Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

Within the Realm of a Dying Sun
Studio album by Dead Can Dance
Released	27 July 1987
Recorded	April–May 1987 at Woodbine Studios, Warwickshire, England
Genre	Neoclassical dark wave, dark wave, modern classical, dark ambient
Length	38:43
Label	4AD
Producer	Brendan Perry, Lisa Gerrard, John A. Rivers
Dead Can Dance chronology
Spleen and Ideal (1985) Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987) The Serpent's Egg (1988)

Within the Realm of a Dying Sun is the third studio album by the band Dead Can Dance. It was released on 27 July 1987 by record label 4AD.

Background

By this time, Dead Can Dance were predominantly a duo of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, along with Peter Ulrich, after the departure of Scott Rodger and James Pinker in 1987.

On the sound of the album, the group commented, "We realised we had been limiting our musical visions [before], relying around guitar, bass and drums. These instruments weren't adequate to express a lot of the things we were hearing".^[1] On the making of the album, 4AD label owner Ivo Watts-Russell commented, "I think the relationship between them and [producer] John Rivers was at its peak with [Within the Realm of a Dying Sun]. It's probably my favourite record of theirs".^[1]

Gerrard's vocals featured prominently on the second half of the album, and her singing style often had mellifluous oriental overtones, especially on "Cantara".

The cover's photograph was taken in Paris, at the family grave of François-Vincent Raspail at Père-Lachaise cemetery.^[2]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. 

side 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Anywhere Out of the World"	5:08
2.	"Windfall" (instrumental)	3:30
3.	"In the Wake of Adversity"	4:14
4.	"Xavier"	6:16

side 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Dawn of the Iconoclast"	2:06
2.	"Cantara"	5:58
3.	"Summoning of the Muse"	4:55
4.	"Persephone (The Gathering of Flowers)"	6:36

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]

Release history

Country	Date
Australia	27 July 1987
United States	8 February 1994

Personnel

Dead Can Dance

• Lisa Gerrard – vocals (5,6,7,8), all other instruments, production
• Brendan Perry – vocals (1,3,4), all other instruments, production, sleeve design
• Peter Ulrich – timpani, military snare

Additional personnel

• Ruth Watson – oboe
• Gus Ferguson – cello
• Tony Gamage – cello
• John Singleton – trombone
• Richard Avison – trombone
• Andrew Claxton – bass trombone, tuba
• Mark Gerrard – trumpet
• Piero Gasparini – viola
• Alison Harling – violin
• Emlyn Singleton – violin

Technical

• John A. Rivers – production, engineering
• Francisco Cabeza – engineering
• Bernard Oudin – sleeve photography

References

1. "dead-can-dance.com". dead-can-dance.com. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
2. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined by Nancy Kilpatrick
3. Raggett, Ned. "Within the Realm of a Dying Sun – Dead Can Dance : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 October 2013.

External links

• Within the Realm of a Dying Sun information at the band's official website
• Within the Realm of a Dying Sun at MusicBrainz (list of releases)