Customer Reviews

Kryptos

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have most of Vollenweider's CDs and listen to them frequently. Each one is like a glorious, aesthetic trip around the world, and sometimes out of this world. I think Kryptos is his greatest achievement so far. It starts with a beautiful theme for choir and orchestra, and that springboards into a rich musical journey which flows from classical to jazz, Japanese to Celtic, solemnity to exhileration. At the end, the first theme is heard again, this time with choir and harp, and this time, instead of springboarding, it simply and exquisitely resolves.

I chose to purchase Kryptos from Amazon.com rather than purchase it locally, which meant I had to wait a while. Well, talk about deferred gratification! In no time it arrived, and exceeded my expectations. It was brilliant! Much better than Vox which I had bought a year ago. Andreas Vollenweider really outdoes himself in this album.

This is no longer a US import (it should be readily available in the US after having not been released here until I think almost a year after it had been in Europe).

I'm forever an Andreas fan, but this disc just re-affirms my belief that he's one of the most creative (and TALENTED) musicians around today. A lot of people dismiss his music as "new age tinkling" but those people are pre-disposed to hate it by virtue that they don't get it, so I don't give it a lot of thought. A wide variety of pieces on this disc, from a harp/acordian duet that compells me to binge on italian food, to a real orient-flavored Cheng/harp piece that starts off the disc.

Anyway, two thumbs up (and two big toes). I think a lot of people would be or are closet Andreas fans but have a hard time admitting it to their friends because they don't think a guy that plays the harp "sounds cool". So order online so you don't have to wonder what the 16 year old CD store clerk thinks of you!

- A proud "out" fan..

after Eolian Minstrel VollenWeider go back to his previous (sans lyric) style. This time it's the search for new instruments that gives you something particular. Voices became again just "another instruments" in the tune and the style somehow remind me of a lost medieval Japan world.

I have been a fan of Andreas Vollenweider's for over 10 years. Everytime I pick up another CD of his I know I will be thoroughly amazed and awed at his genius. "KRYPTOS" is a perfect example of his limitless imagination and abilities. He his not alone. By no means can we dismiss wonderfully talented folks who choose to be part of his music.

I had made a mistake when ordering a CD of this musician,thinking that it has smth in common with works of a real genius-Klaus Schulze. But as it turned out it is rather dull and highly monotonous.May be it is too complicated for my ear?

Andreas Vollenweider continues to jazz up his electro-accoustic harp compositions, this time with even more variations in style and flavor drawn from musical traditions the world over. The liberal addition of choirs and symphony orchestras, along with bandoneon, shakuhachi, daiko drums, congas, and Chinese and Indonesian percussion, make for interesting, energetic music that is billed as "A Soundtrack for the Imagination". Retained from his previous work are Vollenweider's trademark harping and whimsical style, but in these large, sweeping, brooding compositions the sense of intimacy and magic present in his earlier releases is often lost. I have to admit that I miss it. If you want to sample even more divergent compositional styles of this talented and ever-evolving artist, try his 1993 collaboration with singer Eliza Gilkyson, "Eolian Minstrel", or his 1999 release, "Cosmopoly", which features many guest artists. For the best example of Vollenweider's early style, try "Trilogy" or any of its separate components.

experience it. What a CD! What a collection of music! Wow! Calling Andreas Vollenweider a musician would be like calling Michaelangelo a "painter". This is truly a work of art. Buy it, play it and make sure you listen in "surround sound". Wow.