Search - Bruce Mitchell :: Hidden Pathways

One of my favorite CDs

Richard W. Abrams | 07/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an excellent New Age CD"

Great Under-The-Radar CD

Richard W. Abrams | Middle of Nowhere, OK USA | 05/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hidden Pathways is one of Bruce Mitchell's early releases on the Narada Records sub classification Lotus series label. Narada attempted having three sub labels to help classify their budding artists. Narada was strictly New Age, Lotus was meditative, ambient and soothing with the third group of Equinox being reserved for the more jazz-rock fusion oriented instrumentations.



Back in 1987, this CD was fresh sounding and after spinning the disc a moment ago, must admit that it is still refreshing. The blend of keyboards and world percussion instruments along with some excellent session drumming combines to make this a must have for the New Age collector. The first song, kicks off with a toe-tapping melody on keyboards, tambourine, synth strings and finally drums and bass to the lead acoustic piano. What is odd is that the first track fades out and the second song, Apex, starts with a bit of a jolt as the volume of this track seems to be a good 20 Db louder than the loudest point in the preceding song. Nonetheless, it has it's own excitement and is very enjoyable.



Reflections is one of those songs that uses a familiar refrain on which to continue building layers of instruments and counter-melodies. A very enjoyable tune that uses the first half of the song as a prelude to the final half.



The Far Country also has an Asian feel to it at the onset only to hint of a more middle-Eastern sound summing up with a good old country Celtic feel from the penny whistle and harp work on this song. Seems strange but all of these elements fit together quite well!



Gateway To The Sun sounds as if it were written and even performed by David Arkenstone as it holds the cinematic music-score type sound complete with Arkenstone's love of high frequency sounds from instruments, bells, synthesizers, etc. This is another nice toe-tapper. A good one for driving with the roof down!



Zone II definitely has an Oriental feel with the big drums and flute at the beginning of this song. The song incorporates the Tubular Bells type of musical round in which the music retains a central theme and is repeated and built upon with each successive pass.



Dharma is magical and probably the high point of the CD which isn't really fair as it sounds altogether different than the rest of the selections. I purchased this CD after hearing the original Narada Sampler (1) and was surprised that the rest of Bruce Mitchell's songs did not sound like the one for which I purchased the CD. Fortunately, it was not a bad thing as the entire collection on Hidden Pathways is very enjoyable... even after 20 years! The remaining selections I did not specifically mention are slower and carry more of a thoughtful melody line. All in all FIVE Stars!"