Easy Big Fella

Simple you are sounding like the elitists you disparage. Glass brought "contemporary" and (gasp!) somewhat avant garde music to the masses. I was in college when 'North Star' was released, bought it on a lark and it changed my music listening forever. Saw him perform live in dive bars, art venues, auditoriums and he always connected with his audience. Of course he is controversial and he is NOT a game-changer nor does he deserve the brilliant label. But his music is engaging, challenging and moving and was for a time ground-breaking. Minimalism is to classical as Fusion is to Jazz. A fun but shallow relative that you enjoy in small doses.

still good

EMUSIC-00E2E520

SimpleCritic may be right--Glass might not be brilliant--but I think he's a major reason why contemporary classical music has any reach beyond a cult audience. I can't listen to him much any more, but this one and Einstein on the Beach are genuinely pretty great, maybe even brilliant. The music here is deeply repetitive, even for Glass. It's not for everyone. Incidentally, you can get the 4 cd set on amazon for $16.36. Save 6 cents here, though! Until your hard drive freaks out and you find you need to cough up $16.30 to download another copy. . .

Wow

Apemantus

SimpleCritic has issues! Live and let live, man. You're the one who sounds like the elitist. This album is top-shelf Philip Glass, is you're into that sort of thing. And it's OK if you're not!

Glass is NOT brilliant.

SimpleCritic

This may be a good deal in terms of how many minutes your penny can purchase. It is NOT however, worth listening to. Glass is no more a brilliant composer than McDonalds' food is gourmet cuisine. Glass' music epitomizes why and how 'classical' music nearly ceased to be relevant. It is music for the sake of shock and inaccesability. Do yourselves a favor and don't let the establishment convince you that rubish is art just because most people will never 'get it' or appreciate it. Those who do, do because it makes them feel elite.

Brilliant early Glass, great bargain

MarkSullivan

This is the masterpiece of Glass's early years; I think Part One is still one of his best compositions. You get a three CD set for 12 credits: a real bargain. Update: it's $16.30 now, less than $22.99 at Amazon, but not the bargain it was.