Search - Joe Hisaishi :: I Am

My favourite Hisaishi solo album!

R. A. Bull | England | 01/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'I am' is the digitally remastered version of this classic Hisaishi solo album. Each piece is a real gem drifting from mood to mood with some inspired ensemble arrangments and performances. 'On the sunny shore' is quite similar to 'sea of blue' from Hisaishi's Hana-bi OST, and instills a perfect sense of calm upon the listener. In contrast there are tracks like 'Modern Strings' which offer very busy staccato rhythms with some jazzy, detective-movie-like chord progressions that spark the imagination. 'Echoes' is a wonderful mixture of african drums, piano, strings, and Erhu (a traditional chinese instrument) taking the limelight and whispering the song's delicate melodies.



If you are new to Hisaishi's work, or if you are familiar with his soundtracks and would like to explore some of his finer solo material, you could do far worse than purchase 'I am' (which is quite possibly his finest solo album to date)."