GlassWorks: The Works of Philip Glass

15.  1986: Philip Glass - Songs from Liquid Days - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EK1-t-sIpc

Philip Glass reflected on what songs would sound like if the worlds of pop and opera collided. Well, the time for reflection is over because they're gonna sound like..... This!

Songs from Liquid Days features Suzanne Vega, Laurie Anderson and Linda Ronstadt! 

13.  1983: Philip Glass - The Civil WarS (opera) - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOpPe1J9AA34BPJm5Cs6g_MajufBjkwbp

Civil wars can often be the most uncivil, bitterly fought wars of all, just like The War of the Roses between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.. We should thank our lucky stars then that this vast epic, five-act opera - centered around the American Civil War - has never been performed live in its entirety, which would surely test the endurance of the most ardent of opera lovers. 

11.  1983: Philip Glass - The Photographer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPCkt9VvkY0&t=6s

A chamber opera based on the life of 19th Century English photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who relocated to the American West and pioneered the use of moving photographic images - which we now call cinema. 

09.  1981: Philip Glass - Glassworks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Stu7h7Qup8

The breakthrough commercially-appealing album which shattered any preconceptions about the music of Philip Glass. GlassWorks was aimed at a wider audience which was reflected in it being the best-selling Glass album to date. No more incomprehensible three-hour operas or music in twelve interminable parts - at least for the time-being anyhow. 

07.  1977: Philip Glass - North Star (soundtrack) - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kcn3uIA6tSB-o_cZnS0fULZsshopip0vg

Following the plain Glass era, where a dull and repetitive Philip Glass album was something of a pane to listen to, we're now entering the bright and sparkling double-glazed era. starting with North Star, a soundtrack to an obscure film than no one has ever seen and with a title track which was later covered by Mike Oldfield! 

Philip Glass - North Star

Mike Oldfield - North Star (a far more interesting version) 

Music in 12 Parts, all of which are indistinguishable from each other and in a musical score which appears far more interesting written down in musical notation than it does to actually listen to. 

Music in Similar Motion to the two albums that preceded it and the two albums that came after it. 

Quite honestly, you'd be better off fast-forwarding to 1981 when the Philip Glass story really begins with GlassWorks, unless you fancy sitting through the 3-hour opera that comes before that. 

01. 1970: Philip Glass - Music in Eight Parts - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4_BUCQFKVk

Music in Eight Parts, performed remotely by individual members of the Philip Glass Ensemble in isolation at home. Yes, you've guessed it. We're back in 2020 - the year the world went mad.