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I only had 3 days before I had to be back in Las Vegas for a Comdex show, and I was trying to cram as much "flavor" into my ride as I could.There were some really nice "tourist" shops in Rockville where I spent the night. It was so evocative of all that I was hoping to see on my trip that I actually bought a couple of copies so that I could keep one in my car, and still have one in the CD carousel in my office.This particular CD is, at least in my opinion, the best he has produced. I can never think about this music without remembering how I came to hear it. One of them had music CDs that were playing in the store and it was there that I first became acquainted with Scott Fitzgerald's fantastic music. If you like music of the Southwest, this is the premier one that should be in your collection. I heard this album while on a motorcycle trip to Zion National Park in Utah back in 2001, right after 9/11. I had rented a Harley in Las Vegas and ridden up through the canyonlands, looking for a really spiritual kind of experience.
Thank you for making it available on CD. I had this before on cassette, My cassette broke, I could not rest until I found another copy. This music takes me to another realm of thought. LOVE IT.
Also a great stress remover. I would recommend this to any one. This cd is great. When I get angry at any one or anything, I put this in to my player and let it remove all of my hatred/ anger.
Where the original evoked the spirit of the Thunderbird, and called the stormclouds into the sky, now it evokes nothing more than a yawn.If you can find the original, 1989 release of Thunderdrums, buy it and treasure it as a masterpiece. Where the original starred the majesty of a thunderstorm as its central element, now it seems added as an afterthought, an accent. Now I could select my favorite track and set it on repeat, and sink into a trance as the music washed over me. If, however, all you can find is the new version (which I believe is the only one released on CD), save your money. For some reason, every single track had been remixed, some slightly, some horribly, and the title track was the most hideously butchered of all. In 1989 Scott Fitzgerald first released Thunderdrums on an audiocassette from Nature Recordings.
No longer would I have to worry that my audiocassette would wear out from repeated playing. Where the deep thrumming of tribal drums sank into your bones, now they are flat, with riffs and flourishes of other instruments adding 'texture'. Every piece was emotional and evocative, and the title piece of the recording, "Thunderdrums", was one of the most powerful pieces of music I had ever heard, capturing the primordial energy of the thunderstorm and melding it seamlessly with the strength and energy of tribal drumming. In place of the original, intense piece, there now exists a new-agey, overly instrumentalized, sanitized version of the original. There are far better recordings out there. This was, at the time, one of my favorite recordings.Imagine my delight when, a few years later, I discovered what I thought was the same recording, now transferred to CD.
But the recording on the CD is NOT the recording that was originally released on audiocassette.
Native American influenced, maybe, but its completely original and uniquely Fitzgerald, and at the same time its something else. Just listen to it and let it take you on a wild ride through the jungles of Africa or wherever else you picture yourself. The cover art may be a little misleading.
This music is some of the most emotionally charged pseudo-ethnic drumming I think I've ever heard. Primal and beautiful. I love it.
This is an excellent CD. Almost primordial. If you like the music of Mickey Hart, you'll love this.
Its not really Native American. Something deeper.
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