This is a collection of mood pieces written by Lisa Gerrard for the film _Whale Rider_. There are a lot of echoes of Dead Can Dance here: a tendency for the compositions to involve first laying down a drone, then some slowly changing chords over that, and sometimes some of Ms Gerrard's own vocals on the top: world music with a Gothic accent.

So it's not groundbreaking in any sense. If you've liked Lisa Gerrard's other albums, also Dead Can Dance, then you know pretty much what to expect. But albums don't always have to be groundbreaking: being beautiful is enough.

I have a couple of minor reservations. I love Lisa Gerrard's voice, so I'd have liked to hear more of her voice in the foreground, while on this album she's mostly an ethereal presense, just heard through the mix. And I suppose I might have hoped for a more adventurous use of Maori chant, to produce something more local, more idiomatic to New Zealand.

The use of Maori women's chant (karanga and karakia don't seem the right words, when the chant is addressed to whales, though I'm speaking from ignorance there), also men's working chant, in some tracks is great, and the Maori musical elements work well in the mix. But still, I'd have been interested to have Lisa Gerrard make more of those distinctive Maori sounds. But I'm certainly happy with what I got.

As with any film music, it probably helps to have seen the film (and that's no hardship: you _should_ see "Whale Rider"), but this music does absolutely stand up by itself, without the accompanying images. If you want Lisa Gerrard songs, rather than instrumental mood pieces with vocals, then you might prefer others of her albums. But if you're prepared to take this for what it is, you'll be well rewarded.

Highly recommended.

Cheers!

Laon

Music has the power to take you to the other world, to the other time. It can make you cry and make you smile and you don't know why. The beauty of it is that the music is powered by your imagination and you start to see with your eyes closed. All of this is more than true with Lisa Gerrard's beautiful and emotional score to the Whale Rider.

Lets just make couple of things clear at first. Whalerider is not another Gladiator in any way. Gerrard's vocals are not as present here as they were in Gladiator. Her voice can be heard only a couple of times, and even then her vocals are not the main instrument. They are used only on the background. This score doesn't include any wagnerian type of recognizable themes like Gladiator did, and most of the scores nowadays. This score doesn't include any "hit tracks" either, like for example "Now We Are Free" in Gladiator.

Whale Rider is pure mood. It is a symphony of ambient. It is like the ocean, it moves and changes without any predictions. People have said that Whalerider score needs the movie to work proberly, with the story, actors and landscapes creating the emotions. Of course the score music always works best with the movie. These two elements needs each other and the music is made to elevate the film. However I think the score for Whale Rider works also on its own. I can say this because I haven't seen the movie yet. I know so little about it. But the funny thing is that after listening to Lisa Gerrard's score for a while, I suddenly started to see the story. I started to feel the atmosphere and sense the mood of the story.

What makes Whale Rider strong is the whole album and the way it is built. It starts with the sound of the ocean, which instantly sets up the mood. Then we hear voice by a girl, with a New Zealand accent, talking about the background of the story with Gerrard's music. All the tracks from this point on are building up the story piece by piece, taking listener little by little deeper in to the other world. When the album ends, we hear the sound of the ocean again and then we are taken under water and soon we will hear the whale. The story has come to the conclusion. The structure is just so beautifully crafted. There is so much depth in it.

Gerrard has composed music like a painter. She has taken a certain mood and emotion and used it to create a landscape. The music is mostly ambience, it is mostly background, but it is very rich. It has so many layers. There are so many layers of emotions and feelings happening at the same time that you find yourself weeping just because of the scale of the palette. Strings lead the way and all sorts of sound effects and human voices, including maori chanting and Gerrards own, creates textures. In some occations we can also hear the traditional instruments used by Maoris, which creates a sense of place and history. The traditional culture of the Maori people is very important in Gerrard's music in Whale Rider. It is like a tin whistle for Irland. It tells its own story and gives us some kind of perspective of the history. "Waka In The Sky" and "Go Forward" are simply beautiful examples of this.

What she does is that she keeps it very simple. And the simplicity is the key element, which keeps it so fresh and makes the score work so well. It makes it powerful and emotional. It doesn't even have a clear theme in it, but the Whale Rider is the kind of score that doesn't need one! It is a score about peace and beauty. It is a great addition to Gerrard's previous filmwork. She has created her own style, where the main thing is to create an atmosphere and set up the tone, e.g. The Insider, which had a perfect score in it. This one is different, but only in a postive way. Whale Rider takes you on a journey, and when you close your eyes and open your heart, what a journey it is.

Every Lisa Gerrard record is an event worth waiting for, and 'Whale Rider' is no exception. However, be cautious in your approach toward it as it is indeed a 'soundtrack album'. In this case that term works against it. Never in history has Lisa sounded so marginalized - most of her vocals are strictly background-only, and shes completely missing on some tracks.

'Whale Rider' has its moments of beauty but they are not even remotely comparable to the wonder of 'The Mirror Pool' and 'Duality', Lisa's older works. This is a 'different' piece of work in the sense that it is very much the score to a film. However, this is no 'Gladiator'. Much of the work here sounds more related to Dead Can Dance's last days than any of Lisa's solo performances. There is a lot of instrumentation and a lesser use of vocals, which will delight people looking for the perfect accompaniment to the film, but it will also disappoint Gerrard fans who have been patiently waiting for some new solo work.

Three tracks - 'Biking Home', 'Journey Away', and 'They came to die' stand out due to their impeccable production values and use of instruments. The rest of the album reek of the filler syndrome - tracks could be merely interchangeable and it still would not make any difference. This is indeed a sorry commentary because it is clear that Lisa is capable of stupendous solo work. It only baffles the New Age listener as to why she would lend her talents to dreary soundtracks to Hollywood productions after making so many beautiful albums with DCD. Shes done 'Gladiator' and even the Bruce Willis war drama 'Tears of the Sun', which is not really a compliment to her musical direction.

'Whale Rider' is a curious animal because it defies any place in your collection. Its not a solo album, and its not typically a soundtrack that you would enjoy if you haven't watched the film. Unlike 'Duality', the album also lacks repeat value, an asset that every New Age or experimental album has to possess if it wants to endear itself to a wider audience. I recommend this album to viewers of the film who wish to be reminded of that particular cinematic experience. As a whole CD by itself though, 'Whale Rider' is hardly an achievement, and if you're a Lisa Gerrard fan you may want to pass on this one and wait for her next 'real' album.

I stumbled upon this movie "The Whale Rider" one fetid afternoon on PBS TV. It is a powerful movie that moves you. At least it did me. A movie such as this comes along but rarely. Tears welled up in my eyes towards the end. The music is just as stirring. The old Maori chants are so similar to the chants of some tribes in India. A lost world now gone from us. I am glad someone made a movie on this theme. That it acquired such a haunting soundtack contributes to its universal success. I highly recommend the movie and the CD, in that order.

This is a beautiful soundtrack to go with one of the best movies I have ever seen. Paikeas Whale, Waka in the Sky, They Came to Die, and Empty Water are worth the CD by themselves.

This soundtrack never fails to move me. If you are a fan of Lisa Gerrards work you wont be disappointed, she comes through as usual with her soul-stirring vocals.

Highly recommended!