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List Price: $20.98 | | Label: Decca Import
Salesrank: 50149
Released: April 7, 1998 |
| Our Price: $10.41 |
| Used Price: $4.49 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Beyondness of Things Track Listing:
1. Beyondness of Things
2. Kissably Close
3. Heartlands
4. Give Me a Smile
5. Childhood Memory
6. Nocturnal New York
7. Meadow of Delight and Sadness
8. Gifts of Nature
9. Fictionist
10. Dawn Chorus
11. Day the Earth Fell Silent
12. Dance with Reality
Editorial Review:
Those fond of and familiar with the often lush, romantic dimensions of five-time Academy Award winner John Barry's film scoring (exemplified by Somewhere in Time and the Oscar-winning Out of Africa) will find much to admire here. Barry's first non-soundtrack release in a quarter-century plays like a symphonic trance, his singular genius for emotionally longing string and brass arrangements occasionally punctuated here by a lethargic, distant saxophone, plaintive harmonica, or mournful solo-horn phrase. But those previously unswayed by Barry's charms may find that this impressionistic, poetically contemplative collection might just be too much of a good thing; Goldfinger--or Dances with Wolves--it isn't. Still, music this dreamily evocative can hardly be termed Muzak; it's the perfect soundtrack to a rainy, introspective afternoon or an unashamedly romantic interlude. --Jerry McCulley
Beyondness of Things Reviews:
I didn't like it 
2007-05-04 - I bought this cd as a fan of John Barry's melodies but there are only two or three melodies that I liked from this album.
I did'n like how the electric guitar sounds at the last part of the last theme.
I think his album "Eternal Echoes" is much better.
glorious feeling 
2006-09-19 - this CD turned me on to John Barry. I have subsequently bought James Bond soundtracks and Eternal Echoes by Mr. Barry. I would love to see the Enigma soundtrack re-released; I don't think you can go wrong with John Barry music. I would love to see another CD of new music by him.
"James Bond" Grows Old and Looks Back
2005-07-30 - Buy this CD. Everyone I've ever played it for, no matter what their tastes in music, loves it. It is contemporary, sensual, etherial, romantic, philosophical, and timeless. The title - "The Beyondness of Things" - says it all. It will fill you with gratitude for your life and for every good thing that has ever happened to you. And it will make you wonder, "To what is this life flowing, and where does it all go?"
One of John Barry's best projects ever
2004-12-12 - As much John Barry music as I own, I come back to the "The Beyondness Of Things" more than any other. The music is sublime in a way that only Mr. Barry's music can be.
The chords and arrangements create a vast, panoramic soundscape that puts you in the mind of wide open spaces, such as an expansive plain or ocean at sunset. It is perfect to relax and meditate to, or take a scenic drive to while you reflect on your thoughts. But make no mistake: the music is also highly engaging to actively listen to, and you will no doubt hear something new each and every time.
The sound quality of this set is also noteworthy, in my opinion being better than any other John Barry recording I've yet heard.
"The Beyondness Of Things" is for you if you like reflective, pure orchestral music that is simultaneously joyous and melancholy, and always hauntingly beautiful. It will also serve as a perfect introduction to Mr. Barry's softer, non-James Bond work. I simply cannot recommend this CD enough.
Barry in slow hypno mode
2004-11-15 - BEYONDNESS is characterized by the same kind of stately melancholic folksiness that you hear in Aaron Copland and Peter Schickele. (MEADOW OF DELIGHT AND SADNESS is especially Schickele-esque.) All 12 tracks have full orchestral arrangements, but Barry gave a pop-tune structure to all of the tracks. Some tracks even do the gradual fade-out shtick that is often used on pop tunes.
Barry uses a solo harmonica on a few tracks. As he did in FRANCES and MIDNIGHT COWBOY. Indulging in a luxuriant expansive melancholia and wistfulness. He frequently uses a distant female singer to bookend the tracks. She sings brief wordless phrases in an ethereal manner. Her passages in GIVE ME A SMILE are achingly beautiful. In GIFTS OF NATURE, Barry gave the female singer some brilliant modernistic harmonic notes. My fave track is A CHILDHOOD MEMORY. It has a brass passage that's astonishly effective because Barry knows how to create chordal tension.
