Track Listing

1. Aerial Boundaries
2. Bensusan
3. Rickover's Dream
4. Raggamuffin
5. After The Goldrush
6. Hot Type
7. Spare Change
8. Menage A Trois
9. Magic Farmer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22364 in Music
• Released on: 1993-01-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's been called the album that opened "a new chapter on steel-string guitar playing," and it's unquestionably one of the most groundbreaking albums in acoustic guitar history. Though Hedges had released the excellent Breakfast in the Field in 1981, the Grammy-nominated Boundaries came as an unexpected revelation in 1985. On stirring, complex compositions like "Rickover's Dream", "Spare Change", and a deft instrumental reading of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush", Hedges unleashed a stunning new vocabulary of finger-tapping, hammering, and harmonic slaps--processed with electronics and reverb--that still resounds today in the playing of artists from Ani Di Franco to Preston Reed. Steeped both in classical harmony and the fingerstyle guitar tradition of Leo Kottke, Martin Carthy, and John Renbourn, Boundaries remains the late composer-guitarist's seminal work, and its innovations in technique, tuning, tone, and intensity remain key texts in modern acoustic circles. --James Rotondi

CD Description
Michael Hedges is considered by many one of the most important innovators of the acoustic guitar. His total dedication to the acoustic guitar enabled him to develop a new approachto the instrument that transcended anything done before. Hecould sound like two--at times even three--guitarists playing at once, and his compositions drew on a wide variety of influences, from the earthy to the academic. While he is usually associated with the new age movement that flourished in the '80s and early '90s (having recorded on the flagship Windham Hill label), the reach of his music extends far beyond the drivel that the tag suggests.
AERIAL BOUNDARIES incorporates all the elements that characterise Hedges' music: astounding technique, innovative composition, and a spirit of exploration. Where many a musician with half of Hedges' ability would be prone to showboating, the guitarist seems to have thrown away the idea of ego altogether, opting instead for an almost ascetic purity of sound. The result is the groundbreaking music that this record captures.

Customer Reviews

Unsurpassed brilliance !
I first got this album in 1985 and it blew me away then. Imagine if the only acoustic guitar music you had heard was tuneful, rythmical, skillful strumming using an impressive variety of chords and you thought it was great (and why not !), then someone plays you a great finger picking guitarist like Bert Jansch or Davy Graham - you would be amazed, it would be like a revelation onto a higher plain. Now imagine you are used to listening to great finger picking guitarists and someone plays you 'Aerial Boundaries' or 'Rickover's Dream' or 'Ragamuffin' it would cause a similar level of amazement but more so and a revelation onto an even higher plain. That's the Hedges effect ! I still listen this album now and it's brilliance has not faded, nor will it ever fade. A timeless, unique and ground breaking masterpiece by a genius !

Could be 3 or 5 stars
As a keen student of acoustic guitar playing I'm always on the lookout for material by players with a reputation, so I bought this particular CD without any knowledge of Michael Hedges. For the aspiring steel-strung acoustic guitar picker this recording is exemplary as MH's technique is incredible. For technical prowess I give 'AB' 5 stars. For non-guitar players, this CD is possibly more of an acquired taste, although the tunes do grow on you, so for content I give 3 stars. I would say that it doesn't quite have the warmth and immediacy of the material served up by other acoustic guitar virtuosos like Leo Kottke, Tony McManus and Martin Simpson, but for avid fans of acoustic guitar playing it's a must have.

sublime
There's only a handful of albums that I've gone back to time and time again over the last 15 - 20 years and this is one of them. It's simply wonderful music. Hedges transcends the instrument and creates textures and emotions. The album is not about guitar playing its about music and life. It's a joy.