New Age Music

I was a bit disappointed with this offering from Krishna Das. The sound is good but the content is somewhat forced. Compared with "Breath Of The Heart" which is a masterpiece of chant done in a most natural way, this album has a quality of "Let's knock their socks off!"
Still, it is all good even if it does not have the intimacy I found in his other works.

I became hooked on this album because my yoga teacher would play it at the end of our routines while we were laying down and resting/meditating. Krishna Das has a lot of albums, but after browsing through most (including Best of Krishna Das) I keep coming back to this one as the very best. The songs are mostly upbeat and catchy, and profound as always. The live audience singing gives a great feel that "Best of Krishna Das" doesn't.

This cd was the closest to actually siting in the presence of Krishna Das and his assistants. The last tune I appreciate the most since it brings up many years in different Christian Religions I have participated in. Knowing now the intent of the heart is all that God requires. But the happiness and joy that fill that heart are brought to life by Das' chantings.

Krishna Das is amazing. He is universally recognized as the best at what he does, and this 2-disk set is full of his best work. If you only buy one kirtan style chant CD, this is the one I would recommend.

I owned this collection for a few years and it disappeared into someone else's life who probabaly needed it at the time. I just rebought it because I found that I was longing for it. It is addictive listening and always makes me feel like I can walk on water and make miracles happen just by inhaling the vibration. When I listen to it I tend to spend the day putting things in order, cleaning house, and feeling light.

THIS IS A MUST HAVE CD FOR ALL TRUE IRISH BLOODED PEOPLE OUT THERE. THIS IS THE BEST CD YET RIVERDANCE HAS MADE.

I have every Riverdance DVD and have watched the live show once. This CD is based on the original production (With Michael Flatley and Jean Butler) and while it might not carry the "excitement" of the original show as others have commented, it is a great way to remember the beautiful music and orchestration when you are not close to a DVD player to enjoy the video production. The unfortunate thing in listening to the "soundtrack" of a live/video production is that separated from its visual context, it can be difficult to understand or appreciate. Riverdance is a visual as well as a sound experience. If you have never watched the show, it would certainly be hard to appreciate the music in this CD. I listen to it frequently and love the music more each time. If you are a Riverdance fan, this CD is a must. It's simply superb.

I recently saw the show live & was excited to get the soundtrack. However, as many other reviewers have noted, it was a big disappointment - it doesn't match the charisma of the show. While it does have some great songs on it, you just don't get the feeling you got while actually watching the show, which was a tremendous feeling of excitement & thrill. I must add, I did pick up the 'Lord of Dance' soundtrack & was happily impressed.

Not the type of music I had envisioned...much slower than I was hoping for.

First off, I'm 16 years old. I love music, just about every kind there is. I never cared for Riverdance before until last year when I listened to a song from "Lord of the Dance" completely by accident and then went from there. Now, I completely appreciate it, and I believe it's the best stuff I've ever listened to, and I don't regret it all. It's very refreshing, and it just calms you down, and I swear, some of the songs on here sends shivers down my spine even after listening to it for a good year now. While I don't like every song on the CD like I do with "Lord of the Dance" I still think the music is special and unique in its own way. The music from "Lord of the Dance" is more...alive, but "Riverdance" is good for relieving stress, meditating, or for filling you up with so much emotion it could make you cry. Honestly, it's all great.

If you're not convinced yet, then here's a breakdown by song!
REEL AROUND THE SONG: As one person has already said: PERFECT! This is probably the best on the CD. It's starts a little slow with the flute(but then, you learn to love it, the more you listen to it) and then as it progresses, it gets better and better, and then, even better. So it's perfect in every way. But then, considering the song is almost nine minutes long, it better be good.
THE HEART'S CRY: This is a vocal. Nice song, beautiful lyrics, a voice I could tolerate, and I'm just starting to appreciate vocals.
COUNTESS CATHLEEN/WOMEN OF THE SIDHE: Another personal favorite that's almost perfect. The first is very light and pretty, but I love the second half! Very lively and I actually dance to it.
CAOINEADH CU CHULAINN/LAMENT: This is one of the songs that fills you up with emotion and shivers down your spine. It's a very sad (well, the song's called "Lament"), emotional song, and I still listen to it with fresh ears, and probably always will.
SHIVNA: This is another vocal. The only problem with it, is that it's in another language (I'm guessing Gaelic) so I don't know what the heck they're saying, but that doesn't stop me from loving it. Ironically, it's my favorite vocal on here.
FIREDANCE: A mix of Celtic and Spanish music and the results are pretty good. The end of the song is really the only good part of the song though. The beginning's too slow for me.
SLIP INTO SPRING: Very light and incredibly sweet and one of my favorites.
RIVERDANCE: Another favorite (you're probably getting tired of me saying that),it's true. The lyrics are good, the music's beyond great. You really outdid yourself, Whelan.
AMERICAN WAKE: This song falls in the middle. Starts off a wee bit repetitive, but gets better as it progresses.
LIFT THE WINGS: A vocal. Well, the music in the beginning was great. But I just can't get into the song. I think it's the voice that drives me away. Good lyrics though.
MACEDONIAN MORNING: Blah. That's the only word I can use to describe this song. This song can't move me at all. It doesn't go anywhere, it's tiring and dull and flat, and it wouldn't harm the CD if they took this song out.
MARTA'S DANCE/THE RUSSIAN DERVISH: Another (you guessed it!) favorite. It's a mix of Celtic and Russian music, and yes it is a little too repetitive and long, but it's still good and the last two minutes of the song is my favorite part.
ANDALUCIA: I enjoy this song from time to time, it's good, just not as memorable as the other songs.
HOME AND THE HEARTLAND: This song's altogether cute. The lyrics and the music are cute, and the voice that sings it is so tender and beautiful. My second favorite vocal.
HARVEST: Lovely song, falls in the middle and there's some parts that I especially love.
RIVERDANCE (REPRISE): Uh,good, but I'll stick with original.

I don't regret buying this CD at all and I'm sure you'll love this as much as I do. There will be at least one song on here you'll like if not all. If you love emotion and beauty, and you're passionate about music, then you'll love this.

THE "FROM THE SKY TRACK" IS ALL THAT I WAS INTRIGUED ABOUT. VERY NICE.
THE REST OF THE ALBUM SEEMED ALL THE SAME STUFF AND GOT BORING ST TIMES. THE TRACKS ALL SEEMED PREDICTABLE AND SHALLOW.
THX.,
RON

This is a CD that is just beautiful from the first song to the last. It is a very relaxing.

Ryan Farish's follow-up to his successful "Beautiful" release is simply spiritually majestic! The simple piano melodies will haunt you and stay with you.His style has changed a little bit overall with this one and now seems to evoke more of a "New Age" religious tone and might even be appropriate for a church setting.Many tracks on this release are so stirring that they still bring me to tears because of the emotions of joy and hopefulness that they convey.

I imagine that when man first discovered/created music that it served one of two functions. It was used either for dancing or to "soothe the troubled heart". Ryan Farish's music is definitely the latter of these two types, with a hint of the first. His music has a soaring quality that makes you believe that there really is a Heaven, even if it is only between one's ears.

How gorgeous is this CD? titles and details are not important. Just play it. It is one of the most lush and beautiful New Age pieces I have or have heard. It is not abstract, but also not so structured that you will confuse it with light jazz. It is not rythmic. Fat production and haunting powerful melodies. None of the sadness associated with some of the Euro New Age. This piece will relax, and make you happy with the world !

The product was great!! And, the delivery/seller company,"thth70", sent me the Audio CD within a couple a days... Thanks, and thanks to the "thth70" company.

This CD is incredible! The way it is written with syllabic (rather than real) words makes the music itself more expressive.

When I first heard Adiemus, I was very enchanted and somehow all my thoughts just went away, making me feel very relaxed. I believe that Karl Jenkins and Miriam Stockley did a great job with all their music. It's something that I can listen to while I do my homework.

I would also like to add that for those of you who feel that this has no music in it, maybe it's because you're interests in music lies in other styles other than Karl Jenkins'. The music isn't exactly "world music", but it's supposed to give that idea with some Celtic and European influences. Also, the words are all made up, so if you don't understand it, don't worry about it too much. The idea of using the human voice in these songs is to feel relaxed. And for those of you who claim that she is crying at an unbearable pitch, apparently you have not heard people that think they are sopranos when they're not. Stockley is a great singer . Her voice sounds amazing in all these songs. But if you still don't like it, fine, it's your opinion. After all, people's tastes in music differ person to person. I happen to enjoy new age music as well as classical, pop, some rock, and anything that I feel fits for lyrical or modern dances. And some people who like other music in this genre may not like what they hear on this album just because of our different tastes. So I do recommend listening to the samples first before you make your decision of buying this CD.

I remember listening to Pure Moods Vol.1 as a kid and the track Adiemus was forever on repeat. Then, in highschool I discovered that there was an entire collection of this beautiful music! It's absolutely stunning.

It's strange that some people find this album repetitive or uninspired. Really weird. Because whenever I play it, I have to stop whatever I'm doing and just listen. Next thing I know, the entire album is over and I feel like I just stepped out of a dream. It's so enchanting it makes my heart skip a beat.

This all probably sounds like a bunch of hippie-hoohah, but I really, really, REALLY love this album. The orchestrations, the vocals, the melody, the flow, everything. It's the best out of the entire Adiemus Project.

I danced to Adiemus and thought it was amazing; however, just listening to it didn't do the same thing for me. I am going back to Andrea Bocelli or Mozart's Mass or Handel's Messiah for true passion.

This recording is the best I've heard as far as imaging is concerned. The thunder moves slowly from one side to the other... very precise! Close your eyes and you can pinpoint the sound of the thunder... exactly where it is at any moment... BUT the thunder sounds rather tinny. as if they used very cheap microphones to record the sound of the thunder seperately from the sound of the rain. I've seen more than my share of thunderstorms in my life... and this recording is only accurate in how the sound of the thunder moves... not what it sounds like. Thunder starts as a "crack" then trails off to very low frequency rumbling as it crosses the landscape. Not so in this recording. The crack is there at the outset... but trails off into rumbling that sounds more like a cheap sound effect from a 1960's sound effects recording. If you have a high-end sound system, you might be sorely disappointed in this recording

I bought this for relaxation, but found that I am basically unable to listen to it. There are some nice periods of rolling thunder or gentle rain, but just as you start to relax you are jolted from your seat by an incredibly loud explosion of thunder. This CD actually RAISES my stress levels.

OK, I'm here at Amazon to get a new "Thunderstorm" CD/MP3 and have just now deleted my copy of "Electrifying Thunderstorms" and took a loss on the purchase. Here's the deal:

* - The quality is above average, but not great.

* - But heeeere's the clincher. About half-way through the almost hour-long 'Thunderstorm' you get the most obnoxiously LOUD ear-splitting crash of thunder you can imagine. Just like living in Tornado Alley, this baby crashes so loud it's woken me up for nights; to the point where I purposely GOT UP and shut it off. This crash of thunder is a real Linda Blair moment, if you know what I mean. I thought I'd give it a chance, and finally, FINALLY gave up on this CD just due to this particular Thunder-From-Hell moment.

Now of course in real life, when thunder hits right over your home, this is what you would hear. But c'mon. That's the beauty of Mother Nature. But that's REAL LIFE. And that's OK. But to buy a CD with the same ear-splitting over-the-house thunder crash is not what we buy these CDs for.

Just thought I'd share my thoughts. I'll sleep to the amazing "Mountain Stream" by "Natural Sounds" that I just downloaded for $0.99 cents. The quality is one of the best digital recordings I've ever heard, where every drop of water is waaaaay better than the numerous "white noise" wannabe so-called "rain recordings"... trust me.

I love going to sleep to the sound of thunderestorms and for quite a while I have been trying to find that WITHOUT someones music interferring with the sound of the storm. This is it!

This CD is great to fall asleep to, or just relax and read to. You get all the powerful sounds of a storm, without the worry of losing your electricity or flooding! It's a wonderful relaxation/sleep tool!

I love the poems. This first volume has more emphasis on the poems as oppose to the second volume which has great instruments and poems.

These are some of the most amazing musical poems of our time. I'm always happy to read Rumi, and even happier to listen to this kind of music.

This is a great CD .... the music reaches to the depth of my soul and connects me to love .... helps me to maintain a space of love or reconnect when I'm not in balance.

I wanted to buy this cd. But I heard some poems on you-tube.
Mr. Depak's voice is kind of a turn of.

It is interesting that westerners are so Islamophobic that they totally omit Rumi's most important work about Islamic Mysticism (aka sufism) which is called the Mathnawi ( a six volume Poem).

The Mathnawai is Rumi's best work and has been translated in english beautifully, while being itself a work of immense and sublime beauty. Since it is about ISLAM, and God, I guess it is not worth touching.

'Mathnawi' is what made Rumi immortal and put him on the map, Not his 'Love Poems' to be mutilated by some pop-psychs and of all fake people 'Madonna'.

This is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I love to play it as background music when I am practicing yoga, or working on the computer. I feel that it has very positive energy, and if you choose to turn up the volume and just listen, it will fully engage you.

It can be difficult to find music that can be played over and over as soft or loud as you like, but this cd is exceptional. I am anxious to try more of B Tribe's music. I forgot to mention that I discovered this cd while at a yoga studio where the instructor was playing it, but it is much more than just music for yoga. It is actually in a category of its own. Anyone who is looking for music that is unusual yet absolutely wonderful to listen to, will love Spiritual, Spiritual.

Perfect - Just as expected. All that was necessary was to clean up the CD jewel case of all the sticky labels that were adhering to it. An application of solvent (WD-40) and elbow grease did the job!

Since opening the CD about eight hours ago, I have been playing it nonstop, bumping up the volume about every hour or so. So what if I can't concentrate on my work and keep getting distracted by the Spanish guitar, easy rhythms and haunting vocals? This is perfect background music, if you can resist the temptation to put the music forward. Except for the ones I absolutely love, I like every single track on this disc. Purchase and B-happy.

This is mood altering music in the best way. Touches of Classical, Flamenco, Jazz, Renaissance, Pink Floyd and Moby. One of the most beautiful CDs I own. Truly inspired, deeply moving musical journeys. They were in a great place when they made this, and it shows. My favorite of the B-Tribe albums, Spiritual Spiritual lives up to it's name. Superbly recorded. Highest rating and recommendation.

I play this in my massage practice. This CD is amazing and transports you where your mind takes you. People LOVE this CD and I get many requests for where to buy it, what the name of it is, etc. This is definitely a favorite and is highly recommended.

Graceful Passages: A Companion for Living and Dying (Wisdom of the World)

I purchased this book after hearing one of the selections at a retreat, in March. The music was so amazingly soothing and calming, and the words were so wonderful, I came home and ordered it, Sunday afternoon.

The Book and CD arrived by the end of the week. I was amazed at how quickly it arrived. I began to listen to it in my car. What a jewel. Each selection was better than the last. There are selections by Kubler-Ross, Ram Dass, Lew Epstein, Jyoti, Ghandi, and even the song Swing Low...which is done in a way that will leave you breathless.

3 weeks later, I was planning the memorial service for my parents whose ashes I was finally going to get to spread. I again went to the Graceful Passages, and began to look for just the right words and music, and I was able to find it here.

I really love the music, words, feelings of this cd, and the booklet that accompanies it. There is even a separate cd of just music with no spoken word in case you want to listen to just the music.

Graceful Passages is a collection of thoughts on dying, written and spoken by folks who come from different perspectives and accompanied by simply beautiful music. It is a treasure to share with a person who is dying, as well as a treasure for the living. I have bought Graceful Passages over and over again for people facing death and their families, and everyone loves it. We played it many times in my mother's room as she was dying. Each piece is is so peaceful, easing fears of the unknown. I listen to it and always find it inspiring. It is appropriate for people of many faiths...

Top notch. Very graceful and respectful. Helpful even when going through difficult times personally. A friend of mine had this playing in the background as she did Healing Touch work on me. I relaxed very deeply and let go into the experience. I use it to play in the background to go to sleep at times. The messages are simple and stay with you. There is a wonderful variety of cultures and experiences; seriousness and mirth. Highly recommended.

My father is in the final stages of Parkinsons and suffers from dementia. I purchased this cd hoping it would calm him and enable him to find some peace with the transition he is experiencing. What did happen was that it helped ME. It brought me answers and a loving understanding of what he was going through. I decided to purchase the cd for each of my siblings to bring them the peace it brought to me.

I think this cd and book that accompys it is truly a comfort for anyone
who is trying to help with the death process or for someone who is dying
and looking for a peaceful way to die. It has helped me to look at
death in a totally different way and is a definite guide to aiding others
through this process. Thank you to the authors and musicians.........

Ashley-Farrand chants the mantras without making a big, spacey musical production out of it the way some others do.

Great explanation of mantras and how to use them, as well as, many mantras to use for most any problem

I would recommend this C.D., but I would say it is good to have the book that is sold separately. I have them both, and it helps clarify certain things when you have the book, and the C.D., in turn, helps you pronounce the mantras correctly. I have not listened to all the mantras on the C.D., and I focus on a particular one that I have decided to chant. Later on, through the use of the book, I will choose another mantra and listen to it on the C.D. I do use the Malas for countring my mantras (they are like rosaries, but have 108 beads instead of 54), and I got mine from e-bay.

Contrary to "A Customer" and DJ, I'd recommend both the CD and Book right off. I first took this CD and TA-F's book on Chakra Mantras, having had some experience w/ Kundalaini Yoga and thinking to spread out a tentative investment. That book is also quite good, though without being so well written to the Mantra beginner as is 'Healing Mantras'.

Right away, I found 'Healing Mantras' at a local bookstore and recognized my error. The CD's pamphlet is very brief. There's a vast universe living in the book.

Some vendors carry both as a set. Might as well go that way. The CD will help a lot with pronounciation And find yourself a Mala while you're at it.

Thomas Ashley-Farrand is a scholar, and his approach to explaining matras is scholarly. That does not mean he is detached. He has developed a deep interest and seems to believe in their efficacy. His writings and demonstration CD's are not meant for beginners in Hindu practice nor for those who have only a passing interest in Hindu ritual. For those, he perhaps explains too much in too much detail. However, for the serious student of Hinduism, you could not find a more expert study.

This was not what I had in mind. After you listen for 5 minutes or so it begins to sound like radio static. There is not enough variation in the sound. It is constant pouring rain. There is no other noise. No distant thunder or anything, just constant pouring rain. If you want something just to make noise this is OK for that, but I had more soothing sounds in mind when I purchased the CD. Not worth the price I paid.

I wanted a cd to help me sleep becuase I live in an apartment building with noisy neighbors and a fiancee that snores. I knew it had to be even sounds, no music or large variations in sound, becuase that wakes me up. This cd is just the sound of rain, with white noise in the background. My fiancee says it just sounds like static to him, but when I put it on at bedtime, I fall asleep almost instantly and even when my neigbor is being noisy, I don't get woken up nearly as much. Good find!

Now that I've had a week to go to sleep to this wonderful cd there's no living without it. The sound of soft dripping rain blocks out everything else and even my cats are sleeping through the night because of it. If you're looking for a sleep cd, don't even hesitate on this one, order it.

I have been searching for a good "Play through the Night" CD to keep our Dog from hearing noises and a good background for sleeping. This is the best yet! We had Ocean Surf for over a year, but there wasn't enough consistency of sound - the obvious ebb and flow created too many quiet times. This was fine for my Wife and I, but not our Dog. This Rain CD has just the right amount of "slight" variation in sound - so it's not just a constant Hiss as with a White Noise generator. This gives it some interest, doesn't become monotonous.

Recommended!

This is the best gift for anyone who is expecting a baby or has one under 6 months. Turns the babies off like a switch!