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Track Listings
| 1. Organic (LP Version) |
| 2. Cloudscape (LP Version) |
| 3. Resource (LP Version) |
| 4. Vessels (LP Version) |
| 5. Pruit Igoe (LP Version) |
| 6. The Grid (LP Version) |
| 7. Prophecies (LP Version) |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Fifteen years after its initial release, Philip Glass's score to Godfrey Reggio's film Koyaanisqatsi is still as timeless as it was meant to be. Glass's epic score, virtually the only sound in this non-narrative movie, accompanied an exhilarating, wordless meditation of images ranging from expansive, slow-motion landscapes to whirling-dervish city scenes shot using time-lapse techniques. Glass's music was a perfect match. The opening chant is still unlike anything Glass has composed, a Tibetan monk operatic growl that set up the foreboding sense of loss the film engenders. Most of the score, however, casts Glass's minimalist themes in orchestral expanses. Bass strings troll the bottom while flutes draw circles in the air. On "The Grid", manic keyboards drive into the night, pounding out the cyclical refrains that are a Glass trademark. When Koyaanisqatsi came out, it seemed opulent with its orchestral forces, but always at the centre were the keyboards, reeds, and voice that are Glass's characteristic sound. Koyaanisqatsi means "life out of balance", but Glass's remarkably austere score remains perfectly poised. This newly re-recorded edition adds nearly 30 minutes to the previous CD release with two previously unissued tracks and extended versions of "The Grid" and "Prophecies", the two signpost works of the film. --John Diliberto
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Koyaanisqatsi is part of a magical musical and visual trilogy. Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi complete the holy trinity.
Glass' music is spectacular and, once you have seen the video then the music, which stands monumental in it's own right, will haunt you with it's memorable interplay with the images captured by Godfrey reggio.
This is a soundtrack which is almost insidious in its ability to dive deep into your psyche.
To my mind this is truly Glass' masterwork.
Glass' music is spectacular and, once you have seen the video then the music, which stands monumental in it's own right, will haunt you with it's memorable interplay with the images captured by Godfrey reggio.
This is a soundtrack which is almost insidious in its ability to dive deep into your psyche.
To my mind this is truly Glass' masterwork.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
One reviewer mentioned this work getting hooked into their psyche. That was certainly true for me: after seeing the film for the first time I had nightmares with the final slow fall to earth of an exploded missile with the low incantations that had opened the film. It was hypnotic and frightening. It is a film which will always have a big impact however many times I watch it. As for the rest of the trilogy; well I think it gets increasingly sanctimonious but this one film is an all time classic.
Here we have the full score of the film. If you haven't seen the film then it is hard to say what the impact would be but, for a work that translates as "Life Out of Balance", this music makes a convincing hybrid of a huge symphony and requiem. It is solemn and yet rich, bleak at times and cluttered, as in "The Grid". It works like a symphony in that it has clear, discrete sections that mirror a long scherzo (The Grid) with a long slow introductory movement with the low incantations at the beginning, convincingly, inevitably and powerfully returning at the end.
So I cannot help thinking that even without the film, this music will have a huge impact. If you haven't seen the film then I would urge you to see it. This is Glass's best film score by a long way even though others provide some highlights. It amounts to a single convincing whole and not a series of unrelated episodes like most film music. It feels like Godfrey Reggio built his film around the music and not the other way round. I think that was actually the case.
There are many occasions for me when listening to Philip Glass's music sounds like a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. I can assure any listeners, with similar doubts about his music that this Koyaanisqatsi is a masterpiece and, excluding the film, this is the definitive recording. Wonderful - and frightening.
Here we have the full score of the film. If you haven't seen the film then it is hard to say what the impact would be but, for a work that translates as "Life Out of Balance", this music makes a convincing hybrid of a huge symphony and requiem. It is solemn and yet rich, bleak at times and cluttered, as in "The Grid". It works like a symphony in that it has clear, discrete sections that mirror a long scherzo (The Grid) with a long slow introductory movement with the low incantations at the beginning, convincingly, inevitably and powerfully returning at the end.
So I cannot help thinking that even without the film, this music will have a huge impact. If you haven't seen the film then I would urge you to see it. This is Glass's best film score by a long way even though others provide some highlights. It amounts to a single convincing whole and not a series of unrelated episodes like most film music. It feels like Godfrey Reggio built his film around the music and not the other way round. I think that was actually the case.
There are many occasions for me when listening to Philip Glass's music sounds like a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. I can assure any listeners, with similar doubts about his music that this Koyaanisqatsi is a masterpiece and, excluding the film, this is the definitive recording. Wonderful - and frightening.
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Please, just buy this CD. Furthermore, if you have arrived at this product page by accident and wonder what on earth 'Koyaanisqatsi' *is*, then I suggest that you try and get hold of the film too.
Philip Glass (The Secret Agent, Powaaqatsi, Anima Mundi) excelled himself with this entralling piece of music which was composed back in the early 1980's. Much like the film itself, the music is a utterly absorbing experience and admitedly will also not be everyone's cup of tea. Basically, it will either leap to the top of your collection, or you'll sit and wonder what on earth you ever bought it.
Stand out tracks? Well, the opening epic title piece - Koyaanisqatsi is perhaps the most powerful piece of all, but the final track Prophecies pushes it all the way. The pace of the CD moves into the frenetic category with middle pieces and matches the fantastic imagery which is present in the film beat for beat.
Overall, think carefully before obtaining this CD. I suggest that you see the film first. If you like the film, you'll want this CD as soon as possible. If you don't understand the power of the film, you'll go nowhere near the CD and save some money.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Top-class music
Koyaanisqatsi ought to belong in any Top N. Possibly the most innovative and touching 'classical' music since Bach. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2010 by David Rutten
Love it!
Just hypnotic. I've been listening to this on spotify, but wanted a more portable copy - job done.
Published on 2 Jan 2010 by C. Millerchip
Seminal ambient work by one of THE creators of the genre.
Philip Glass's film soundtrack "Koyaanisqatsi" is ideally listened to along with the film itself: a film without dialogue directed by Francis Ford Coppola, showing... Read more
Published on 10 Dec 1999 by dthompson@madasafish.com
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