''The Golden Sun of the Great East'' is the eighth studio album by the electronic/
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
band
Juno Reactor
Juno Reactor is a multi-national musical and performing group, primarily based in Brighton, UK. Known for their cinematic fusion of electronic, global influences, and orchestral symphonic approach, collaborating with composer Don Davis and compo ...
. The album was released on April 23, 2013 in the United States on
Metropolis Records
Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...
and on May 20, 2013 in the United Kingdom.
The track "Final Frontier" was released in advance as a single on April 2, 2013.
Track listing
# "Final Frontier" – 10:02
# "Invisible" – 8:45
# "Guillotine" – 6:57
# "Trans Siberian" – 7:52
# "Shine" – 5:26
# "Tempest" – 7:55
# "Zombie" – 6:41
# "To Byculla" – 4:58
# "Playing with Fire" – 6:38
Personnel
* Artwork -
Simon Watkins
* Design - Michael Snyder
* Mastered By - Charles Michaud
* Mixed By - Adam Wren, Juno Reactor
* Written By - Ben Watkins
Reception
Zachary Houle of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' gave the album an rating of 8/10, writing, "If there's one word that describes the eighth and latest album from Juno Reactor, it is this: epic."
Gil Macias of ''
Blurt'' gave the album a rating of 4/5, writing, "Maestro Ben Watkins, creator of Juno Reactor, has put out one of the best albums of his career. In fact, this easily ranks up in the top three Juno Reactor albums so far. Even when paying homage to their roots, the band continues to remain an evolving experiment, always fresh, and they once again proved they can’t be slapped under one single genre label."
The website
Data Transmission
Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point o ...
gave it a rating of 8/10, writing that it is "Well worth throwing off preconceptions and diving in."
The website reflectionsofdarkness.com gave it a rating of 7.5/10, writing, "This album can certainly be enjoyed and relaxed to, though it’s not exactly ground-breaking and the Eastern influences and even the compositions sometimes can be far too predictable."
In a positive review for
Intravenous Magazine, Sean Palfrey wrote, "With 'The Golden Sun Of The Great East', Watkins returns to do what he does best. There isn't any need to fix what isn't broken. Instead Watkins focusses on the kind sheer cinematic scope and evocative song writing that is begging to be part of a huge live show."
References
External links
JunoReactor.com profile of ''The Golden Sun of the Great East''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Sun of the Great East, The
2013 albums
Juno Reactor albums
Trance albums