David Lanz & Paul Speer – Natural States

David Lanz & Paul Speer – Natural States
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 42:15 min | 103 MB | 1985 | 10% Recovery Record

This has been one of the most relaxing new age CD’s i have ever listened to. As a newcomer to the music of Lanz & Speer i was pleasantly surprised how good this album was. David Lanz’ keyboards and Paul Speer diversity on numerous instruments, particularly the guitar, truly impresses. Tracks like ” Faces of the Forest” and “Mountain” pave the way for truly outstanding pieces like “Allegro 985” and “Lento 984”. The sheer beauty of this album cannot be overstated. Listen with good quality headphones and let the sounds take you to another place. First class!

David Lanz & Paul Speer – Desert Vision

David Lanz & Paul Speer – Desert Vision
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 48:16 min | 121 MB | 1987 | 10% Recovery Record

Desert Vision’ is no less than just that; the music paints vivid mental pictures of canyons, of deserts, of kopjes, rock formations and plateaux. ‘Eagle’s Path’ starts with a lush piano and woodwind intro, sounding very melancholy but yet strangely uplifting. As the music progresses, the eagle grows in the mind’s eye; flying free above vast desert scrublands. The music crescendoes, and introduces guitars, making the song almost frantic, and yet joyous. ‘Canyon Lands’ is probably the cream of the crop in this album. It gets your attention immediately with a mystic, almost howling note, and notmore… before too long, drums and heavy pianos arrive, soon to be followed by electric guitar. Every piece of music in this album is uplifting in its own way, but in my opinion this one does so the best. Even without knowing the song’s title, it would be impossible not to associate the haunting melodies with a canyon; eroding steadily away by howling, time-old winds; revealing striped sedimentary rock. It’s obvious that Lanz and Speer are genuine musicians; they know how music works and how to manipulate it to make poetry with sound. Their apparent fascination with the natural world is what sculpts and enhances their music. Sheer class.

David Lanz & Paul Speer – Bridge Of Dreams

David Lanz & Paul Speer – Bridge Of Dreams
MP3 @ 320 Kbps | 53:03 min | 134 MB | 1993 | 10% Recovery Record

The pianist and electric guitarist have transcended new age boundaries to create majestic, rock tinged masterpieces that press the groove button as they enchant the listener’s spirit. Their mid-’80s recordings, Natural States and Desert Vision, are widely regarded as benchmarks in the genre, and while the dynamic pair have never stopped working together on each other’s solo projects, Bridge of Dreams shows what can happen when they each contribute equally. Lanz’ gentle ivory graces and soaring symphonic textures nearly make contemporary classical music from grand and eloquent statements like the title track and its follow-up pieces “She Stands on the Mountain, Still” and “Veil of Tears.” Yet Speer’s biting electric riffs, which underpin them, turn the Lanz sparks into unquenchable wildfires. Speer wrote the bouncy, guitar driven “Walking with Alfredo” and turbocharged “Out of the Shadows” as great counterpoints to Lanz’s whimsical motifs. A cover of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” is given the royal treatment, a many-years-ahead preview of Lanz’ all-cover album of the late ’90s, Songs From an English Garden.