The Garden

Product Details

Artist : Zero 7
Format : Import
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0825646338023
Label : Warner Music UK
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2006-05-15
UPC : 825646338023

ASIN : B000FC2G8W

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Futures
2. Throw It All Away
3. Seeing Things
4. The Pageant Of The Bizarre
5. You're My Flame
6. Left Behind
7. Today
8. This Fine Social Scene
9. Your Place
10. If I Can't Have You
11. Crosses
12. Waiting To Die

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

"Upbeat" seems like an odd description of a recording that includes song titles like "Throw It All Away" and "Waiting to Die." Yet fans of Zero 7 (the English sound-design duo of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker) will indeed discover that the group's third release exhibits a slightly more animated pace--more multitempo than downtempo--than its predecessors, the seductively trippy Simple Things and the like-minded When It Falls. Craving a follow-up to the breathy, interstellar soul of "Destiny" from the group's debut disc, or "Passing By" from When It Falls? You may struggle to find similar magic here. Even so, The Garden is an intriguing listen, showcasing the sophistication that makes Zero 7 the Steely Dan of chillout--wry, intelligent lyrical observations, inventive musicianship, a detached sense of cool forged by the duo's heady blend of folk, jazz, '70s soul, and electronica. The Kraftwerk-like "Seeing Things"--the disc's lone instrumental--and the pulsing "You're My Flame" are useful tracks to gauge this album's elevated vibrancy. Sia Furler is the group's only returning vocalist, and the absence of Sophie Barker and Tina Dico, the gentle Christine McVie counterpoints to Furler's rough-hewn Stevie Nicks, is noticeable. Mozez and his Seal-like soul is also gone, replaced by more folk/pop-oriented José Gonzãlez. Binns even spends 80 seconds as the quiet lead voice on the slow-building brass outburst "Your Place." Furler's up-and-down vocals on "The Pageant of the Bizarre" will stick in your mind, but her best work comes on two clever lampoons of pampered lifestyles, "This Fine Social Scene" and "Waiting to Die." (Sample lyric: "Now is a good time for tasty glass of wine; let's not worry ourselves about carbon dioxide.") Different, yes, but worthwhile. --Terry Wood

Customer Reviews

Give it a chance! (2006-09-20)
I can see how alot of Zero 7 fans would be disappointed by this CD. It's very different from there previous albums, and a different style altogether. However, it has grown on me. If you are a Jose Gonzalez fan (the main male voice on this album), you will probably like this album. I've enjoyed Jose's previous albums (including Veneer), and I think that for him, creating this album with Zero 7 was a great idea. It lets you see him in another light, and proves he could make great music with a larger band, instead of the solo sound he has had traditionally. For Zero 7, on the other hand, it will probably hurt them a bit. Perhaps the die-hards will stay faithful and respect their effort to try something new. There are definately a couple great tunes, especially the ones with Sia. I saw Zero 7 and Jose in concert a few weeks ago, and they were great. Different, but great. I say give the album a shot, especially if you are into Jose Gonzalez. For Zero 7 fans, I've rated this album 3/5, but for Jose's fans, I'd give it a 4/5.

Musical Tangent - Big Dissapointment (2006-07-26)
Zero 7 has been one of my all-time favourite bands almost since the first time I heard their album "Simple Things", and I have to say that I was very dissapointed and even confused by their new release, "The Garden". "Simple Things" was almost flawless in all aspects and one of the best albums that I've ever heard in any genre. "When It Falls" was also a fantastic album, and at the very least a very noble attempt at meeting the impossibly high standard that they had set with "Simple Things". But this one just leaves me scratching my head. As if rather than trying to make another phenomenal album like their last two, it was more important to "experiment" and do a bunch of things differently, just for the sake of it. Consequently I think they really went off on a musical tangent, and not one that I particularily enjoyed.The production, I think, was my least favourite aspect. They did so many different things with it than their last two that I think they really screwed up on. For example, many of the drums that they used were far too PLAIN and the (I think new?) male vocalist who appeared for some of the songs seemed akward and even whimpy. In general I would say that the production sounds even kind of amature in some moments. It almost sounds like they tried to mix old 60's hippie music with some strange form of electronica/trip hop, as far as production goes as well as a lot of the song writing. The actual song writing in itself I thought was pretty creative (thought not quite as much as their last two releases) for the most part, but found overshadowed and even ruined by the strange production techniques and "new sound" that they gave the album, and always found myself trying to "look past" how the songs sounded and focus on the actual music. The song writing and general feel of the album sounds much WEAKER and also strongly deviates from the signature sound that they had left in my head from the last two releases, often following a more upbeat and even "cheery" groove, which I did not particularily enjoy, especially so because I appreciate and enjoy the vibe that their music had on their past two releases.The vocals by their female vocalist are, as always, superb, which is one of the better aspects of the album. But I cannot say the same for their (new?) male vocalist, who I myself would not ask to return to the studio for the next release.In conclusion, I would say that the bad aspects of the album far outweigh the good, and that over the coming months I will be listening to this album not out of enjoyment, but in order to try to FIND more enjoyable things in it. I hope that over time I will be able to appreciate this album on its own more, as perhaps I am comparing it to it's older counterparts too much rather than assessing it on its own, but at this point I think that the musical tangent that Zero 7 went on in "The Garden" was definetly in the wrong direction.I'm sorry Zero 7, but I sincerely hope that you do a better job next time. I'm all for experimenting and trying new things in music, but this one went a little too far.

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