ValPal

I can parse the story of this album. Well... I'm pretty sure I can, anyway. The appearance of the blemmyes and other such Marco Polo critters places this in the realms of tripped-out adventure fantasy, with the album seeming to open on an exodus from some crumbling castle, but eventually becomes a rebellion against a godlike figure in search of novel developments in mammal tetrachromacy. I'm not certain there's a point here beside simply telling the story, but it is at the very ... read more

There is a certain delicacy to the way that this group play this piece. Although they make their own interpretations on the themes, it's never overdone, and the musicianship is divine, especially the vibraphone. Probably one of the best versions of this modern operatic score out there.

You know, no matter how much I try not to, I just keep picturing dinosaurs...

I had to hunt down a CD to listen to this one in full, as the entire soundtrack isn't on streaming... But I'd consider any lengths worthwhile for this, the final conclusion of my (rather long) attempt to listen through Walker's entire discography. Although parts of this are quite unexceptional, when it hits, it really hits, bringing this wonderfully melancholic atmosphere which (as far as I can tell) rather suits the movie it was made for.

As always, I'm impressed with Scott's breadth as an ... read more