Thomas Dolby 5: The Gate To The Mind’s Eye

Having slowly wearied of trying to compete in the modern music industry marketplace, Thomas Dolby stayed true to his nature by following the latest in technology, which by the ‘90s had increasingly relied on computers. This meant he got gigs scoring computer-based video games, so it was an easy step to computer animation, just as it was starting to blossom. Since he was still signed to a label, The Gate To The Mind’s Eye was his soundtrack to the third in a series of computer-generated films, none of which we’ve seen and don’t plan to. (The previous soundtrack was scored by Jan Hammer, the next by Kansas founder Kerry Livgren.) As background music, it’s mostly inoffensive, but not exactly groundbreaking.

Much of it is instrumental, but there are some vocal pieces. “Armageddon” has lyrics, mostly in Latin, with operatic vocals that continue on “Planet Of Lost Souls”, which is nicest when it’s just the piano. “N.E.O.” is mostly spoken by respected (so we’re told) Italian astrophysicist Fiorella Terenzi; he’s credited with the closing “rap” but at least he’s not trying to be the most illinest B-boy. Despite beginning with a quote from one of Napoleon’s letters to Josephine, “Valley Of The Mind’s Eye” is a fairly lush love song, while “Nuvogue” is a swing jazz tune that would have fit fine on Aliens Ate My Buick. But “Quantum Mechanic” is a techno song warbled by Dr. Terenzi, who also supplied the words. These days it almost sounds like a parody.

The album didn’t do much for his record sales, but for those who weren’t interested in following his esoteric muse, earlier in the year a compilation cleverly titled Retrospectacle delivered the handful of hits and a few deep cuts. The main attraction for fans was the availability of “Urges” and “Leipzig”, which had been added to the first US version of the first album but soon dropped in favor of “She Blinded Me With Science” and “One Of Our Submarines”. Beyond that, it samples each of his first four albums for a chronological yet cohesive sampler.

Thomas Dolby The Best Of Thomas Dolby: Retrospectacle (1994)—3½
Thomas Dolby The Gate To The Mind’s Eye Soundtrack (1994)—2½