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Inspired by seventies Prog instrumentalists, fantasy Prog / Synth crossover music doesn’t come much better than this album originally released in 1983!
* For a historical description of GANDALF and his music, please click on the “profile” link above *
Regarded by fans as one of his finest albums, ‘To Another Horizon’ has been un-available for some years!
We are now in possession of finished copies of the 2016 Remastered re-issues of this and ‘Magic Theatre’, and as expected from Esoteric Recordings we have superior new productions in ALL departments to complement the quality of GANDALF’s amazingly timeless music.
Believe it or not - getting their first UK release ever (!!!) each title comes with a 16-Page Booklet, which is far superior to the single sheet insert provided by WEA for the original CD issues) featuring Exclusive New Interviews with Heinz Strobl aka GANDALF by Malcolm Dome and fully restored Original Album Artwork.
The discs themselves come with Full-Colour on-body Label Designs that feature the album artwork.
The Audio on both is a bit of a revelation to say the least - Remastered for the first time from the ORIGINAL SOURCE MASTERS, the reproduction is far more open, detailed, warm, vibrant and “alive” when compared to the rather flat sound of WEA originals, benefiting from the carefully produced new Esoteric masters.
In all honesty, if you’re a fan of what we consider to be GANDALF’s most “Progressive” music years, you really have to give your eyes and ears a treat by ditching your WEA copies and investing in these far superb 2016 examples. With these re-issues you feel you are getting complete, lovingly assembled versions of the albums for your money, as opposed to copies put together in haste by people who really know nothing about the music they were working with, just to get them out there, as was probably the case with both original issues of these releases!
It may also be the case that you don’t have the WEA originals, or have even heard GANDALF’s 80’s music, or indeed anything by him at all, in which case I would recommend you read on, and if you place an order, prepare to be amazed when you feast your ears and enter the amazing fantasy instrumental world of this incredibly talented Austrian based musician for the very first time.
A true visionary, GANDALF’s early WEA recordings, although never issued in the UK, enjoyed major European success. His unique crossover style of melodic, atmospheric instrumental Progressive/Synth fantasy music has been compared with other great multi-instrumentalists such as Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, GENESIS, CLEARLIGHT, JADE WARRIOR, TANGERINE DREAM, Vangelis and more.
An album that took both environmental and political concerns of the eighties era as the inspiration behind the concept of the work, ‘To Another Horizon’ was GANDALF’s 3rd album, which was recorded in 1982, then released on vinyl LP early the following year on WEA Records. It was subsequently issued on CD in 1990, but neither version was ever officially released in the UK, only Europe, where GANDALF was building a massive following for his unique “fantasy” multi-instrumental music!
Although the UK arm of Warner Music chose to ignore the wonders of GANDALF’s music when the CD revolution was in full swing, we at CDS Towers had other ideas, and enthusiastically promoted his music whilst importing the CD’s from Austria by the truckload, and this album, along with all his other releases, became some of our all-time best sellers!
This is a form of “fantasy “ music firmly entrenched in the instrumental roots of mid 70’s Progressive Rock and Electronic Music, so believe me when I tell you, Prog/Synth crossover music doesn’t come much better than this!
Here is what we said about the 1983 LP and when it was first reviewed for our early 90’s CD catalogues…
‘To Another Horizon’ was really where the real magic of what became GANDALF’s best musical works started to catch fire. The opening organ and synthesizer intro sounds positively majestic, as the slow percussive rhythm rolls in, piano chords and choirs emerge gently, then the major theme suddenly flowers into bloom. The feel is so optimistic and bright and you’d be considered hard-hearted not to be moved by this music as the melody rises up, thematically almost like ‘Legend’-era CLANNAD only more Progressive than folk and with a much more layered structure.
The mid-section sees the emergence of the Mellotron, alongside slow cymbal splashes and more organ-synth rivers that slowly wind their way above and around chiming, tranquil guitars and oboe-like atmospherics. This gorgeous arrangement of various instrument layers eventually blossoms out into a sprightly and supremely warm-feeling sea of melody that takes the piece through several twists and turns, occasionally sounding like ‘Nursery Cryme’-era GENESIS in the slower passages. This is quite simply one of the finest seven-minute intros you’ll hear on an album of music such as this - truly a magical meeting of Progressive and Synthesizer Music that works just perfectly!
This is followed by the ten-minute: ‘Natural Forces’, which covers atmosphere and melody that has feet in the camps of forerunners such as: CLEARLIGHT, TANGERINE DREAM & JADE WARRIOR, starting with layered multi-instrumental mysticism before moving forward on a sea of string-synths, chiming guitars, Mellotrons and bass, into a world of great depth and wonderment. Everything is played with the utmost feel and passion, almost cosmic to the five-minute mark when a sequencer-like rhythm begins, and the combination of synths, guitars, drums and Mellotron provides a distinctly Verdeaux-like feel to the proceedings, only warmer and smoother. Solidly played and composed, excellently arranged and full of real feeling, this too is a great track!
Seven more tracks follow running between two and five minutes a-piece, and these take up the thematic flow of the two awesome openers, ranging from the delicate pianos, organ, flutes line-up that go to form the bulk of: ‘Requiem For A Planet’ through the jaw-dropping Prog-Rock-synth sounds of: ‘Flight Of The Crystal Ships’ where a superb combination of electric guitars, organ, synths, drums and bass create this huge-sounding melody that rises and falls so superbly, yet carries forward the atmosphere that is at the heart of this wonderful album into a piece like: ‘Change Of Consciousness’, a track that evokes Indian ragas and Asian mysticism with flutes, sitar and rhythm section allied to the guitars and keyboards.
With absolutely nothing that sounds out of place, nothing that is overly fast paced and nothing less than music to warm the cockles of your heart, this album lives and breathes as though it was done yesterday, almost a classical music of the future, and extraordinarily beautiful while at the same time so repeat-playable.
The musician line-up for ‘To Another Horizon’ is:
Gandalf [Heinz Strobl] (acoustic & electric guitars / synthesizers / Mellotron / organ / sitar / vocoder / rhythm machine / wind chimes / percussion), Robert Julian Horky (flutes), Peter Aschenbrenner (grand piano / organ), Heinz Hummer (bass), Egdon Groger (drums) and Helmut Kappel (Stimme bei Track Nr. 3 and 5).
Also available by GANDALF in this series:
JOURNEY TO AN IMAGINARY LAND (2017 Remaster) CD – Stock # 1916575
MAGIC THEATRE (2016 Remaster) CD - Stock # 1862419
‘To Another Horizon’ was released on 24th June 2016.
GANDALF: TO ANOTHER HORIZON Track List:
01. March Of No Reason {incl. The Falling Star} (7:17)
02. Natural Forces Getting Out Of Control {incl. Wind, Rain, Thunder & Fire} (10:16)
03. Requiem For A Planet (5:14)
04. Flight Of The Crystal Ships (4:32)
05. To Another Horizon:
i. Divine Message (2:27)
ii. Change Of Consciousness (5:54)
iii. Creation Of A New World (3:29)
06. Cosmic Balance (4:40)
07. Peace Without End (4:58)
TPT - 48:47