| Heart on Snow | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 October 2003 | |||
| Recorded | PSG Melodia (St Petersburg),Mosfilm (Moscow), SBN Recordings (Moscow), Mute Studios (London) | |||
| Genre | Russian traditional music,Russian romance | |||
| Length | 67:46 | |||
| Label | Blue Star Music /XIII BIS Records | |||
| Producer | Andrei Samsonov | |||
| Marc Almond chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Heart on Snow | ||||
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Heart on Snow is the twelfth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriterMarc Almond. It was released by Blue Star Music, in conjunction withXIII BIS Records, on 21 October 2003.
An article by theBBC describes how Almond "went toSt Petersburg to interpret traditionalRussian romance songs" to make what "may have become his most ambitious album so far".[1] Almond mostly sangcover versions of traditional Russian songs, including a number from the Russian romance canon, and collaborated with a number of Russian artists on the album, such asAlla Bayanova andLyudmila Zykina.
The album was released as a standardjewel case CD and a limited edition CD book in a slipcase containing a 44-page book with extensive background notes to all of the songs.
The single "Gone But Not Forgotten" was released from the album in September 2003 with two tracks ("Gosudaryunia" and "Just One Chance") and the video for the title track.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Uncut |   [2] |
| The Guardian | [3] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| Komsomolskaya Pravda | (mixed)[5] |
Reviews forHeart on Snow were mixed. Dorian Lynskey inThe Guardian describesHeart on Snow as "a labour of love for which it's hard to feel much affection" and as lacking "the sly humour ofSoft Cell and his best solo work" yet admires the "boldness and integrity in making an album that only uses Russian musicians".[3] The review inUncut states that Almond keeps his versions of the material "respectful which, despite the lack of Russian wildness, makes it (Heart on Snow) all the more moving".[2] Paul Taylor in theManchester Evening News describes the album as "a cunning mixture of smooth, westernised productions andbalalaika-plucking, raw Russky folk stylings" and states that "anyone remotely broad-minded about their music would find this a joy".[6]
A RussianKomsomolskaya Pravda praised the interpretation ofGypsyromances ("Two Guitars", "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes"), described "Oh, My Soul" and "Luna" as "clash ofdecadence" and proclaimed "Gosudarynia" as the best track on the album.[5]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origins | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "So Long the Path (So Wide the Field)" | Marc Almond,Lev Knipper,Viktor Gusev | based onPolyushko-polye | 3:12 |
| 2. | "Strange Feeling" (duet with Sergey Penkin) | Alex Prusov | originally performed by Sergey Penkin | 3:42 |
| 3. | "Gosudaryunia" (featuring Aquarium) | Boris Grebenshchikov | originally performed byAquarium | 3:05 |
| 4. | "Always and Everywhere (I Will Follow You)" | Sofus Gerdel | originally performed byVadim Kozin | 3:40 |
| 5. | "Oh, My Soul" (duet withAlla Bayanova) | trad. | traditional | 3:31 |
| 6. | "Two Guitars" (with Loiko) | Apollon Grigoryev, Ivan Vasiliev | traditional | 3:32 |
| 7. | "Heart on Snow" (with 'Russia' orchestra) | Arno Babajanian, Aleksandr Dmokhovskij | originally performed by Arno Babajanian | 4:03 |
| 8. | "Nuit De Noel" (with Boris Grebenschikov) | Alexander Vertinsky | originally performed by Alexander Vertinsky | 2:53 |
| 9. | "Romance" | Nikolai Noskov,Nikolay Gumilyov | originally performed by Nikolay Gumilyov | 4:59 |
| 10. | "The Storks" | Yan Frenkel,Rasul Gamzatov | originallyZhuravli (The Cranes) | 3:53 |
| 11. | "Luna (The Moon)" (duet with Alla Bayanova) | Bayanova, Tatyana Flaviskaya | originally performed by Alla Bayanova | 2:01 |
| 12. | "White Flowers of Acacia" | trad., A Pugachev | Russian romance song | 2:33 |
| 13. | "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes" (featuring Mikhail Aptekman) | Nikolai Zubov, I Zhelezko | Russian romance song | 3:48 |
| 14. | "If Your Affectionate Smile Has Gone" (duet withIlya Lagutenko) | Vasily Lebedev-Kumach | originally performed by V Kozin | 4:11 |
| 15. | "Sleeping Beauty" | Andrei Samsonov, Almond | 3:59 | |
| 16. | "Just One Chance" (duet withLyudmila Zykina) | Boris Fomin, Pedro Saint German | Russian romance song | 4:22 |
| 17. | "Gone But Not Forgotten" | Almond, Martin Watkins | 4:29 | |
| 18. | "So Wide The Field (Reprise)" (featuring Mikhail Aptekman) | Almond, Knipper, Gusev | based on Polyushko-polye | 1:38 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origins | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19. | "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes (version 2)" (featuring Mikhail Aptekman) | Nikolai Zubov, I Zhelezko | Russian romance song | 4:15 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Origins | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20. | "The Sun Will Arise" (with The "Rossiya" Orchestra) | Gennady Gladkov,Yuri Entin | originally performed byMuslim Magomayev | 3:14 |
| 21. | "Tenderness" (with The "Rossiya" Orchestra) | Aleksandra Pakhmutova,Nikolai Dobronravov,Sergey Grebennikov | originally performed byMaya Kristalinskaya | 3:21 |
| 22. | "Black Raven" (new recording 2021) | trad., Nikolay Veryovkin | Cossack traditional song | 4:20 |
*Note – there is a discrepancy with the titles of tracks 13 and 19 between the liner notes, "Glance From Your Dark Eyes"; and the track listing, "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes".
In addition to artists credited in the track listing:
