

Customer Reviews:

Soothing, just not brilliant.......2007-01-17

I have been a fan of Luka Bloom for many years. From his CD "Riverside" to the most recent "Innocence," one of the things I've always found most attractive about his music has been the robust passion he invests in his art. Not so on "Before Sleep Comes." You are getting excatly as advertised: music to put you to sleep. While some may call this soothing concoction "chill-out" music, I prefer my Luka Bloom listening to be a bit more exuberant. That is not to say that "When Sleep Comes" is a bad CD, far from it. In fact, I don't think Bloom is capable of making a duff disc.

Just be prepared for "Before Sleep Comes" to be exactly what it's billed as. Bloom sings softly, seductively atop gently played Spanish Guitar. He mixes originals with traditional songs here, and carries it off with dignity. In fact, I hope that he eventually revisits "Be Still Now" and the title song with a fleshed out arrangement. If you are a fan of Iron and Wine, there is a good chance "Before Sleep Comes" will be your spoonful of sleep medicine. Just be aware that, when it comes to Bloom's best work, there are better discs to choose from.

Helps my 4 month old grandchild get to sleep!.......2007-01-04

I've been a Luka Bloom fan for years. This CD is wonderful. When my 4 month old granddaughter is fighting sleep, we put it on, she protests for the first two songs and is asleep by the third. The adults in her life then get to mellow out with the rest of the CD. Wonderful!

Before Sleep Comes..........2006-11-05

...is the perfect title for this wonderful album. Luka Bloom managed to remain true to his songwriting and singing style, even though he was in the midst of recovering from injuries that could have ended his career. It is refelctive and relaxing. Enjoyable.

4.5 Stars actually.......2005-08-25

This is possiblly one of the most relaxing CD's ever released. This CD does exactly what it wants to do. It's a CD of lullabyes for relaxing the body and mind. The guitar work is gentle, delicate and well executed and Luka's voice is so smooth and sweet that it just lets you shut out the rest of the world and relax. I love his renditions of of the traditional melodies and the originals are beautiful. This album is so serene. The only qualm that I have with this album is that it is too short. A total playing time of under half an hour is just a little too short for an album. But I guess that's ok. If it were much longer, you may never return back to reality after one listen.

Incredible.......2005-05-12

Whether intentionally or not, some of the reviews I've read seem to make this sound like a novelty album. It is not - it is a beautiful work of art as the first reviewer says. If you like music, you will love this album. I was impressed by his guitar work myself - very subtle, but very accomplished. I own 3 Luka Bloom albums and on first listen, this one shot right to the top of my favorites.

Elgar: Orchestral & Choral Works; Concertos

Average customer rating:

Super collection of Elgar's major works

Elgar: Orchestral & Choral Works; Concertos

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Vaughan Williams: The Nine Symphonies
Rachmaninov: The Symphonies

ASIN: B0000759Y6
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Customer Reviews:

Super collection of Elgar's major works.......2004-06-28

Most compilations of composers works usually only feature, at best, maybe one or two works in recordings that are of outstanding quality, especially if different artists are featured. Such is absolutely not the case with this collection, one of the finest of its sort ever issued.

This box makes a perfect one stop shopping choice for the major, most-well-known works the British composer Sir Edward Elgar. The title is misleading though. The box, on 8 CDs at an incredible price, contains both Orchestral AND Choral works.
Since Amazon does not list the contents, I will :

Symphony Nos. 1 & 2 -- LPO , Solti
Serenade for strings - ASMF , Marriner
Intro and Allegro - ECO , Britten
Cello Concerto - Webber , RPO , Menuhin
Enigma Var. -- CSO , Colti
Cockaigne Over -- LPO , Solti
Violin Con -- Chung , LPO , Solti
Falstaff -- Montreal , Dutoit
Dream of Gerontius -- LSO , Britten
Sea Pictures -- RPO , Mackerras
In the South -- LPO , Solti
Pomp and Circumstance -- LPO , Solti
Imperial MArch -- Band of Grebadier Guards , Bashford
Sospri -- ASMF , Marriner
Elegy -- ASMF , Marriner
Wand of Youth -- Welsh NO , Mackerras
Starlight Express -- Welsh NO , Mackerras
Dream Children -- Welsh NO , Mackerras

Look up almost any of the individual works and you should be able to find these recordings in their individual issues, many with several 5 start ratings.

I won't elaborate on any of the specific recordings, just take my word for that there isn't a dud in the box.

Tracks:

The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part I: Prelude
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part I: Jesu, Maria - I Am Near To Death
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part I: Rouse Thee, My Fainting Soul
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part I: Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part I: Proficiscere, anima Christiana

Tracks:

The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: I Went To Sleep
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: It Is A Member Of That Familiy
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: But hark! Upon My Senses Comes A Fierce Hubbub
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: I See Not Those False Spirits
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: But Hark! A Grand Mysterious Harmony (Soul of Gerontius)
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: Thy Judgement Now Is Near
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: I Go Before My Judge
The Dream Of Gerontius, Op.38: Part II: Softly And Gently, Dearly-Ransomed soul

Customer Reviews:

Not even a third-choice.......2003-01-02

There aren't many reasons for getting this budget-priced set now that multiple recordings are available at mid-price.

Admittedly, this was my first recording, which I bought about six or seven years ago when I didn't know much about Elgar's music .... I enjoyed the work, but was less than thrilled with the choral passages--they sounded muffled and distant. On the other hand, the soloists are all decent, with Best as the Priest in part one and the Angel of the Agony in part two the clear standout among the soloists.

If you're a particular fan of any of the soloists here, this may be worth exploring, particularly since it's at a budget price...

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