"Where's Neil When You Need Him?" Gaiman Tribute CD

[McMurphy]

A tribute cd lining the racks next to the source material is nothing new. In fact, quite a market has been built around it in the last decade or so.

What is unique in regards to this tribute cd, however, is that it is not a tribute to another musical group: it is a tribute to Neil Gaiman', the author of Sandman, American Gods, and other classics in fantasy literature. This venture is a bit different than even other albums put out "inspired" by other fantasy epics because, instead of enlisting classical music (such as the "Wheel of Time" cd did), all the tracks are recorded by some very familiar names. Take a look at just a few:

Tori Amos
Thea Gilmore
Hungry Lucy
Voltaire
Azam Ali

Although the band is not on the tribute album, Gerard Way from the band My Chemical Romance writes the introduction on the album's sleeve.

[All the above information was originally provided in a Q&A article in Wizard, the September 2006 edition, page 36.]

If that hasn't sold you, read the production notes supplied on Amazon.com:

"A unique collaboration between a collection of talented musicians and a best-selling author. Seventeen top international acts offer 17 exclusive songs inspired by the diverse work of Neil Gaiman. Includes a lavish 20 page booklet with extensive liner notes from Neil Gaiman about the project and each of the songs and an assortment of all new artwork from Dave McKean, as well as a foreword by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. The songs on this disc are inspired by Gaiman stories including Coraline, American Gods, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Stardust, The Goldfish Pool, Sandman, The Wolves in the Walls, Mr. Punch, Mirror Mask and Neverwhere. "

I am going to head up to my local record store today to see if they have it in stock. Anyone else interested in it?

[dwndrgn]

I read about this on Gaiman's blog - it really sounds interesting.

[Aes]

So that's who the "Neil" in Tori Amos's "Space Dog" song is?

Yes, Tori Amos is who instantly came to mind when I saw the subject title...is that sad?

[McMurphy]

Heh. Not at all. When I first heard about the tribute album, my first thought was "Oh, Tori Amos has GOT to be on this one." I don't think I would consider it legitimately close to Gaiman's involvement if it hadn't.

Amos and Gaiman appear to be really good friends. In the foreword to his last novel, Anansi Boys, he notes that he wrote a good chunk of it at her home, and she wrote the foreword to a Sandman companion novel that was comprised of Sandman short stories written by professional level authors, such as Clive Barker.

[GOLLUM]

Being a Gaiman fan this does sounds interesting.

Thanks for the heads up.

[I, Brian]

Once saw Tori perform in Hull. At one point, between songs, someone shouted "Tell us about Neil!". Unfortunately, she was too shy to talk to the audience too much, but it was great that I wasn't the only Sandman fan there.

[Harpo]

I once met Neil Gaiman at a book signing just before one of Tori Amos' albums was due out, and all we talked about was her. They are godparents to each others children. he made her into a talking tree in "Stardust", in return for which she put the line "Neil made me a tree" into one of her songs.
Another includes the line "Neil says hi by the way"