For me the debut album was good but didn't quite gel. Tracks 2 and 3 were good but that was pretty much it. Extraordinary Ways on the other hand is brilliant. There is a smattering of chilled out tunes mixed with more perky ones throughout the album. Everything blends together really well and it doesn't feel like there are any skips or jumps or anything out of place. Some tracks feel quite light but others seem to have a darker edge to them, some are purely orchestral while others are much more vocal. The contrast between the two works really well. Highly recommended.
Conjure One's first album was great, and Exilarch (the album following Extraordinary Ways) is pure excellence. I can only hope then that Extraordinary Ways served as a lesson in what not to do. In a market glutted with pop music, I'm always searching for something more meaningful. While Extraordinary Ways is not a terrible album, if it had been my introduction to C1 I probably would've passed by their other albums. Although there are still occassional moments of the surreal and Middle Eastern-tinged sound this band is known for, for the most part Extraordinary Ways falls into the trap of trying to be too poppy, perhaps in an effort to garner more listeners. I realize that bands are always struggling not to stagnate, but when a band establishes such a unique signature sound as C1, I think it's a tragedy when they move away from that in favor of more generic sounds that I could find in many other bands. Even among other chill electronic bands with a reliance on female vocals, C1 is very unique and instantly recognizable as nothing else, at least if you consider their other two albums.
I don't hate EW. It has a few great moments - for me, the most notable is the ecstatic and dreamy "Dying Light." To me, this song stands on its own with the great songs of other C1 albums, and it's become one of my favorite C1 songs of all time. A few of the more ambient songs such as Pilgramage and Beyond Being are enjoyable in their own way, though still lacking the full use of their signature sound. I even enjoy the title song, Endless Dream, and Face the Music - it's just that these songs are not at the level I would generally expect from C1. They are good, but not really unique in comparison to what can be found in similar bands. For me, the low point in the album is "I Believe." If you played that song for me outside of this album, I would never in a million years recognize it as a C1 song. It's barely in the same genre of music unless you consider that there is an electronic element.
My final recommendation? Buy this to check it out if you're a dedicated C1 fan. Like me, you may find a few points that will make you glad you purchased the album. However, if you're starting out with C1, I would recommend one of their other albums to give you a better idea of what this band is like and whether or not they're for you.