Reviews
10th album, a soundtrack to Hertzog's fantastic Heart of Glass (also known
on LP as Herz Aus Glas & Singet, Denn Der Gesang Vertreibt Die Wolfe...).
Perhaps the archetypal Popol Vuh record: instrumental waves of sound pools,
made up of Fichelscher's hypnotizing guitar, Fricke's rhythmically stunning
piano, and crashing percussion, all performed in a meditative, sacred-minded
atmosphere of elevated consciousness.
Forced Exposure catalogue
Asbjornsen (author of Cosmic Dreams At Play) dubs this "Raga Rock", which I suppose makes
some sense, due not only to Al Gromer's sitar but also to the indubitably Indianish flavor of Fichelscher's
guitar. On the other hand, Ragas are by nature lengthy, drawn-out affairs, whereas Vuh keep the songs
concise and uncomplicated in this soundtrack to Werner Herzog's classic picture. From reflective
tone-poems to almost bombastic anthems, every track is a miniature epic of emotional, religious
expression. Heights are scaled, and the air gets thinner. -MM
New Sonic Architecture catalogue
This is the soundtrack to a movie by Werner Herzog. Basically a continuation of Letzte Tag ..
but completely instrumental and with tranquil Indian flavoured pieces, with Gromer's sitar included.
Cranium Music catalogue
One of several soundtracks Florian Fricke composed for the films of Werner Herzog, Coeur de Verre (Heart from Glass, 1976)
is one of the true masterpieces from Popol Vuh. Utilizing East Indian classical music as its starting point, Fricke and Daniel
Fichelscher (guitars and percussion), with help from Alois Gromer on sitar and flutist Mattias Tippelskirch, have recorded one
of the most blissed-out works in the band's history. Fricke's concentration on nearly painfully slowly developing themes
(yes, even slower than usual) is tempered by the sheer reliance on transcendent euphoria in the processional tempos. The purposeful
control of dynamics is necessary because of the deep emotional and spiritual connotations in the music. Composed to the images
on the screen, the original version of "Sing, for Song Drives Away the Wolves" and the redone "Geimenschaft" appear here and close
the album. Indeed they are its highlights, but that is only after a buildup that demands release after 45 minutes. Many would argue
for one of the choral vocal works like Hosianna Mantra or Sei Still, Wisse ICH BIN as the band's flat-out masterpiece, but in its
purely instrumental incarnation this one is unquestionably Popol Vuh's watermark. There is so much beauty here, it tenderly breaks
the heart over and over again, seemingly effortlessly.
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
