This is where you find a list of the current best selling titles in this category at CD Services – Nothing like your standard mainstream chart material, you’ll agree! For technical reasons we are not displaying these lists in descending numeric order, as a normal music chart would look, but then it’s not really meant to be a chart as such – Just an alphabetical listing that offers customers a working guide as to what the top selling titles in this genre currently are. The list size varies from department to department, starting at a ‘Top 20’ to cover the smaller categories and spanning up to a ‘Top 50’ (or more) for the bigger department in the shop.

Ever since synthesizers have been around, fantasy books like Tolkien’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ have proved to be a perfect inspiration to the world of both the ‘Electronic’ and ‘Progressive/Symphonic’ music genres, and this is one such album from the ‘Symphonic Instrumental’ field, or as some might call it ‘New Age’, and a more superior example of cinematic fantasy music you will struggle to find. It features fifty-six minutes worth of huge melodic symphonic soundscapes, regal grandiose marching themes, folk inspired tunes and haunting ethereal atmospheric passages, all of which could have fitted so perfectly into the recent film production. Each track lasts up to, and over in some cases, five minutes, and every one paints a powerful portrait of ‘Middle Earth’ using keyboards and traditional orchestral instruments, as well as a full choir and acoustic ethnic instruments. The music of the Arkenstone family is an ideal partner to themes such as this, because it portrays the very images seen in recently in the hugely successful film production. David and Diane have created 13 beautifully sensitive evocative tracks for their movie for the imagination – It’s an epic interpretation that will instantaneously transport you into the centre of the fantasy world that is ‘Middle Earth’.

866761
Weight: 150.00 g

It’s about time we heard a CD that is of the so-called ‘Berlin School’ of musicianship that is not some sound-a-like but is a genuinely, thoughtfully played, produced and crafted CD of compositions that for all the world sound like the musician is putting his heart and soul into its execution. The sheer flowing nature of the layers, string backdrops, sequencers & guitar/treatments here is one at which to marvel. I put this CD on expecting to be able to do a review in a couple of tracks and found myself completely transfixed to the thing for the duration! As this sort of music goes, this is one of the freshest examples that you’ll come across. You don’t buy this because you want some 70’s retread, although the influences that the musician has from that era still come through loud and clear (down to thanking Tangerine Dream/Chris Franke on the sleeve notes ‘for inspiration’), you buy this because you want to hear a startlingly good album of class synth music that you’ll enjoy a lot more than once, and you can’t say fairer than that.

591918
Weight: 150.00 g

We know quality when we hear it, and the opening minute of this album heralds a quality the likes of which you will rarely hear on a synth music album of this type! As one immensely pleasurable, glorious sounding string/bass synth soundscape begins another gorgeous lead synth comes in over the top followed by a most joyous choral refrain as the piece stops you in your tracks with its sheer, almost overwhelming beauty. If that track doesn’t get you, the next one is so spiritual that, if tears don’t begin to well up in your eyes, you have no feelings at all, for this is the sound of heaven – Church music the likes of which you’ve never heard before. A galaxian string synth lead of gorgeous, emotive yet delicate qualities, rises up to fill the space inside and outside your head, while the male-female Gregorian choir-like refrains on top just add to the amazing strength and serenity of it all, putting you both at ease and utterly in awe of the music that you are hearing. It really is almost overwhelming, but one of the most beautiful musical experiences I think I’ve ever heard in this genre - Thirteen minutes of absolute inner bliss. 4 similarly moving tracks follow, and all are spiritually, sonically and emotionally enthralling, with some of the most glorious heavenly, celestial synth music around, with choral layers that sound like nothing else in creation. There is a lot of music out there to be lived, but few that truly touch the soul – This is one of the few.

762546
Weight: 150.00 g

A Pink Floyd concert would be the nearest rival to the sheer musical and visual spectacle of this set! It’s a stunning visual/aural experience recorded live in 2002 where the visuals of Jean Michel Jarre ‘live’ are coupled with music in a Tangerine Dream style, and it’s a fantastic display on both counts - The sound is perfect and the music, well, it’s perfect too – A better synth music video you simply won’t find as it has all the thrills and spills of a perfect concert setting. It’s an hour long, professionally shot video that offers a birds-eye view of the whole show in amazing picture quality. The light and laser effects throughout are a wonder to behold, so much so that once you start to watch it, you will find that you just have to stay to the end and complete the experience - There is no chance of boredom setting in here, and it will take a lot to divert your attention away from what you are seeing. The editing is incredible, with shots of the group wandering in and out of the overall visual feast, while at times overlaid graphics, used sparingly, just add to the sumptuous nature of the treat that is unfolding before your eyes. Musically, its Berlin School style retro synth with classic compositions that are not only quite immaculate in them selves, but complement the visuals and light/lasers to perfection. A rare treat and one of the finest of its kind, that makes up for the lack of any similar ‘live’ Tangerine Dream video material.

166528
Weight: 275.00 g

The 7^th album was released towards the end of 2002, and again, there is an impressive development to the sound of Robert’s music.  With a generous playing time of just over sixty-seven minutes and 13 tracks, the opening three tracks provide a simply divine thirteen minutes of absolute genius and the rest of the album is pretty damn goods too. Throughout the entire set you will find plenty of the familiar big sounding, melodic choral and string combination themes you are used to with this musicians work, but his further venturing into the worlds of rhythms, spacey textures and sound sampling have expanded the range of styles and atmospheres that are delivered in abundance on this album. This is a musical experience you won’t forget in a hurry because of the range of moods it can provoke – It’s beautiful themes will give rise to strong emotional response and it’s chilling atmospheres will evoke real feelings of trepidation – It is music for the mind at it’s best, portraying startling images of serene beauty one minute then chilling you to the bone with dark atmospheres the next. Click on the ‘More Product Information’ link for an extended review with a track-by-track description.

740078
Weight: 150.00 g

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This really is the best album that Tangerine Dream never recorded – A phrase we’ve often used before, but this time it really does sum this album up in a nutshell. You only have to listen to the twenty-four minute opener with its massed banks of sequencers and wave after wave of that eerie Mellotron choir sound made famous on ‘Phaedra’ and ‘Rubicon’ for proof of what we mean. Put disc 1 on and you are immediately transported back in time to a place around 1974 - You are at that concert - You are listening to Tangerine Dream, and you are as close to 70’s synth musical nirvana as its possible to be without actually hearing the ‘real thing’. Even then, it’s perhaps arguable, with hindsight, as to whether what you hear on this album isn’t actually better than what that was anyway! In terms of sounding like Tangerine Dream, this album’s two hours plus of lengthy music tracks, is superior to most of what many other retro bands have achieved to date, and indeed makes some even seem positively lifeless in comparison. Given that many of you will know just how highly we rate many of those others albums, that will give you some idea of how you are going to achieve a higher level of existence simply by playing and experiencing this album. In its own curious way, although of course it will not be the case, as many more are bound to try their hand, the 70’s synth revival should end here because you cannot improve on perfection. TRUST ME – this is pure classic 70’s TD served up on one seriously hot platter, and not a dull moment from start to finish. The ultimate ‘Berlin School’ album!

956484
Weight: 250.00 g

This Austrian musician is one of CD Services biggest selling artists of all-time. His brand of instrumental symphonic music is the ultimate in musical escapism, and clearly influenced by late 60’s/early 70’s progressive bands like Genesis and the Moody Blues. This double CD was issued in 2001 and for those of you new to Gandalf’s music, you need to imagine a cross between Mike Oldfield, Enya (without most of the vocals) and classic Hackett era Genesis (or just Steve Hackett). Disc 1 alone is a continuously flowing, 17 track, seventy-six minute symphonic composition themed around Tolkien’s legendary ‘Lord Of The Rings’ story. This is a landmark recording that encompasses all the instruments normally associated with Gandalf – lots of keyboards for solos, strings and those heavenly, choral passages, electric & acoustic guitars, bass & percussion, plus the odd little bit of sitar. This is music with huge crossover potential, and all the symphonic touches that expose his musical roots are well showcased here. Disc 2 is a bonus limited edition, full-length album of ‘Rare & Precious Pieces’, containing some new arrangements and rare mixes selected from the last 20 years of his celebrated recording career, so it’s a kind of ‘Best Of’ with a difference, and a nice intro for the Gandalf novice. One track features Steve Hackett on guitar, and there’s also a previously unreleased piece, but most of the selected tracks are entirely different versions of tracks from other original albums. To complement the music on this album, the label have produced beautifully lavish, triple fold-out digi-pak packaging, with a matching full-colour booklet housed in the centre portion between the two disc holders – a classy piece of packaging to match the musical class of Gandalf.

441812
Weight: 250.00 g

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Now this is superb! First just bask in the fantastic symphonic opening tracks where the group really go for it, unusually, as driving percussive rhythms chart a course for the strings and synths to follow like an orchestra charging towards crates of free champagne! The density and intensity become a thing of great beauty in the hands of this band, as the overall mix of choral/string keyboards, electronics and bass combine with stirring melodies, giving rise to a piece that makes the blood flow and the heart race. By the time you reach the into to track 3, the mood has settled to a more tranquil, full-sounding tapestry of string textures, as whispered female voices emerge to gorgeous effect over the ethereal instrumental backdrop. As the piece gathers up a storm, a supreme moment of rolling orchestral splendour is heard, then it drops back to the more cosmic mood as strings and a gently strolling piano melody and voice produce a warm and fuzzy glow in the dark. Elsewhere, on what is a much more varied and no less consistent album from this group, you’ll hear plenty of the lavish string-laden, electronic orchestral landscapes that serve to make this band so unique, as well as dark, almost gothic instrumental work that towers like a vulture on the horizon, as bass rumbles over multi-layered strings to form booming orchestral backdrops allied to some of their most stirring melodies yet witnessed. Overall, a truly remarkable CD, adding yet a new dimension to the ITN sound. It is easily an album without any flaws or faults and the music is totally timeless – the sort of thing you will be enjoying as much in twenty years time, as you undoubtedly will do so today. Perfect!

663220
Weight: 150.00 g

Wow – when we heard this for the first time we couldn’t quite believe it – This really is different, different for Jarre, or indeed different for any ‘Synth’ musician! ‘Sessions 2000’ is great - Absolutely brilliant if fact, but it introduces a totally new approach to making ‘Electronic Music’ that we found totally fascinating. A more wholly relaxed forty-three minutes of full-sounding cosmic ambience with a slight jazz tinge would be hard to find. Its feel is so chilled and relaxed, you’ll maybe find it hard to believe it’s Jarre, but that said, it has to be his best (and most different) album in ages, of maybe even the best album that Pete Namlook didn’t make!

146186
Weight: 150.00 g

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It’s no secret (now) that around the time that this CD was issued, I was coming to the conclusion that the whole sequencer/retro thing has been done to death, and that no one had what it took anymore to produce a half-decent album in this style. Then just to prove me wrong, none other than Mark Jenkins, a musician whose work we have promoted on and off through the last decade comes along with a work that not only beats many of the others into a cocked hat, but also is easily the finest complete album I have ever heard him do. This is one of those albums that is so strong, so heartfelt, so powerful and so darned addictive that I cannot imagine anyone’s synth music collection being complete without it, and that’s not a thing you can say about many synth music albums produced to day! In detail, he’s got the production, playing, arrangements, layers and sounds absolutely spot on – the attention to detail is superb and you are left thinking that if he’d produced this in the 80’s it could have been the stuff of legend. There are lashings of keyboards and sequencers, but the additional use, (not over-used either) of electric and acoustic guitars takes it into a whole new dimension – and here we’re not talking Froese re-runs but sheer class as in Mike Oldfield. There are heavenly synth choirs – the intro to track 4 is just gorgeous with the string-synths, choirs and bass sequencer ringing it out, then, as if out of nowhere, an electric guitar line soars majestically into the heavens. A huge sequencer line bubbles up below, then electronic drums enter and propel the piece forward, and the whole thing becomes an awesome musical spectacle, almost like early ‘live’ Mark Shreeve in many ways, and one immaculate seven minutes of quality synth music. By this time, you’ve already witnessed the magnificent ten-minute 2^nd track not to mention the rest, but believe me, this is only the beginning as the rest of the album testifies to perfection. With carefully selected samples, a hint of the Eastern impressively composed and played tracks, the album becomes one pleasure after another, with the sequencer rhythms and synths commanding everything, but in an urgent, vibrant, almost organic, manner, with melodies and surging passages leading the way. No disrespect to the musician, but I didn’t think he had it in him to create something this good out of an essentially tired and clapped-out genre. Impressed? You will be!

762536
Weight: 150.00 g

From Russia, a simply fabulous CD of ‘real’ space music, featuring 2 lengthy pieces and 3 shorter tracks, and all are absolutely superb. Played and produced in a top quality manner, the musician sets the scene perfectly by moving straight into the two epics, the first of which starts with a very full-sounding lead keyboard flow, with assorted synth layers and drones gliding below, while on top the tones change from high register to bottom-end as all the various layers intertwine. The composition constantly moves, with the subtlest of bass sequencer-style lines running underneath as lead synth lines fly and soar above in cosmic splendour. Throughout the rest of this track, the main, lone lead lines are kept simple and uncluttered. The sparse soundscape conveys a feel of vast, deep space, but more the unknown rather than the familiar after the halfway point, where it becomes quite eerie and continues the ever-darkening mood, as more sounds gather to convey the feel of the stark and the surreal. The second of the long tracks follows and clocks in at nineteen minutes. This is another fantastic celestial voyage into the realms of space music, where a variety of cascading, tinkling synth rhythms form a light canvas for the main body of sonic colours to spread them selves over. The piece slowly drifts and glides, seemingly hanging motionless in the gloom at several points, but once again, it’s another classic slice of stripped-down cosmic music, but, in this particular case, one that will have you absolutely captivated for the duration. As before, the mood remains dark, combining the ethereal with the always-present human touch. After this, the shorter tracks appear, the first with a stuttering sequencer line underpinning a most gorgeous and again, simple, lead melody line - A neat idea that works a treat. The next is a three-minute piece that starts with waves of full-sounding, dark soundscapes, beginning a travelogue that sees a variety of electronic sounds coming out over a deep bass synth undercurrent. Finally, you get fuller-sounding cosmic track that emulates one of the epics in many ways, closing the album with four minutes of shimmering stark space synth textures. A fine debut album!

914911
Weight: 150.00 g

It has to be said that the drumming (from two percussionists) on this album is, in my opinion, the greatest drumming I’ve EVER heard on a synth music album, and worth the price of admission alone! Over seventy minutes of prime Roach multi-textured, multi-layered synths music, with the added ingredient of soundscaping guitar work from no less a musician than Robert Fripp of King Crimson fame for several tracks. It is one wicked album where, on most of the few lengthy tracks, the presence of two drummers signals is just the most awesome thing, even for Steve Roach! The drum parts are so spectacular they send shivers up my spine every time I play the CD, and the combination of these and the synths soundscapes is nothing less than utterly spellbinding. The drumming has this immense tribal resonance to it, sounding more like hand drumming than a kit, and the effect overall is simply jaw-dropping. So, add together these elements of cosmic splendour that spread out panoramic proportions, with mighty drumming passages and added textures from synth-sounding guitars, and you have one of the most incredible albums to come out of synth music in years, and one of the best ever CD’s out of a master musician, Steve Roach – perfection and then some!

914713
Weight: 150.00 g