1981-1998
1981-1998reveals why Dead Can Dance was such an influential group and why their music remains very much alive. From the opening notes of "Frontier," the first pieceLisa GerrardandBrendan Perryimprovised together, Dead Can Dance opened a doorway into worlds at once ancient and alien, frightening and glorious.1981-1998compiles the output of Dead Can Dance from their seven studio albums, live performances, and sundry collections. Through their many stylistic shifts, it reveals the music of ecstasy, a state of spiritual release that can be as serene as a Gregorian chant and as intense as a Persian dervish. But then, Dead Can Dance always had two sides. There were Perry's Jim Morrison-meets-Sinatra vocal croons, and there was the uncanny and passionate Gerrard, whose Middle Eastern, Bulgarian, and Gregorian singing styles created a transcultural dialect of the imagination. Perry surrounds Gerrard in a gothic architecture of synthesizers, strings, the Chinese hammered dulcimer called the yang ch'in (played by Gerrard), bouzoukis, and hurdy-gurdys. As ancient as its sources, Dead Can Dance is as modern as the end of time, which is where a lot of this music still sounds like it's headed.1981-1998follows the pair from their beginnings in Australia to their final studio album, the African-Indian derivedSpiritchaser. Among the gems are their last song together, "The Lotus Eaters," recorded just before their final split, and a Gerrard composition called "Bylar." Performed here by Dead Can Dance, this rapturous piece was previously available only onThe Echoes Living Room Concerts Volume 2, in a version by Gerrard. In concert, Dead Can Dance was almost a religious experience and that aspect is nearly captured on the final disc of this box in a DVD of their live concert film,Toward the Within. Also included are some videos.--John Diliberto