The ten years since
Delerium "found themselves" on the dreamy
Semantic Spaces album have been filled with dancefloor hits, guest vocalists (mostly female), and two million units sold. Bet you forgot
Delerium is/was a
Front Line Assembly side project! Besides
Rhys Fulber,
Bill Leeb, and stacks of synths,
Delerium and
Front Line Assembly share a love of structure; it's just that
Delerium favors pretty over gritty. There's plenty of glorious, grandiose orchestration on
The Best of Delerium, and more widescreen, dreamy bliss than you can imagine.
Sarah McLachlan set the standard for
Delerium contributors with her work on "Silence," here in its original album mix, not the more remembered "Sanctuary" remix. The new remix of "Silence" tacked onto the end of the collection is close enough to the "Sanctuary" remix to be a suitable replacement, and all the other tracks that made it onto the dancefloor or radio are included. If you enjoy the precious lyrics over grand trance side of
Delerium you couldn't ask for a better collection, but don't think you're getting the whole story.
Delerium's albums do more wandering and get darker, while
Best Of goes for the sweet fluff. That's not a putdown, since this sweet fluff is absolutely delicious and inspired, even the new
Pachelbel-copping "Paris" with guest vocalist Aude.
Leeb and
Fulber have been mining the same darling territory for a decade now, but it keeps giving up gold. Focusing on
Delerium's showy, pop side,
Best Of gives you all the choice nuggets.
–
David Jeffries, Rovi