Figurines

Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press
"a gifted, subtle songwriter, keeping listeners pleasantly off-balance with meandering tunes that take many unexpected melodic and lyrical turns."

Product Description
As a teenager, Chris Moore played drums in the band Negative Approach. Moore went from hardcore drummer to Americana front man of Detroit's Crossed Wire in the '90s. But it's Moore's recent solo work that shows the full flowering of his wide-ranging talents. Moore cultivates a kind of tension in his songwriting - through crunchy dissonances, and sharp lyrical turns - that one normally doesn't associate with the singer/songwriter name tag.

Figurines

Tracks:

Duduk of the North
Now We Are Free (Juba's Mix)
The Protector Of Rome (featuring Russell Crowe as Maximus and Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius)
Homecoming (featuring Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus and Russell Crowe)
The General Who Became A Slave
The Slave Who Became A Gladiator (featuring Oliver Reed as Proximo and Russell Crowe)
Secrets
Rome is the Light
All That Remains
Maximus (Guitar by Heitor Pereira)
Marikesh Marketplace
The Gladiator Waltz (featuring Russell Crowe/Original synth demo version by Hans Zimmer)
Figurines Yan Ching by Lisa Gerrard
The Mob
Busy Little Bee (featuring Connie Nielsen as Lucilla and Russell Crowe)
Death Smiles At Us All (featuring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix)
Not Yet (featuring Djimon Hounsou as Juba)
Now We Are Free (Maximus Mix)

Amazon.com

If there's one thing film producers and record executives like more than Success, it's Success: Part 2. Thus when Ridley Scott's high-tech sword 'n' sandal epic scored both Golden Globe wins and Academy Award nods for Best Film and Best Score, it was a sure bet that another volume of Hans Zimmer's and Lisa Gerrard's music for the film couldn't be far behind. Though not exactly leftovers, the tracks here sometimes point to the fact that there wasn't enough fresh material to fill this volume out, hence we get some remixed cues, a handful of familiar music with dramatic dialog excerpts edited and superimposed (or misplaced, with decidedly mixed results), and even a beat-heavy, dance-club mix of "Now We Are Free." With a little over half an hour of entirely fresh material and some souvenir dialog snippets over the rest, there's enough here to please Gladiator die-hards. Also of note: guitarist Heitor Pereira's flamenco-flavored flourishes are better showcased throughout; and "The Gladiator Waltz" serves up one of Zimmer's original synth demos (with a dash of Russell Crowe dialog up front)--a dramatic amp-up of Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" that's a prime example of the composer's state-of-the-art digital orchestral conjuring. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Essential.......2006-12-30

One of those pivotal soundtracks. Unfortunately, there is dialogue over a few of the tracks, but it is well worth sitting or fast-forwarding through. There is a duduk (the sound used for that thing Mr. Tumnus plays in 'Narnia'), and I have fallen in love with it. There is the use of a female voice (Lisa Gerrard) wailing in another language, which had become something of a trend ('Troy', 'Munich', 'Narnia' again, and many others). "Now We Are Free" is the kind of song that first intrigues you, then entraps you, and then takes you on an emotional ride. The soundtrack is intensely bittersweet, exciting ("The Gladiator Waltz"--yes, you're supposed to giggle--Hans did!), and just very consumable. If you were impressed by movie--and I haven't run into anybody yet who wasn't--then consider this soundtrack an equivalent of that experience, but audio.

HANS ZIMMER IS THE GREATEST PRESENT DAY COMPOSER!!!.......2005-10-23

I HAVE TO SAY HANS ZIMMER IS THE GREATEST OF HIS ERA. I HAVE PURCHASED ALMOST ALL OF HIS MAJOR SCORES FROM RAIN MAN, CRIMSON TIDE, GLADIATOR, AND EVEN THE LATEST BATMAN AND I KNOW I HAVE PLENTY OF MORE THAT COULD BE LISTED. I FIRST WAS WEIRY ABOUT BUYING THE SECOND SCORE TO GLADIATOR THINKING IT WOULD BE JUST LIKE THE FIRST ONE. IT IS AWESOME AND JUST AS GOOD OR BETTER, IF YOU ARE A TRUE ZIMMER FAN YOU HAVE TO ADD THIS TO YOUR COLLECTION. I HOPE HE KEEPS MAKING MUSIC FOR YEARS TO COME.

Excellent Extention!.......2005-10-22

Gladiator may be the best middle eastern score ever written. The Duduk was incredible!

The first CD was amazing as well, however, I believe this disc to have a few advantages.

First of all, "The Gladiator Waltz." This song TOTALLY improves upon "The Battle" from disc 1. The original stopped way before the new track. The synth sounds are very good, and don't take away from the beauty at all!

Another highlight is "Homecoming" this is a sad, angry song that will have your blood pumping. If you've seen the movie, you remember the scene where Maximus escapes execution, and rides home like a mad man, only to find his wife and son Crucified. A truly angry and intense song.

"Secrets" is a sneaky evil track, portraying the violent insanity of Commodus.

I have mentioned the highlights, but all the rest are great too! A must have CD, even if you own the first!

beautiful music.......2005-07-28

This is just what the title says: more great(beautiful) music from the motion picture, including some "spiced-up" remixes. This album also features sound clips from the movie. Listening to it will make you think you're in Rome again.

Disappointing companion to the Oscar nominated score........2005-05-28

The original score for Gladiator was a grand triumph for composer Hans Zimmer. Unfortunatly, this cd follows a trend during the latter half of the 1990's. When you have a successful score cd, follow it up with a cd full of dialogue, demo tracks and occassional new music. That is what this cd is full off. I expected more of the great music from the movie, instead I was disappointed bitterly.

Average customer rating:

One of the Best of 2006
Positively Skeletal - In A Good Way....
An exciting American debut
the best of the retro trend
david fricke? what band were you listening to?

Skeleton
Figurines
Manufacturer: Control Group / Tcg
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Return to the Sea
Yellow House
The Gulag Orkestar
You in Reverse

ASIN: B000E6GBYE
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Tracks:

Race You
The Wonder
All Night
Silver Ponds
Ambush
Rivalry
Remember
Other Plans
Ghost Towns
Continuous Songs
Fiery Affair
Wrong Way All The Way
Back In The Day
Release Me On The Floor

Album Description

On March 7, 2006, The Control Group will welcome Figurines through US customs. Female security guards double-take passport photos of the band, but x-ray monitors scan bits of Pavement, drops of early Built To Spill, an open Modest Mouse container, a couple Strokes, and a vial of Neil Young's frantic youth. "Skeleton" turns momentum on high. As Danish press raves, three music videos from the record are uploading new listeners faster than the single "The Wonder" can reinstate the group back to #1 on Danish National Radio. Which it did. It might be a secret to some, but Figurines are one of the most hard working Danish indie bands at the moment. Look for them on tour in the US this year.

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best of 2006.......2007-02-06

I listened to almost every album that made it to critic's year end lists for 2006 and this is honestly in my top 5 favorites of the year. It's a shame it didn't get the proper praise it deserved.

Positively Skeletal - In A Good Way...........2006-11-26

Okay - so here's an album of songs that, initially, don't make a whole terrible lot of an impression. I mean - first time through, there were a few scattered melodies that changed things up a bit, but the virtual homogeneity of the album rendered my (admittedly distracted) first few listens ultimately uneventful. However, having gone back at the end of the year and re-read several of the reviews posted for this album - reviews that raved about it more than I remembered them doing - I decided to revisit the disc in the hopes of discovering some ill-advisedly-passed-over diamond in the rough.
And I may have. The unfortunate truth is, I still can't really decide. The lyrics are fine - I mean, they're better than your average band can muster, and the vocals - coupled with those HOOKS - remain as good a selling point for this disc as they've ever been...but this just doesn't capture that indie-rock magic for me in the way it seems to for some people. I mean - you've got Band of Horses releasing a bona-fide stunner of an album, and this sort of pales in comparison, in my opinion...

But still - this is a bedeveling little disc, because it's gotten to the point where, now, it's stuck in my head. I can't really complain - songs like "Silver Ponds" and "Release Me On the Floor" deserve all the plays they receive on college radio stations as well as all the plays they received on what was lately my working iPod (tragic tale, that...)

In summation, and to attempt to curtail what has thus far been a focus on the negative, let me say what I've figured out - or rather, what I've decided - about this album.

The first few times you listen to it - all you really gather from it is the basic structure of the songs - the skeleton, if you will; but after a few listens, moments that you had been glazing over while listening to begin to flesh themselves out, and come alive. This becomes the vibrant album full of color that the album cover barely hints at. You see, the first few times you look at the cover, you see black and white....but if you look closer, you see red, blue, even a little orange and a hint of green that come out with just a slight bit more than your average once-over. That's the story of this album, too. Underneath the misleadingly skeletal, almost cookie-cutter-seeming song structures with their seemingly obligatory hooks, there's a wonderful, rock-solid indie pop album, the likes of which seem to be coming back in a big way - and oh, how welcome a return it is.

An exciting American debut.......2006-08-03

The Figurines, like other great groups such as Blonde Redhead and The Arcade Fire,cannot be easily pigeonholed. Nor should they be. Together since 1995, this is their first American release (though they have released earlier CD's in Europe which can be ordered through any good record store). Tracks 1 through 12 are very strong, displaying their musical and instrumental prowess. The vocals are outstanding.

the best of the retro trend.......2006-07-30

well, interpol is pretty darn good! but, comparing this to say franz or the killers or futureheads, this record is soild. very solid. there are a couple so-so tracks (back in the day, ghost town. i guess this sounds cool in denmark, here it's just hokey.) the best songs on this disc are terrific examples of great songwriting, performed in a high energy style with an interesting singer. sometimes it's easy to forget that the vocals on any record are so critical. if they weren't i guess we'd all be listening to instrumental stuff. the point here is that though danes, tracks like i remember and the wonder are universal in their immediacy and intimacy. these guys are really close to becoming a majorly great band. tighten up, boys. focus on crafting an album sustaining the lofty highs reached at times on skeleton! and the world will be yours.

david fricke? what band were you listening to?.......2006-04-27

I love this record.
Honestly it's probably one of my favorite LP's i've heard in recent memory.
Eschewing the best parts of Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, 764-Hero, et al -- so pretty much every north western math/rock/indie artist --- BUT Figurines are Danish.

They have this odd off kilter swagger reminding me of the little known Giant's Chair or maybe even Braid. perhaps it's the amount of genuine heart you can hear in the record.

There's also a smidge of "art" in here - ala Pixies of Flaming Lips. (anyone remember early 90's guitar rock?)

I don't know a single member of this band, but i can get the gist that they'd be some endearing folk and honestly have some songs and music they've written and believe in here in "Skeletons".

With david fricke from rolling stone saying Figurines sound like Franz Ferdinand, i wonder if he's actually listened to the entire album - or at all.

The only simularity they may have with Franz is that they are a rock band with guitars - and maybe they'll share a stage now and then for festivals sake...

While Franz and the Artic Monkeys pilfer through the leftover riffs from the heyday of wire, PIL and gang of four..Figurines forage ahead and only sound influenced by their peers, not a carbon copy.
and that's a hard feat these days with the clone wars of garage rock.

I'd suggest this record to anyone who thinks the new Built To Spill is a little hokey after all the wait (because honestly - it is) -- and for all those who've found a love for sub pop's newest sensation - Band Of Horses (whom also worship at the temple of Marsch).

Or to anyone who's looking for a fun rock record - which reminds me of the salad days of "college rock" - an era when Frank Black was king.

BUY IT!

Average customer rating:

Suicide Notes
Deserves 5 stars
Very enjoyable - A lot of variety

Mass Suicide Occult Figurines
John Vanderslice
Manufacturer: Barsuk
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Similar Items:

Ys
New Moon
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
End of Amnesia
Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs

ASIN: B00004W1I2
Release Date: 2000-07-18

Tracks:

Confusion Boats
Speed Lab
Bill Gates Must Die
Ambition
Josie Anderson
Interlude
Big Band Stars
Gruesome Details
And What Did You Do Today
Foothills Of My Mind
Mass Suicide Occult Figurines

Customer Reviews:

Suicide Notes.......2001-03-18

The 11 songs here have a serrated edge that holds you at bay for a while, until they hack their way under your skin, like a paper cut that makes it to the bone. This isn't a cd you like or dislike--it's an alarm clock in the dark night of the soul.

Many of the protagonists here, like Dante's sinners, describe their torment in vivid detail, all the while denying responsibility, and thereby ensuring eternal, self-imposed torment. "I know god hates alchemical work (I loved him lonely), but in the end what else to do? but begin again" intones the speaker in "Speed Lab" after the DEA has incinerated his operation. The pornoholic in "Bill Gates Must Die" blames the Microsoft CEO for his addiction, and as teeny tiny little teens pour out of his computer observes that "people stray, just don't say I'll never make it back intact." Other songs seek redemption in love ("Big Band Stars," "Josie Anderson," "Foothills of My Mind") but even these focus more on struggle and pain than on unity and joy.

The playing here (mostly Vanderslice, aided on several songs by members of his former band, MK ULTRA) is always on target (but never predictable) and the engineering by Vanderslice and John Croslin is revelatory (JV manages the acclaimed Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco).

Numerous posturers pretend to recreate hellfire and damnation in their 4-minute MTV schlock videos. John Vanderslice dispassionately depicts the lost world, much as Ray Davies chronicled the British working class. Mass Suicide Occult Figurines may not save your soul, but at the least it can tell you how you got off the path, and maybe where to get back on again.

Deserves 5 stars.......2000-08-12

In my previous review I stated that there were a couple of songs that I didn't care for... after more listening I enjoy absolutely all of the tracks. I find myself singing the lyrics subconsciously - for me that's a sign of a classic. It's a great album, lots of surprises to sink your teeth into.

Very enjoyable - A lot of variety.......2000-07-29

I was uncertain about this album until I listened to it about ten times. It's different. It's edgy yet polished.

John Vanderslice's album is full of quirky lyrics that somehow make sense and is packed with terrific playing. The drum beats in the songs are catchy. Vocals are good and polished. The track "Bill Gates Must Die" is a great classic rocking tune with amusing lyrics -- I'm a fan of Microsoft as well as its competitors and even I like the song. The single should be playing on "modern" and college radio stations across the country because it's better than most of the stuff on the air. Ditto for "Speedlab."

The last song, Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, is a great electronic/synth instrumental. There's a lot of variety on this album. Sometimes it sounds like Pink Floyd, sometimes Greenday, sometimes Kraftwerk. ...

There are a couple of tracks that I don't care for. The price of variety is not pleasing everyone on every track. There's plenty there to enjoy. I give this album four stars and highly recommend that you add it to your CD collection.

Figurines
Average customer rating:
Figurines
Chris Moore
Manufacturer: Waterbug Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00049QLA0
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Tracks:

Volunteer
Last Look Around
Chase Me Out
Accelerated Change
Wrinkled And Flawed
Verified
Custody Of Hearts
Constellation
These Woods
Haven't I The Face?
Two New Strings
Askin For The World
Figurines

Album Description

As a teenager, Chris Moore played drums in the band Negative Approach. Moore went from hardcore drummer to Americana front man of Detroit's Crossed Wire in the '90s. But it's Moore's recent solo work that shows the full flowering of his wide-ranging talents. Moore cultivates a kind of tension in his songwriting - through crunchy dissonances, and sharp lyrical turns - that one normally doesn't associate with the singer/songwriter name tag.

Average customer rating:

Skeleton

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000NJLQ74
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Average customer rating:

Fairies & Figurines

Manufacturer: Keith Hemmerling
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA41JY
Release Date: 2001-12-04

Average customer rating:

Fairies Witches & Figurines

Manufacturer: Keith Hemmerling
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA420C
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Average customer rating:

Fairies, Witches and Figurines
Keith Hemmerling
Manufacturer: Now That I'm On My Own/Methadone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000CA7038
Release Date: 2004-12-14

Tracks:

Now That I'm on My Own
Methadone Maintenance Man
Keruac Rap
Methadone Maintenance Man
My Beautiful Child
Therapist Spells the Rapist
Lawyer on the Edge
Rotterdam
Under the Influence of You
Tapeworm
Therapist Rap
Therapist Spells the Rapist
Jesus in the Hardware Store
Methadone Maintenance Man
Weyburn
Stained Glass Heart
All That Remains
I Fell off the Wagon at the Apple Pan
Stephen Sleeps
Marbles of Pain

Rock Music:

Rock Music