I was really excited when I saw this CD -- and with a bonus disk as well! I couldn't wait to hear it. And then I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Does anybody else think it's suspicious that nothing comes out for three years and then we get .... THIS? I have a theory -- Bill Leeb was kidnapped and taken to France for three years, where he was forced to drink small coffees and smoke Gauloise cigarettes. And wear a beret. It is just plain wrong for a project as consistently talented as Delerium to sound like they are ripping off Air and Enigma. There is a fine line between increasing your accessibility to a discerning segment of the mainstream and selling out. I admit one album does not a sellout make; only time will confirm or deny rumors that Leeb is working with ABBA and Stevie Nicks for his next CD, and plans to have a bikini-clad Swedish masseuse on the cover holding a can of beer and a pair of slippers.

Yikes. My sister and I have never had the same taste in music, and I know she would have hated Morpheus and Euphoric, my favorites; we could probably agree that Semantic Spaces and Karma were very good; but she would love this album and I can barely listen to it. Ironically, the song with the cheesiest title, Amongst the Ruins, is probably the best song on either disk. (Do Goth kids even say 'amongst'?) Terra Firma and Innocente are okay but nothing new, and Aria has good vocals and lyrics but puff music behind it. The rest are popcorn hop. It is as if Leeb's body was taken over by the ghost of Alan Parsons (unless Alan Parsons is still alive, then the explanation becomes more complex and far-fetched).

There are harps on here, for goodness sake!

Let's put it this way: if Morpheus were a soundtrack, it would be a John Carpenter movie and you'd lay awake all night thinking you heard monsters under your bed; if Semantic Spaces were a soundtrack, it would be an erotic thriller and you would lay awake all night wishing you hadn't just broken up with your significant other; if Poem were a movie soundtrack, it would be on Lifetime and star Fabio, and you would lie awake all night wondering how Fabio keeps getting work. And who watches the Woman as Victim Network ... er, I mean, Lifetime Network anyway?

I know some people will really like this CD, but not me. I do not wish to insult your taste in music. I am saying that this music is so far removed from previous releases that Leeb should have given this project another name. Poplush. Barium Wash. I don't mind that alternative groups go a bit mainstream. Everybody needs to make a living. But I really feel that Leeb has abandoned all interest in sound as scape here. Kristy Thirsk and Sarah McLachlan added dimension to previous Delerium CDs, but this group of "guests" is too saccharin-y. One reviewer said that earlier releases by Delerium sounded like Hell, while Poem sounds like Heaven. I disagree. If I went to Hell, I think this CD would be in heavy rotation.

My advice: if you liked early Delerium better than middle Delerium, run from this CD as if the hounds of hell were at your heels. If you thought Semantic Spaces and Karma were a big step forward, and you own any French music, you will probably like this.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.3 (170 ratings)
Price	$4.11
Category	Ambient Pop