Barnes & Noble
2002 gathers inspiration from celestial realms for RIVER OF STARS. The musicians, Pam and Randy Copus, play numerous instruments -- keyboards, flute, harp, and guitar -- and they sing, too, blending their sounds with a heavenly touch. From rhapsodic waltzes to sparkling melodies with the cadence of a lullaby, RIVER OF STARS is a musical journey of peace and enchantment. Each piece has a theme -- the Milky Way, the first daughter of the moon (Inanna), the mariner's star, and the Elysian Fields -- yet the entire album flows gracefully from beginning to end. Fans of Enya will be particularly charmed by 2002's evocative style. Carol Wright
All Music Guide
If there was ever a recording created for placement on the syndicated Musical Starstreams space music show, this galaxy of pretty but meandering rays of light is it. The jacket photo shows husband and wife team Pamela and Randy Copus with harp and acoustic guitar, but there are other softhearted sounds at work here creating the celestial tapestry as well. The title track blends grand piano eloquence with guitar, flute, and harp along with rushes of breathy, angelic voices. "Stella Maris" features the flute weaving around playful synth footprints and percussion effect, and tunes like "First Daughter of the Moon" feature machine generated orchestral swells. The main connecting threads are the heavy atmosphere and ambience that serve to create pure relaxation even as the songs hope to prompt skyward imaginations. Many passages are quite beautiful, and it's nice when new age artists can restrain themselves to under five and six minutes per tune. But like most projects of this nature, a little goes a long way. Jonathan Widran