Anthony's latest album: a 2 CD collection of acoustic pieces

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Voyage Out
2. High Fives
3. Credo
4. Cerise
5. Runaway Horses
6. Home Sweet Home
7. Steps Retraced
8. Field Day
9. Nocturne
10. Tryst
11. Girl In The Gallery
12. Bel Ami
13. Concerto De Alvarez
14. Lifer
15. Chasing The Light
16. Parlour Suite
17. Swoon
18. River Of Life
19. Momento
20. Open Road
21. White Spider
22. Half Way Out

Disc 2:

1. Weeping Willow
2. Love Not Shared
3. Sojourn
4. Dawn Over The Field Of Eternity
5. Fallen City
6. Rain On Sag Harbour
7. Days Of Grace
8. Timeline
9. Oubliette
10. Tania
11. Babbling Brook
12. Shimmering Sharon
13. Tea Room In Terra Del Fuego
14. Mudlark
15. Tearaway
16. Midnight Blue
17. Evening Shroud
18. Rapscallion
19. Beyond The Castle Walls
20. Forgotten Pathway
21. Fairy Ring
22. Largo D'Amour
23. Whippersnapper
24. Kissing Gate
25. To The Lighthouse
26. Driftwood
27. Festoons And Billows
28. Flotsam And Jetsam
29. Sunfish Shallows
30. Smart Alec
31. Prayer For Natalie
32. Out And Beyond

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41793 in Music
• Released on: 2005-10-24
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

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Customer Reviews

Elegant, exquisite, and classy as ever
The new double CD of acoustic pieces is an aural treat for not only Anthony Phillips fans but also lovers of romantic/impressionistic music in general. Once again, Mr Phillips has shown his willingness to maintain his integrity and perform the sort of heartfelt music that he does best and without concern for trends. Here, the reclusive guitarist performs a total of 61 pieces for 12 string Alvarez, Guild, and J.M. (John Marlow) guitars, 6-string Brook and L'arrivee guitars, Fylde Cittern, Ramirez, Yari, and Mirecourt classical guitars, Bell Cittern P.H. (Paul Hathaway), Parlour guitar P.H., 10-string J.M., Fylde English bazouki, Greek bazouki, mandolin, and charanga, ...and all in his inimitable style.

The primary danger of doing a double CD containing well over 2 hours of all-acoustic instrumental music is that it could potentially become too much of one picture in very short order. Despite the risks, the current batch of Phillips pieces is varied enough in tempo and length - only 7 of the 61 tracks are longer than two and a half minutes - so things never once get boring or tedious. And talk about variety: there are jangly pieces, whistful tunes, lilting melodies, and a number of the vibrant, leaping-about-and-dancing-all-over-the-place type as well. Along with the wisely varied pacing, the artist has sequenced the pieces quite effectively so that each of the sundry aforementioned instruments is allowed just enough time to reveal its individual ring and color in his dexterous hands before being turned over to the sonorities of the next.

With two exceptions, all of the pieces on Field Day were written between 2001 and 2004. The compositions sound both familiar and at the same time warmly refreshing, and while there are too many to detail here, the 12-string pieces are to this writer a pure delight, "Concerto de Alvarez" being of special merit. The two visits to former days include Track 7 on CD 1, titled "Steps Retraced," which is in fact a beautiful solo 12-string guitar rendering of the song "Traces," appearing first as a full-band arrangement on the Invisible Men LP way back in 1983. The second is Track 9 on the same CD, in which its writer revisits 1975's "Nocturn" from the second Private Parts and Pieces album 'Back to the Pavilion' in 1980. Here, it is affectionately played on Ramirez classical guitar.

It is appropriate that this has come out in the autumn - in this writer's mind, at least - as the music herein does indeed evoke vivid, colorful images of this melancholy season. That said, 'Field Day' would be welcome in any season, as its rich, vibrant, and sensual qualities are easily imagined as playing equally well against a quiet snowy backdrop or a lush pastoral landscape such as the beautiful sepia-toned one that graces the inner jacket. Buy and enjoy this fine release for a long time to come.

Brilliant Accoustic Guitar Music
I first put this on the CD player over Christmas. The generally very relaxing playing was a revelation. I am primarily a Jazz fan, but have recently been listening to a lot of ambient music. This is much better than that, however. You cannot help being drawn into the music and drifting to far away places. But this is not background music. If you are a fan of very well played accoustic guitar music, get this now.

Fantastic Guitar Music
This is Anthony Phillips most recent release and is a 2 CD set of acoustic guitar works (plus a few other stringed instruments on some of the songs such as Mandolin and Charanga). All of the pieces are instrumental and vary in length from 1 to 9 minutes. This isn't radically different to any of his other guitar stuff but frankly when the music is this good why change the formula? Any fan of his previous guitar work should enjoy this. I'd also say if you're an early Genesis or Steve Hackett fan and haven't heard Ant before you should try this. It isn't rocking but for some sublime acoustic music it doesn't get much better than this.