Customer Reviews

Ancient

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...then you'll probably like this album. I agree with the previous reviewer, this is closer to Kitaro's 80's albums. I'm glad of it since his 80's period is my personal favorite.

The first track reminds me of the dramatic and then elegant opening of Kojiki. Kitaro's main talent lies in making dramatic music that is not over the top and romantic music the is not syrupy. Some of the faster tracks reminded me of the Light of the Spirit.

I have been listening to this album quite a lot since I bought it.

(To the uninitiated Kitaro listeners: Kitaro is intrumental new age. He takes his influences from many countries but you can always feel the delicate Japanese sound of his music. His music ranges from soft, dainty songs, to dramatic scores that sound like they are from an epic movie to mysterious and sometimes menacing pieces. Note Crystal Sands on this album for an example of the latter.)

Made in USA in 2001, Serial# 79401-73000-2-3, Playing Time 56:07

I started listening to KITARO 20 years ago when he released "Oasis"; there was something I found extremely soothing and spiritual in his music.

The problem was finding his albums as most were only available as japanese imports...

Since then KITARO has evolved (and Americanized) but still produces some amazingly "charming" music. Mostly inspired by nature, the melodies presented here still use abundant layers of synthesizers with some interesting use of percussion.

I personnally prefer the arrangements he used in the 80s, where melodies had an almost "lyrical" touch: albums like "Silver Cloud" (my all-time favorite), "Oasis", "Millennia" are classics of the genre.

Still, KITARO now has a broader audience: he's finally won a grammy for "Thinking Of You", an album that's closer in style to the 80's than his 90's efforts like "Gaia" or "Heaven & Earth".

There's also a 2-disc set released in 2001 called "An Ancient Journey", but "Ancient" is an entirely separate effort (not a sampler).

I didn't find "Ancient" as emotionally rich as "Thinking Of You", but it's still a warm album. If you've only been exposed to his recent efforts out of his 20+ albums, I would suggest you pick up "Ten Years" aka "These 10 Years", a 2-disc compilation of re-interpreted songs.

KITARO can make music that touches your soul, not artificial drivel that so often pollutes the new-age genre.

Being an AVID Kitaro fan, I found this album to be wonderful. It is not the continuous soft, melodic version most are use to but it is wonderful. What an amazing musician. Such talent!

The whole album is great from start to finish. Music creates a good atmosphere. I never get tired of the music. Soft beautiful songs.

For great listen to music while you work this is great. It is not to busy in beat that it is distracting but not so mellow that it will put you to sleep. A very nice balance and a welcome pleasure to listen to.

I am very impressed with how well Kitaro blends the tastes of Egypt with those of Sumeria. Very well done.

However, I think the synthesizers get overused and the traditional instruments get underused. In the middle of the album, I wait for some Middle Eastern instrument to start going solo but it never happens. Crystal Sand is the only thing that holds it all together.

Definitely better than " Dream ". But again it is not a real Kitaro . So sad ...
At list I felt few of the tracks ... but it still reminds me his move to " elevator " music direction after he left Japan . He just had to stay the same : one of the most talanted musisions in the world .

Definitely better than " Dream ". But again it is not a real Kitaro . So sad ...
At list I felt few of the tracks ... but it still reminds me his move to " elevator " music direction after he left Japan . He just had to stay the same : one of the most talanted musicians in the world .