Neither a prog record per se, nor a collection of songs or short instrumental pieces, 1990’s “Slow Dance” holds a special position in Anthony Phillips‘s oeuvre. It’s a bold, large-scale orchestral suite that found its creator playing a variety of guitars and synthesizers alongside reeds and strings, although the road to it wasn’t as easy as the finished work sounds. As Ant told this scribe, “It came after a long period of not being able to do a big album, as I was saying, after all the small-scale "Private Parts And Pieces" albums through the Eighties. But by the time I had a chance to do it, I had a lot of material, and I was obviously very frustrated, so I was very inspired to do it. It didn’t take a long time, though it was difficult, but I was inspired because I felt like I’d been starting over with that kind of work.” No wonder, then, that “Slow Dance” has become another entry in the Esoteric deluxe series of Phillips’ reissues.
Out on June 16th, the new edition of the record consists of its original, in remastered form, assorted strains of its DNA on a separate CD, and a surround sound mix on a DVD. All in all, it runs like this (read the review):
Slow Dance
CD 1: Original Stereo Mix Remastered
1. Slow Dance (Part One)
2. Slow Dance (Part Two)
CD2: Vignettes
1. Themes from Slow Dance
2. No Way Out (alt. mix)
3. A Slower Dance
4. Guitar Adagio from Slow Dance
5. Touch Me Deeply (demo)
6. Clarinet Sleigh Ride
7. Slow Dance Single Demo (alt. mix)
8. No Way Out (original mix with drums)
9. Lenta Chorum
DVD:
5.1 sound mix & 96 Khz / 24-bit Original Stereo Mix
1. Slow Dance (Part One)
2. Slow Dance (Part Two)
