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Customer Reviews of Future Sound Experience

A Fitting Farewell to Popol Vuh.
The German band Popol Vuh was responsible for some of the most etherial and original music produced in the last quarter century. The band started out as an avant-garde electronic group and was part of the German Krautrock movement which also spawned bands like Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Kraftwerk, Neu! and Cluster. Soon thereafter, Popol Vuh geared away from purely electronic music and began to add medeival and Eastern music influences to their sound. Sadly, after creating music for over 30 years, Popol Vuh came to an end in December 2001 when the band's founder, leader, composer and brainchild Florian Fricke passed away from a stroke at age 57.
Shortly before his death, Fricke was responsible for putting together a 'best of' compilation, "Future Sound Experience" which is unlike anything I have heard before. Instead of focusing on Popol Vuh's best individual tracks from their long career, this CD is essentially a megamix combining many different elements from different eras into one continuous sound collage. For example, a segment from 1970 could be playing along with a segment recorded several years later. The way that the sounds are mixed, you'd almost think it was originally recorded the way it's heard on this disc. Not so. At one point, there is music from three different decades going all at once. The end result is frightening but intriguing.
Although this is not their greatest album (I personally recommend "Aguirre" as a good introduction to the band), "Future Sound Experience" serves as a fitting farewell to Popol Vuh and Florian Fricke. This album basically crams their entire career into one 70-minute CD. It's like a journey of sorts, like taking a walk through the many different eras of one of Germany's most original bands. Some may not like this, but I personally do.
May Florian Fricke rest in peace.

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A sad attempt at cashing in?
I've read a few glowing reviews of this, the first posthumous Popol Vuh release following the death of founder Florian Fricke, and all I can say is, "are we listening to the same recording?"

A collage of existing tracks taken from all over Popul Vuh's recording career, all layered together without any regard for style, mood, or even musical pitches. I don't mean sequenced together - I mean tracks literally overlayed on top of each other, making a horrid cacophony of what was memorable and trancendental music.

But no, that wasn't enough to sully the music. Someone (no actual producer is listed) has overlayed a single loop of an acoustic guitar phrase, that repeats, and repeats, and repeats, again without regard to the underlying mood of the music underneath.

I didn't think it was possible, but whoever is responsible for this mess has managed to turn the heartfelt and shimmeringly beautiful music of Popul Vuh into something resembling Chinese water torture. I refuse to believe this is any sort of legitimate release, and in fact the CD booklet is carefully ambiguous as to the pedigree of this production. If this is in fact a bootleg, I hope the estate of Florian Fricke takes whatever means necessary to get it out of circulation. Whatever this is, it is NOT representative of the joy and wonder that is Popul Vuh's musical legacy.