Artificial Paradise

artificial paradise

Track Listings

1. Deep Inside

2. That's Why It Hurts

3. Strange Emotion

4. Human Apologies

5. Timeless Traces

6. Still Believe

7. Around The World

8. Souviners

9. Artificial Paradise

Editorial Reviews
Progressiveears, June 2002 http://www.progressiveears.com/asp/reviews.asp?albumID=2990
This release marks the arrival of Sylvan. Their sound is polished and focused, with superb song-writing and musicianship.

Product Description
"Artificial Paradise" deals with topics such as deceitfulness, superficiality and the ups and downs of life and of human nature. According to this range of topics, the extraordinary artwork of the CD cover is based on a casino-type image, resembling deceitfulness and temptation at the same time. The songs are almost hypnotic as the music and lyrics take you on a thought provoking journey. Here are what the reviewers are saying:

Here's some wonderful German neo-prog with some very modern musical arrangements as opposed to the traditional neo-prog mimicing of the 70's, 80's or 90's. There is some excellent songwriting, musical compositions on Artifical Paradise with the songs constantly flowing in a forward motion including the epic title track and NO filler! The singer has a powerful vocal presence. Never showing-off just blending into the musical tapestries. Great rythmn section is present as well as an excellent keyboardist. All the musicians never are over-powering nor soloing. Great powerful modern sounding guitar paying is present as well. Going from clean to dirty effects makes some great solid progressive music. Nothing too complex, very melodic and possibly one of the best recordings to come in 2002.

..All in all this album is a near masterpiece and one of my favourites of 2002, proving that nowadays some of the best prog rock comes from Germany with bands like Sylvan, Alias Eye and RPWL. What are you waiting for, check out some of the samples of the tracks yourself!

Artificial Paradise

Artificial Paradise,Sylvan,Progrock Records,Alternative,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Artificial Paradise

Average customer rating:

strange combinations....
Guess Who
Great Combo
Another CD that only works in some players
There are several sticking points here...

Wheatfield Soul/Artificial Paradise
The Guess Who
Manufacturer: Bmg Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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So Long, Bannatyne/#10
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ASIN: B0001NBLAO
Release Date: 2004-04-19

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These Eyes
Pink Wine Sparkles In The Glass
I Found Her In A Star
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Lightfoot
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Customer Reviews:

strange combinations...........2007-02-25

First of all, I think a lot of the Guess Who's early stuff (eg. Randy Bachman era) is overrated - they were very inconsistent, having some great songs and then some other stuff that seems very dated and misguided now.

But as far as these repackages, it's easy to see why they pair up completely unrelated albums - because otherwise they'd never sell the lesser ones. While a lot of people might want "Wheatfield Soul", I doubt there's a huge demand for "Artificial Paradise". The same can be said for the other duo packages: winners: "Rockin' and "So Long Bannatyne"; losers: "#10" and "Flavours".

Basically, Kurt Winter's departure was the end of The Guess Who and the subsequent albums are yawners.

Guess Who.......2006-05-16

As a longtime GW fan, I care little about the aesthetics of which LP should have been matched with another LP. These were two of my favorite vinyls from one of my favorite bands, and it doesn't overly challenge my IQ to still think of them as separate entities which happen to be on one CD for my convenience.

I have enjoyed the contents on this disk very much. One of classic rock's most eclectic and under-rated bands ever shows the breadth and depth of their musical journey, from their debut RCA release of Wheatfield Soul, to their more musically-accomplished but less pensive Artifical Paradise from 1973.

You rockers who long for something more, its not too late to hop on board. There is a reason why this band remains unduly popular among musicians, radio and music industry personnel.

Great Combo.......2006-02-21

I'm baffled at some of the bad ratings. These were two brilliant Guess Who albums (as opposed to a lame album coupled with a great album). This contains plenty of brilliant moments, some of which were, until now, rarely available.

Another CD that only works in some players.......2006-02-01

The CD wouldn't work right in 4 out of 5 CD players due to some kind of funky copy guard on the last few tracks as the manufacture says (BMG). Started to listen in my office but it messed up, thought I would listen to it on the way home but the same problem in my vehicle CD player. Worked on My living room CD player, But by the time I was done I was so pissed I really couldn't enjoy it the way I wanted. So it really made this a bad listening experience. Also the same thing happened to a Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street CD after buying music all these years (since the early seventies) and now not being able to enjoy the music on my own terms this is the last CD I will ever buy.

There are several sticking points here..........2005-04-30

I agree with several points from many of the reviews here. I've been a Guess Who fan ever since Shakin' All Over...and it makes very little sense to me to pair up albums way out of synch with each other. Both Wheatfield Soul and Artificial Paradise were fine albums, but they were at almost opposite ends of the band's career...Randy Bachman and Kurt Winter: two very talented but very different guitarists from one another. It was inspiring to see Randy do Kurt's guitar work seeing them live in 2000 and 2002 and was a testament to how good Bachman is. But I agree totally, put Artificial Paradise and #10 together and Canned Wheat with Wheatfield Soul, and give the catalog the respect and the better audio it deserves. I myself did the DIY thing on Artificial Paradise, Flavours & Power in the Music (Cool Edit is a wonderful tool for cleaning up old vinyl albums), and wish RCA would have given them individual releases. I also agree with Cummings, that the two final RCA albums really weren't the Guess Who as we knew them before. Aside from the stray track (like Hamba Gahle), Artificial Paradise just might be one of the band's finest moments for sheer diversity, power and just plain great rock & roll, to take nothing away from Wheatfield Soul or any other Guess Who albums for that matter. I myself snapped up all the early 90s RCA Canada reissues and those, to me, did the best job of preserving the character (not to mention the graphics) of the original works. Also of interest are the early works, which Randy Bachman has had a huge part in bringing out: This Time Long Ago, which features several Wheatfield Soul tracks in their early stages....and Let's Go (drawn from their CBC-TV series of the same name, with several covers of classic tunes and their earliest self-composed works previously only available on a double-band LP called A Wild Pair, the other side being Ottawa's Staccatos, which you know better as The Five Man Electrical Band). As for Artificial Paradise: if you have the vinyl and a CD burner...go for it! This is great stuff, and it deserves better treatment.

Average customer rating:

Getting the word out, this band needs to be heard!
Outstanding Music

Artificial Paradise
Sylvan
Manufacturer: Progrock Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Rock | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Posthumous Silence
X-rayed
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ASIN: B0006FFRNE
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Tracks:

Deep Inside
Thats Why It Hurts
Strange Emotion
Human Apologies
Timeless Traces
Still Believe
Around The World
Souviners
Artificial Paradise

Product Description

"Artificial Paradise" deals with topics such as deceitfulness, superficiality and the ups and downs of life and of human nature. According to this range of topics, the extraordinary artwork of the CD cover is based on a casino-type image, resembling deceitfulness and temptation at the same time. The songs are almost hypnotic as the music and lyrics take you on a thought provoking journey. Here are what the reviewers are saying:

Here's some wonderful German neo-prog with some very modern musical arrangements as opposed to the traditional neo-prog mimicing of the 70's, 80's or 90's. There is some excellent songwriting, musical compositions on Artifical Paradise with the songs constantly flowing in a forward motion including the epic title track and NO filler! The singer has a powerful vocal presence. Never showing-off just blending into the musical tapestries. Great rythmn section is present as well as an excellent keyboardist. All the musicians never are over-powering nor soloing. Great powerful modern sounding guitar paying is present as well. Going from clean to dirty effects makes some great solid progressive music. Nothing too complex, very melodic and possibly one of the best recordings to come in 2002.

..All in all this album is a near masterpiece and one of my favourites of 2002, proving that nowadays some of the best prog rock comes from Germany with bands like Sylvan, Alias Eye and RPWL. What are you waiting for, check out some of the samples of the tracks yourself!

Customer Reviews:

Getting the word out, this band needs to be heard!.......2007-03-17

I'm always on the lookout for new progressive bands worthy of my hard-earned scudos. I've listened to a lot of pretty average bands over the years, and had to settle for average more often than I would like, but with Sylvan there is no compromise: they are the real deal!

As is usually the case, (or is it always?) the very best progressive rock is consistently coming out of Europe, and just lately it seems that includes Poland, England and in this case, Germany. Sylvan holds their own comfortably with the likes of Porcupine Tree, RPWL, Riverside, Pain of Salvation...just to name a few of the more notable bands making music today. Some of thier poppier tunes remind me of Marillion or even The Flower Kings (which is by no means a bad thing.) They provide a pleasant blend of the best of these bands with thoughtful compositions and excellent, musicianship.

I've purchased two of their CD's so far; POSTHUMOUS SILENCE and ARTIFICIAL PARADISE, and I have to tell you that they are both outstanding! I cannot praise either highly enough - absolutely top notch!.

As of this posting, Amazon has not included sound clips for their work, which is a shame because this is one of the best bands performing anywhere! So pick up one of their albums and give it a listen, then help get the word out...Sylvan is a great band!

Outstanding Music.......2007-01-05

This is progressive rock the way it ought to be. This is an album full of emotion combined with musicianship and compositional skills. The music is what I might call heavy symphonic, by that I mean it has heavier passages and it is certainly not pastorale, but it is not at all metal and in parts the pace and tone do lighten up. I find the vocals particularly evocative and the production is excellent.

The only issue for me is whether the CD is better than the more recent Posthumous Silence. For me the jury is still out but what I can say is that I highly recommend both. If you are into IQ, Arena, Frost* perhaps even RPWL or Shadow Gallery I suspect you would thoroughly enjoy this music.

Average customer rating:

Artificial Paradise
Sylvan
Manufacturer: Prog Rock
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000LX56X2

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