Blue Stone (music group)
Blue Stone | |
---|---|
Origin | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States |
Genres |
Electronica Ambient |
Years active | 2006–present |
Labels | Neurodisc Records |
Website | Blue Stone MySpace |
Members |
Robert Smith Bill Walters Sheyenne Rivers Samantha Sandlin Maura Hurley Sara Bloomfield Sarah Day Evans Veronika Gunter |
Blue Stone is an American electronic-pop musical project formed by producer/programmer Robert Smith and producer/multi-instrumentalist Bill Walters, and featuring various female guest vocalists. The group has released three studio albums and one remix album, all on Neurodisc Records, since 2006.
Musical Style and Influences
Blue Stone's style and genre have been described as "Ethereal Pop," "Ambient Pop," "Dream Pop," and "New Age" by critics. Their music integrates layered hardware and software synthesizers with live piano, vocals, and percussion.
Robert Smith and Bill Walters are the group's core members, who write the majority and produce all of Blue Stone's output. They collaborate with various female guest vocalists, some of whom are credited as co-writers of songs. Prior to forming Blue Stone, Smith released music in the New Age genre as Bella Sonus. He and Walters have experience performing together as bandmates in Rock and Blues projects in prior decades. The two have cited a variety of musical artists, including Pink Floyd, Jan Hammer, William Orbit, Delerium, BT, and Afro Celt Sound System, as having been influential in developing their sound. [1] [2]
History
Blue Stone's first studio album, Breathe, was released in 2006 and received mixed reviews. Breathe features one guest vocalist, Darcy, on numerous songs, which are a combination of free-form composition and traditional verse/chorus songwriting. The album performed well on the iTunes Store's Electronic Album Chart Top 100.[3][4] Worlds Apart was released in 2007 to uniformly positive reviews,[5] and included three guest vocalists (Rivers, Sandlin, and Hurley), each performing on multiple songs. This album represented a shift toward a majority of conventionally written (verse/chorus-type) songs that continued in the 2009 release Messages, which was also well received by critics. [6] [7]
Breathe
Breathe | |
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Studio album by Blue Stone | |
Released | January 31, 2006 |
Genre | Electronic, pop |
Label | Neurodisc |
Producer | Robert Smith and Bill Walters |
- "Confession"
- "Breathe"
- "Break of Dawn"
- "Falling"
- "The River"
- "I Am"
- "Forgiven"
- "Only One"
- "Holy Ground"
- "Searching"
- "Contact"
- "Dusk"
- "Traveler"
- "Lost"
- "New Beginning"
Worlds Apart
Worlds Apart | |
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Studio album by Blue Stone | |
Released | January 30, 2007 |
Genre | Electronic, pop |
Label | Neurodisc |
Producer | Robert Smith and Bill Walters |
- "Set Adrift"
- "Waters Flow"
- "Lost Sun"
- "Dreamcatcher"
- "Voleti"
- "Worlds Apart (Searching for You)"
- "Envy"
- "Take Flight"
- "Far Away"
- "Labyrinth of Dreams"
- "Tears"
- "Event Horizon"
- "Remember This"
- "On the Wind"
- "Circles"
- "Flood"
Worlds Apart Remixed
Worlds Apart Remixed | |
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Studio album by Blue Stone | |
Released | 2008 |
Genre | Electronic, pop |
Label | Spectacle Entertainment |
Producer | Robert Smith and Bill Walters |
- Dreamcatcher (Leaving the Ledge Mix) (06:39)
- Worlds Apart (Dark Mix) (07:30)
- Event Horizon (Smoldering Mix) (06:15)
- Waters Flow (Heavy Mix) (05:34)
- Adrift (Civilized Mix) (06:47)
- Worlds Apart (Burning Mix) (04:46)
- Faraway (Runaway Mix) (05:14)
- Tears (Wish for Light Mix) (07:07)
- Worlds Apart (Hear the Memory Mix) (06:37)
- Circles (Round and Round Mix) (05:59)
- Tears Are Falling (New Track) (05:48)
- Event Horizon (Live Acoustic) (04:52)
Messages
Messages | |
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Studio album by Blue Stone | |
Released | July 28, 2009 |
Genre | Electronic, pop |
Label | Neurodisc |
Producer | Robert Smith and Bill Walters |
- "Midnight Tides"
- "Open Your Eyes"
- "Deja Vu"
- "Hang On"
- "Wait for the Sun"
- "Open Sky"
- "Lotus Bloom"
- "Come Alive"
- "Moving Forward"
- "Ancient Echoes"
- "Set Me In The Sun"
- "Bridges"
- "The Silence"
- "Hypnotized"
- "Messages"
Pandora's Box
Pandora's box | |
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Studio album by Blue Stone | |
Released | 2011 |
Genre | Electronic, pop |
Label | Neurodisc |
Producer | Robert Smith and Bill Walters |
- Innocence (04:57)
- Mischief (05:44)
- Seduction (05:43)
- Epimetheus (05:47)
- Curiosity (05:10)
- Darkened Rooms (06:17)
- Who Are You (05:23)
- The Journey (04:45)
- Stolen Light (04:48)
- Shattered (04:38)
- Hope (03:23)
Phoenix
Phoenix | |
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EP by Blue Stone | |
Released | 2012 |
Genre | Electronic, pop |
Label | Neurodisc |
Producer | Robert Smith and Bill Walters |
- Dream (feat. Sara Bloomfield) (4:01)
- Uncover Me (feat. Samantha Duncan) (5:19)
- Caged (feat. Cody Gesumaria) (5:10)
- Fairy Star (feat. Sara Bloomfield) (5:48)
- Speed (feat. Samantha Duncan) (4:15)
References
- ↑ Music Remedy Archived March 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Zone Music Reporter (Interview)
- ↑ All Music Guide (Review of Breathe)
- ↑ Zone Music Reporter (Review of Breathe)
- ↑ Blog Critics Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ After Enigma
- ↑ All Music Guide (Review of Worlds Apart)
External links
- Blue Stone Project Myspace
- Neurodisc Records Official Site
- Blue Stone interview with DJFIX for Breathe
- Conversation with Robert Smith of Blue Stone (Jamie Bonk interview for the album Breathe)
- Conversation with Robert Smith, Bill Walters and Sheyenne Rivers of Blue Stone for the album Worlds Apart