The Last of England - CD

This is the place to post items relating to Gordon and his music in a general sense, such as his influences, how he composes, which pieces you enjoy most and why etc.

Moderator: GORDON

BRC
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:45 am
Location: Kent, United Kingdom

The Last of England - CD

Postby BRC » Mon Jan 23, 2017 12:38 pm

I received my copy from Amazon on Friday, 20th January 2017 and ... have listened to 3 times all the way through. Superb and very evocative, every track.

As is usual for me, I have found 2 of the tracks that particularly resonate (no pun intended) with me:
1. The Last of England - The images it evoked were of a video shot using a drone (or helicopter) from the Eastern Docks at Dover, soaring up the cliffs then sweeping slowly to the Pharos at Dover Castle, followed by a slow circuit around the castle with a lingering static shot from the top of the keep. As the track progressed my minds eye took me on a journey of many castles in the country from Bodiam to Newcastle, taking in Leeds Castle, The Tower of London, Warwick Castle (too many to mention in a 'short' posting).

I know this piece is based on the painting by Ford Maddox Brown, which has a theme of leaving England, however, in the climate of the UK voting to leave the European Union it conjures up for me the changing image of England viewed with nostalgia and a spoonful of melancholy. I won't go deeper than that as I don't wish this to have a political edge - just thoughts and reminiscences of what has been, and trepidation of what may come to be.

2. Work - I am retired so there is a double edge to this piece in my imagination - nothing untoward, though perhaps I should leave this for another time lest I draw any attention from any psychologists (worse still psychiatrists).

Overall this is a very relaxing album to listen to and I shall try to do that again in the next few days. It would be even better to listen to Gordon playing some of the pieces live (possibly with Paul Ward) though it is more important he recovers his health than concern himself about playing to us.

In the meantime, thank you Gordon for another excellent album.

Kind regards and health to all
Brad

User avatar
Roger USA
Posts: 177
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:50 pm
Location: Barbados

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby Roger USA » Sat Jan 28, 2017 6:45 pm

I couldn't agree more, it's a wonderful album!

This version of The Last of England is the best in my opinion, it's beautiful with a lot of emotion in the piece. I always liked the painting and the story behind it.

The whole Brotherhood Suite flows together beautifully and the collaboration with Paul Ward is inspired.

I love what has been done with This Father's Love, although it took a couple of plays after playing the solo guitar version for so long.

I was out of the country so I had to wait until early yesterday to download the album, now it's time to order the CD!

All The Best,

Roger

User avatar
AndrewD
Posts: 212
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 4:19 pm
Location: North Somerset
Contact:

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby AndrewD » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:07 pm

I'm waiting for my copy to arrive (should be here tomorrow) but I've had a fix via Spotify over the last couple of days. I couldn't order it before as we've been poised to move house for two months and I just caught Amazon with a stock level of 1 left on Sunday after watching the "It's on back order" message for 3 weeks. I love it and it is great to hear the different treatment the songs have received. Everyone has their own favourite...mine is The Anna Fantasia, but then it would be as it was my wedding present to my wife Anna when we married last July! That was a great day and thanks to Gordon and Hilary for helping to make it so special.

User avatar
Roger USA
Posts: 177
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:50 pm
Location: Barbados

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby Roger USA » Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:50 pm

After making do with playing my iTunes download, my CDs arrived yesterday. They arrived in less than a week from the order date. They were well packaged and arrived in perfect condition, which is very rare for any CDs shipped to me from the UK. Well done Angel Air Records!

User avatar
Tom McCauley
Posts: 244
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:22 am
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby Tom McCauley » Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:56 pm

I managed to find it on Spotify and have saved it into my Jukebox playlist...
Tom McCauley

User avatar
piotrwargan
Posts: 190
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 1:48 pm
Location: Wroclaw, Poland
Contact:

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby piotrwargan » Wed Feb 08, 2017 9:16 am

The album finally arrived yesterday. Ania and I love it! The music is so relaxing and evocative. And what a coincidence that two ladies with the name Anna have their compositions on the album :-)

I suggest listening using good headphones to enjoy even better the incredibe richness of the arrangements.

User avatar
Tom McCauley
Posts: 244
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:22 am
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby Tom McCauley » Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:28 am

Really love the opening track. I keep on repeating and repeating and repeating it again.
Tom McCauley

User avatar
Tom McCauley
Posts: 244
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:22 am
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby Tom McCauley » Mon Feb 13, 2017 6:22 pm

Managed to get the album off iTunes and I really am enjoying it.
Tom McCauley

User avatar
steve
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:38 pm
Location: EVESHAM

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby steve » Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:30 am

Tom McCauley wrote:Really love the opening track. I keep on repeating and repeating and repeating it again.


Yes, the opening track really sets the album up. Just when you think you've heard it all, it changes to something else and just appears to keep moving and getting better and better as it evolves. I need to listen to the album through a lot more and become more familiar with the titles but my first observation was that one of my favourite pieces happens to be one of the shortest! I need to set-up a repeat command, quite obviously.
Mirrors should think longer before they reflect ~ Jean Cocteau

User avatar
steve
Posts: 56
Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:38 pm
Location: EVESHAM

Re: The Last of England - CD

Postby steve » Tue Jun 06, 2017 11:23 am

Has anyone picked up the new vinyl LP version? I'm curious to know which two tracks have been omitted for the purpose of trimming the album to optimise the vinyl pressing sound quality.

I have already ordered it from the shop / record label and can't wait for it to arrive. I have no idea if I'll get the poster / signature! I played the CD again last night and kept thinking to myself "I hope they haven't chopped this one!" when EVERY track started!

It is a great album, so wonderfully programmed and carefully produced and almost certainly contains some gems destined to become Gordon "classics" over time.

Best to all,

Steve
Mirrors should think longer before they reflect ~ Jean Cocteau


Return to “Gordon's Music”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 44 guests