Excellent Popol Vuh Compilation!!!
Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 07/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Alongside Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Kraftwerk and Cluster, Popol Vuh were another innovative band to emerge out of the German krautrock scene of the late '60s and early '70s. While Popol Vuh started out as an electronic band much like their countrymates Tangerine Dream, the band soon ventured out into exploring just about every style of music imaginable from folk and world music to rock and during their final period, techno. After 32 years of making innovative albums and everchanging music, Popol Vuh came to an end in late 2001 with the death of the band's founder, leader and visionary Florian Fricke.
Along with the recent campaign of reissuing Popol Vuh's classic catalog comes an excellent new compilation entitled "70's Progressives". The title implies exactly what the music is. Simply put, it is a stunning collection of Popol Vuh's most progressive and rock-oriented material recorded mostly in the mid to late '70s. While Florian Fricke's piano is to be heard on all tracks here, it is the guitar work of long-time member Daniel Fischelscher that dominates this collection. Fischelscher's guitar and drum work alongside the Indian sitar work of Al Gromer is what gives this music its progressive feel and almost has a sound reminiscent of Jethro Tull at their most baroque and at the same time, hard-edged.
The CD booklet includes a complete track listing, musician personnels for each track, a discography and fond rememberances by those who were close to the band and its leader.
While compilations by Popol Vuh are somewhat rare these days, "70s Progressives" provides an excellent opportunity to be introduced to the band especially during it's most rock-oriented phase. For the more experimental electronic work, check out the band's first two albums, "Affenstunde" and "In Den Garten Pharaos". These two albums provide just as much excellent music as what's included here.
Essential Popol Vuh!!!"