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About Me

I'm an author and freelance journalist, venturing into the world of 'blogs' for the first time. Although I usually write from dreams, these are purely formed from my own opinions, observations and general silliness. If you're feeling brave, why not read a couple? Or if you want to go back to the safety of nice, familiar books, venture back to the main site.


Dreamland - Posted on 6/24/2009


Recently I purchased a copy of the CD ‘Dreamland', *starring* Brent Spiner and Maude Maggart. I actually said that if I were ever to visit Dreamland, it would not be an entirely pleasant experience – because I do have some rather horrific, vividly graphic and disturbing dreams (or nightmares).

Luckily for me, this did not turn out to be one of those. I will note here – not that it's incredibly important – that I've never really listened to this sort of concept before. In fact, I've never heard anything like it.

But I do have pretty eclectic tastes (Tool, Kidney Thieves, The Velvet Underground, anyone?) and I've tried to keep an open mind to something that could open up new possibilities, at least to me.

So considering these factors, here are my thoughts – I apologise in advance for any unauthorised rambling on my favourite subject:

The Review

The concept of Dreamland is just that – a dream, or dream ‘land' that the central character conjures up in his sleep. Dreams are a sort of ‘speciality' of mine - not sure if I can explain this correctly, but let me try.

I too have drifted in and out of dreams, dreams that have felt entirely real; I've woken up dead, been chased through fields of horror, even dreamt up entire people; once I woke up and cried for around an hour because it was just a dream, after all. If you can imagine; I have pretty powerful dreams – which is why I write from them.

So Dreamland, in a way, makes a lot of sense to me. It is a story that brings us into an imaginative dream. It's romantic, it blends songs and melodies and dialogue together with sound effects, colourful characters and a hint of humour, too.

It's been described as a ‘musical of the mind' and that's exactly what it is. It captures your imagination while the story plays out through your ears, and that's what I love about Dreamland; it takes me somewhere new.

It's the same with books; I like anything that provokes a reaction in me, whether it makes me laugh, cry, smile or just use my imagination to really engage in the story and feel a part of it. This ticks all the right boxes, but most importantly, it's fun, too.

Cleverly written (by Brent Spiner), it has elements that are surprising, refreshing, ‘noir-ish' and at times, utterly immersing. I enjoy the journey the story takes me on, but at the same time it's not overly complicated to listen to; it seems to hit the balance just right, and that's not always an easy thing to achieve.

I particularly enjoyed listening to the music, and the beautiful sound of Maude Maggart's voice in the song ‘I Remember You' is just perfect. And of course, not forgetting Brent – I had never really properly listened to him sing before.

The story is seamlessly weaved together by classic, well-loved songs and first-rate performances from the actors (including the talented Mark Hamill, lending his voice to a range of characters), which really brings this to life. I also enjoyed ‘The Moonbeam Song', ‘In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning', ‘Let's Face the Music and Dance' and ‘Stranger in Paradise' amongst others.

Overall, I'll give this 9 out of 10 magically appearing trains in the night.

Final Thoughts

Funny, until a couple of weeks ago I didn't even know this CD existed. It's quite fitting that I had a dream inspiring me to add an element to Grassmarket Blood, and the oddest Trek fan I could have possibly concocted. In turn, I looked up Brent's website and discovered it from there (but that's another story entirely).

Anyway, I bought a signed copy of Dreamland from Mr Spiner's website: www.therealbrentspiner.com - and by the way, can someone please give this man back his rightful domain? Imagine if people had to type in http://www.therealbronwenwinterphoenix.com – you know they wouldn't bother and that's the truth. Apart from that, it's a pretty decent site, so do check it out.

Sweet Dreams.

~B

Bonus Ramble

From the time I ordered it, it took over two weeks for me to finally lay my hands on Dreamland, and in that time I was charged a customs fee. The Royal Mail has never been my best friend, but I managed to pay the excess online. I waited until the next day and when it had not arrived around noon, I looked at my watch and then the postal slip and realised I had around 30 minutes to make it halfway across the city. So, spur of the moment – I needed the exercise – I made the run and got there in just under 20 minutes (a record time) in the hope that I could persuade someone to give me my damn package. You should have seen the guy's face! He called me ‘cupcake', and seemed far too nice to be true. And on the way back, I was thinking ‘after the money I've had to fork out, I'd better actually like this!' and well… of course I did.


Add a comment

Comment from Rina
Never knew he did any work like this.. but checked it out.. seems alright actually! and I might give it a listen myself
Posted 6/24/2009



Comment from Thewrongtree
Sounds intriguing – as another bit of a ‘dream-freak’ I think I’ll probably enjoy it. Cheers for the info!
Posted 6/24/2009



Comment from Ange
Great review, I luv ur little rambles at the end. Dreams are so ur thing! Will take a look at his site.
Posted 6/24/2009



Comment from B.
Hah! For all us 'dream freaks' out there, I present to you... right, now I'm getting back to work, I am a BUSY WOMAN!
Posted 6/24/2009



Comment from Aimee =]
Hey =] who bought a BMW instead of your books? dispicable ahah. hope to see you soon cuz. miss you loads!! can't believe last time we saw each other was new year?! =O lovee xxx
Posted 6/24/2009



Comment from James da Poet guy ,Bendigo Australia
This is exactly the stuff I am going to get into in the next few months…I mean I do have a radio show and we do have all the equipment and I can play enough on my keyboard/piano and can get musos involved….sorry we’re not talking about me are we. Spiner, has a certain gravitas to his voice, there is a metal, a grain to it, that is absolutely phenomenal. I can’t wait to get a copy of it, maybe if I get permission maybe even play it on my radio show. We do stream live via the web; all poets and writers who record their work, pass it onto Bronnie and she wall in turn give it to me, so if you want played over the airwaves let me know. www.phoenixfm.org James.
Posted 6/24/2009



Comment from kyle
Had never heard of this before, can't seem to find it on amazon.co.uk either. Interesting, why Data would do something like that.
Posted 6/27/2009



Comment from juicy_lucy
Oooh... sounds dreamy lol!
Posted 6/27/2009