Best of Kitaro

Kitaro's masterwork remains this two-record score for a Japanese TV series. His most ambitious themes and involved playing are found here. Kitaro's music is fluid and harmonic, as he blends smooth electronic lines with influences from traditional Japanese music, rock, and the romantic Western tradition. Silk Road is a phenomenal success and very possibly the best Kitaro release. There are incredible transitions throughout the pieces, making this a true masterpiece and a treasure to own. Silk Road, Vol. 2 is the second collection from Kitaro's soundtracks for the Japanese television series of the same name.

Sensitively woven, tranquil textures of sound wash through the mind of the listener on this album from sound master Kitaro. The instrumentation includes synthesizers, slide guitar, mellotron, percussion, tabla and Irish harp.

George Fenton delivers on his soundtrack for Anna and the King with an instrumental score that deftly mixes sweeping orchestrations with ethnic percussion. The main theme "Arrival at the Palace" begins with a very exotic violin solo that quickly blossoms into an epic orchestral movement seemingly ready to crescendo at a moment's notice (and it does!). Shorter cues such as "Letter of the Week" and "The House" are passages that perfectly convey the movie's exoticism and its melancholic moods. Throughout, Fenton's music seems to balance between excitement and sadness–the perfect sonic interpretation of The King and I's classic tale. Obviously, many folks will turn to this soundtrack for Joy Enriquez's Babyface-produced single "How Can I Not Love You," included at the very beginning of this disc. One hopes they'll stick around long enough to enjoy the film's score, one of Fenton's very best.