Kitaro crafts this musical journey from the ancient chronicle (Kojiki) that recounts the birth of Japan and it’s people. Featuring the string section from the Skywalker Symphony, along with Kitaro’s signature keyboard and flute sounds, the score to this thematic backdrop is full of passion and beauty that is masterfully conceived, arranged and performed.
We learn from the liner notes of this 1990 release that Kojiki, is from the story of the same name familiar to Japanese school children, an ancient account of the creation of Japan. It is a mythical tale that provides a fitting thematic backdrop for the swelling symphonic flourishes that Kitaro uses liberally on this recording. Accompanied by a pop-rock ensemble, violinist Steve Kindler, and the string section from George Lucas's Skywalker Symphony Orchestra, Kitaro arranges a cinematic mix of drama and mystery that brings to mind the symphonic, crescendo-heavy side of John Tesh--appropriate for a fable that involves cataclysms, a hero's quest, a fair maiden, and a battle with an eight-headed dragon. Kitaro's keyboards and flutes are sometimes submerged in the mix, perhaps lost in the Celestial Rock Cave or swept away under the Bridge of Rainbows, but the intended attraction here is the widescreen flash and pop-orchestral dash generated by more than two-dozen pop and classical musicians. Overall, it may be a bit heavy-handed for New Age fans and a touch too pretty for progressive fans. The most effective piece is the disc's concluding work,"Reimei," a sweetly stirring, bell-chiming anthem. Overwrought to some, a masterpiece to others.
