Juno Reactor - Luciana

[Goblim]

Juno Reactor - Luciana

 

Artist: Juno Reactor

Title: Luciana

Label: Inter-Modo

Date: 1994

 

Track listing:

 

01. 61'33" Luciana

 

Review:

 

Probably the darkest album ever made. At least I can't imagine anything darker.

This album tells us what it's like in HELL. Seriously. The album is only one

track, 61 minutes long. A 61 minutes long bad trip. The music is something

like dark ambient. No beats at all, but you can't say it's any melody either.

My advice is, don't listen to the whole album, then you will probably want to

kill yourself. But put this record on if you get a visitor you don't like, and

they'll be out in no time :-) 5/10

[Guest Monkey]

a very intricately detailed bad trip though. great if you like dark ambient.

still in my box and very useful for those multi-source chill mixes. cool

textures and mindscapes, very mystical at times, transcending space and time.

the vocal bit in the middle is something special, not to be denied. verbally

conjuring something otherworldly... not evil though. if you get suicidal,

dont blame the music, didnt we learn that from black sabbath? try ollie

olsen, its darker and spookier. 7/10. ps: if you like beatless, mail me and i

will send you my mix cds. bluespectralmonkey@hotmail.com

[Guest Davidtolsn]

whoa. you guys weren't kidding. listen to this while you're going to sleep if

you want to have nightmares. anyway.. besides the fact that this cd does an

excellent job at making you feel like you're in hell, i don't think it has

much going for it. not likely to get repeat plays. nice if you're into really

dark ambient though... 5/10, but 10/10 within its own genre, if it can be

called that.

[vision]

Luciana by Juno Reactor is a brawe idea to creat one-track album. One of the

longest compositions ewer made.

It's style is darck deep ambient. It sounds like a long mystical trip. Beginnig

with strong noises that form some kind of dynamic structure that lasts during

the whole track. Then some syntetic effects are added. Aprox. on the 16th

minue of it are wonderfull vocal part appears, then it will be repeated on the

30th minute. And there is no any changes during the time betwen them. In last

20 minutes some spacy electonic sounds and voise samples dilute the same noise

structure. Then noice volume become lower & lower and trip finishes. Standart

dark ambient trakc,but too long. Creats mystic & spo0cky atmosmphere in the

place where this album is playing. Littel bit not in Juno's usual style, but

quite interesting & quality composition. Respect to them for thier many-sided

talents.

[Guest Nalin]

As said before, this is an innovative idea by Juno. This is not a 'bad' album

per say, it just has NO replay value whatsoever. There is no point in getting

this unless you are going to sample bits from it in making your own music or

something.

 

This album really has no melody or beat or anything. It can't even be called

ambient or dark ambient because its much much more stale then those two

genres; there's really very little going on throughout - again intelligent,

but just sort of pointless - something that i guess is hard to really

understand unless you hear it for yourself. But resist the urge!! You're in

for a dissapointment.

[Cinos]

So. This is the ultra-rare 61.20 minutes long ambient drone piece from Juno Reactor. Here's my real-time log/review of it:

 

It starts off fairly boring, up to around 12 minutes. We see very little variation...

A bit later come the vocals! I love them... really beautiful.

At around 40:00 I suddenly start feeling like the music surrounds me... and I'm starting to get vivid imaginary landscapes of whatever realm Luciana describes.

I think I heard some voice samples at 48.

It's getting a bit boring...

At 50 we're getting lasers. Interesting. It sounds like tension is building.

More weird samples, and at 52 something happens, and we get some loud screaming-like effects.

53:38 features ethnic fragments floating with the wind. I'd like to see them being used more.

Ahh, vocals again... but too little!

Some "teleport" effects here at 55.

Distubring chittering sounds too. And sweeping stuff.

Bubbly sounds at 56:12. Fading in and out...

Deep bass. The background noise faded away somewhere along the road.

Here, just about at the end, at 58:34 the track starts really fragmenting up, and slowly building up a rather fast noise. It then fades away, and wind-effects lurk around.

And then it all fades away. A hissing noise along with bubbles can be heard at 01:01.10.

 

The end.

 

It's not that good, really. I'm most likely not listening to this again. 5/10 because of the vocals, which should've been used more.

[traveller]

it's indeed rather boring release..

[DeathPosture]

...listen to this while you're going to sleep if you want to have nightmares....if you get suicidal, dont blame the music, didnt we learn that from black sabbath?...

 

DP

[psytones]

Well.. Its great that so many hates it. It makes me feel more special. And from what I can read in your review Cinos.. You just dont get it. You dont like it.. thats quit ok by me. So when are you shipping it to me?

[Cinos]

Well.. Its great that so many hates it. It makes me feel more special. And from what I can read in your review Cinos.. You just dont get it. You dont like it.. thats quit ok by me. So when are you shipping it to me?

241563[/snapback]

Aren't you buying it from Anoebis?

 

(or I could be really evil and trade Balagan for it with him, as he suggested, before you can buy it! hehe, just kidding! )

[psytones]

Aren't you buying it from Anoebis?

 

(or I could be really evil and trade Balagan for it with him, as he suggested, before you can buy it! hehe, just kidding!  )

241566[/snapback]

yes

 

you wouldnt dare!! I will hunt you down and eat your balls while you watch if you do that

[Gnome]

It's not that good, really. I'm most likely not listening to this again.    5/10 because of the vocals, which should've been used more.

241423[/snapback]

I told ya

[seraph]

I've just realised I haven't commented anything for this release where I thought I did... I find it as a very unique release and even it is very minimal which I do mind from time to time, I think that whole concept and structure of the album makes sense and if you give more time and patience you might as well understand it. It is pretty dark with a lot of shallow, underground feeling....at some stages you might as well feel buried inside the spaceship. I would use more pads and effects if I was on their place but nevertheless this is unique experience and everyone should appreciate it as another Juno's brilliant effort...9/10

[Lemmiwinks]

I've just realised I haven't commented anything for this release where I thought I did...

same here!! well what can I say? I've had this for a LONG LONG time and I must say it is a very unique experience. First of all, you need the TIME to listen to it. It is one track that lasts for a whole hour so it's not like you'll apreciate it if you popped the CD in for a few minutes while brushing your teeth or in your car when going to the gorcery. You also need to be in the mood for dark ambient. I must also say that I didn't think much of this album on first few listens. But I must tell you that when you have the time and patience and are in the right mood, this will make MIRACLES! It's like the music (or more like sounds) BECOME your thoughts, you kindof forget the music and just start thinking unhappy things and then from time to time you remember that you're listening to music (and that it's probably the music which is doing that to your brain...). In other words, it's TRANCE in the true meaning of the word... There's a mechanical feeling all throughout the track, I remember someone saying that it feels like being in a huge freight train at night or in the engine room of some old ship sailing through the fog. And BTW am I the only one seeing similarities between the vocal part (which is actually the part I like least...) and the track Rebekah del Rio - Llorando? (you know that girl who sings in that freaky theater and then collapses on the stage in Mullholland Drive by David Lynch)

 

So to sum it up... it's an experience! Yes, not a track, not music, an EXPERIENCE! And like any experience in life, you'll only judge it as positive if you're up for it. For me this is more psychedellic (in the true sense of the word) than 99% of releases by psytrance producers (BTW should I also mention that this concept of a loooong ambient track seems very similar to what fathers of "old psychedellia" Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schultze did back in the 60s and 70s?) so 9/10 from me... a real classic but like I said, you have to be ready for the experience... if you just want to feel good on some downtempo vibes then Shpongle is the thing for you..

 

Now if only Juno thought of doing a follow-up to this great timeless masterpiece...

[Cinos]

Update: it has grown on me a bit... now, listening to in one of my happy moments, it sounds much better... like 7/10.

 

It's quite OK actually. Also, what Lemmi said about freight trains and ships gave me an interesting viewpoint on this. It's true actually... a freighttrain speeding through warying enviroment, all at night... only barely noticing the rising sun...

 

And the vocal part is just INSANELY beautiful!

[Guest Kai-Q]

4 years ago I got this CD I was happy and very curiouss. Because this CD I want it absolute to get, I want to complete my JR collection.

I won this CD in Ebay for 120 DM (Deutsch Marks) aprrox 60 Euros.

I got it and put it in my CD player. 30 minutes later I was very bored.

I push the search button from my player, to listened every minute if they are change , but no change.

This CD does not to my opinion with JR correctly do to and sounds like a broken ventilation or a rotated blade (Rotorblade LOL ).

I WILL NOT MAKE SOME HOPE.

I will not give it away, because I will complete my JR collection and I spent to much money for it.

[Lemmiwinks]

I push the search button from my player, to listened every minute if they are change , but no change.

 

well you see that's the problem with most people who don't like this CD IMO... they simply don't have the patience to listen through it all so they just listen the first few minutes, then fast forward, listen to the vocal part and then push "stop"... that's certainly NOT the way to experience it. If Juno made this one hour long it was for a reason... the way people "listen" to it (with the aid of the fast forward button) it's like seeing a bungee jump on TV and then saying that it's not that interesting... of course you won't find it interesting if you don't experience the real deal yourself!!!

[Guest Kai-Q]

A 60 minutes track with or without a vocalpart and with no great changes is boring.

[Lemmiwinks]

A 60 minutes track with or without a vocalpart and with no great changes is boring. 

251223[/snapback]

 

God is in the details, my friend

 

 

OK, I'll stop talking now...

[Scryden]

This is what I call "deep listenings" , the best purpose for this album is to listen to it just before falling asleep.The basic idea is to play with the boundaries of consciousness , to come to a state when music is half heard , half dreamt.

 

Sure , this album also requires a lot of attention , I'm quite experienced to listen to music that most people consider as 'boring' but being attentive during a whole hour is definately an effort.But you still have the choice to fall half asleep or continue listening attentively (I prefer the first way , to be honest)

 

I just like to add this is not the best album in it's category if you want further listening in that matter try similar album with no apparent variation :

 

Oöphoi - Behind the wall of sleep (1 track , 66'33")

Steve Roach - Darkest Before Dawn (1 track , 73'58")

 

Good luck to find theses ones , they are even more rare than Luciana.

[Taika-Kim]

This is very NOT good. I'm willing to trade mind for some other oldschool album It's in very good condition considering the age, just a few scratches.

[Cinos]

This is very NOT good. I'm willing to trade mind for some other oldschool album It's in very good condition considering the age, just a few scratches.

256879[/snapback]

Sell it on ebay and get rich.

[Time_Trap]

Sell it on ebay and get rich.

lol

 

i really like Luciana, although it might be too minimal and many characterize it boring, for me it's the ideal music to listen to when you are really tired [or very stoned ], music that can travel you away and help you empty your thoughts

 

for me it's a 8.5/10...

[w0p]

how much you guys offering for this cd? - MIGHT sell mine if the price is correct - its in an awesome state considering its age - dosnt even have light scratches to be humble...

[Bahamut]

I give it 6,5/10

Well, some nice sounds and moments for sure... but because of its simple repetitive structure, it doesn't really pull you in deeper and deeper... and the atmosphere isn't particularly striking to my taste.