Stunning
06/29/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Hardly anyone in the U.S. has heard Popol Vuh, and most of those that have know them from their soundtracks to Werner Herzog films like "Nosferatu" and "Aguirre". This album, from 1974-75, is the best I have heard. This music is quite beautiful at times. Basically instrumental with occasional ethereal (indeed, angelic) female vocals in German. Piano and jazzy drums predominate, with double tracked electric guitars performing bluesy solos on top. Quiet, meditative passages alternate with majestic crescendos - the music is symphonic in scope and execution. The themes of the individual tracks appear to be spiritual in nature and this quality shines through. A fore runner of modern day New Age music, but much more compelling than almost anything I've heard in that genre."