Popol Vuh - Letzte Tage, Letzte Nächte. 1976 Germany

Letzte Tage, Letzte Nächte is Popol Vuh's 7th album, and represents a powerful statement for Florian Fricke and company. Fichelscher's guitar strums loudly, while he bashes away triumphantly on whatever percussion is laying around. Djong Yun and Renate Knaup chant along in their feminine, transcendent manner. Popol Vuh would never sound so heavy again, preferring the atmospheric soundtrack music that colors their future work. Perhaps their finest 30 minutes on record.

Personal collection
LP: 1976 United Artists
CD: 2006 Arcangelo (Japan)
CD: 1992 Spalax (France)

The album is notorious for sounding tinny, and it's a pity such a powerful work is left to die with such a poor production, especially in a country known for just the opposite. I assure you the original LP is not much better than the awful CDs. I do appreciate that Arcangelo tried to do something, even if it's a bit distorted in places. The single sleeve artwork, however, perfectly captures the ethos of the recording. Arcangelo's mini-LP is a perfect rendition, and comes with the German booklet that I presume accompanied the domestic SPV reissues. I've had this on LP going back to the late 80s and have upgraded a couple of times. My first CD copy was from Spalax. I prefer Arcangelo's version in every way.