Toward the Within

Untitled

Toward the Within (1994) is the only official live album of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard's Dead Can Dance. It contains 15 songs, of which only four appeared on their previous albums, and two of which were later re-recorded and included on Lisa Gerrard's first solo album, The Mirror Pool. The others previously existed only in live performances and unofficial bootlegs, but were not officially released until Toward the Within. Along with Perry and Gerrard were a number of musicians who had performed with them on other occasions.

Overview

Toward the Within was recorded in one take in November 1993 in the Mayfair Theatre in Santa Monica, California and was released by 4AD as an album and a video a year later. It was the last major event to take place in the Mayfair Theatre before it was fatally weakened in the earthquake a short time later and had to be demolished. The video was filmed by Mark Magidson and contains interviews with Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, as well a music video for "Yulunga (Spirit Dance)", composed of clips from the film Baraka.

While the CD functions as the soundtrack to the video, neither contain the entire show in itself. The CD lacks "Gloridean", as well as the song played over the ending credits of the video, and the video lacks "Persian Love Song" and concert footage of "Yulunga (Spirit Dance)".

In 2001, Toward the Within was re-released on DVD and included in the box-set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998). In addition to the original content, the DVD release contains a few extras: a discography, music videos for "Frontier", "The Protagonist", and "The Carnival Is Over", as well as a chapter from Baraka entitled "Calcutta Foragers/Homeless", which is set to Dead Can Dance's "The Host of Seraphim". In 2004, the DVD was released in a stand-alone package.

Track listing

1. "Rakim"
2. "Persian Love Song"
3. "Desert Song"
4. "Yulunga (Spirit Dance)" (from Into the Labyrinth)
5. "Piece for Solo Flute"
6. "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (from Into the Labyrinth))
7. "I Am Stretched on Your Grave"
8. "I Can See Now"
9. "American Dreaming"
10. "Cantara" (from Within the Realm of a Dying Sun)
11. "Oman"
12. "The Song of the Sybil" (from Aion)
13. "Tristan"
14. "Sanvean"
15. "Don't Fade Away"

Note: "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" is based on an anonymous 17th century poem, and is separate from Sinéad O'Connor's own rendition on I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.

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