Hymn to the Immortal Wind (Anniversary Edition)

While not as consistently engaging as You Are There, this album has a celebratory feel to it that may appeal more to some than the dark melancholy of its preceding album. The orchestra is also bigger and gives the album a more giant sound. Pure as Snow is the favorite, a piece that begins with the most serene guitar work on the album and climaxes into a ripping cacophony of guitar feedback. Ashes in the Snow and Burial at Sea stand out as well. The album art is perfect and I highly reccomend buying the CD if you choose to buy this album. The booklet contains artwork and poems for each song.

This is Mono's best work to date. You will not find a better ending to an album than on this album.

"mono" implies "single", "one thing", like monotone or monochrome. a snese of loneliness. The name is so fitting...yet is so wrong. This is by far one of the most stunning albums I've ever heard. It takes post rock to a whole new level. Post rock makes use of being as minimalistic as possible while sounding as large as possible. But MONO really does an amazing job on this. You will get lost in their songs, among the glockenspiels and pianos until you find a wall of strings and wailing guitars. The album as many describe sounds "pretty" or "beautiful". That's an underestimate. The name of the album shows the granduer power of the album: "Hym to the Immortal Wind". The album cover parallels this album beautifuly: a boy and a girl floating through a blue ambience to the surface, with a school of hammerheads in the distance. The opener just deplays this albums serenity and wrath so beautifully. "Ashes in the Snow" sets up its landscape of beautiful delicate sounds before eventually ultimately obliterating everything it touches with its climax. Strings have never sounded more pure then they did in that song. This album should be in every post-rocker's collection. If you're a fan of "Mogwai", "Explosions in the Sky", "Sigur Rós", "Yndi Halda", "Do Make Say Think", "The Evpatoria Report", etc. then this is a must-have.

The music is beautiful...just wish the drums weren't so damn loud.

I feel that this is more than just a beautiful sound, but more like a story from begining to end of darkness, hatred,love,joy,despair, bliss, redemption, power, and madness! I feel almost all of those emotions by listening just to the first song. This is the first time I've ever felt such a large spectrum of emotions intertwined into music so deeply. Truely impressive work! I've instantly became a fan of MONO.

I have honestly never seen such a short-sighted point of view in my life... He could have atleast ranted on the repetitive themes or slow build-ups (which to clarify I enjoy, hence the 5 stars), but instead he cites that music is non-existant without words. Have you ever heard of anything besides pop, conventional rock, rap (oouuughhh, nightmare!), and hip-hop (or whatever your going to call it). Music is instrumental, singing simply is another instrument, which Mono chooses not to include, just as it chooses not to include say a contrabassoon or piccolo to name a few. Singing to me is an untoned, variable instrument which is extremely unreliable and prone to voice cracks, and the like. Beauty is the conveyed message on this album, and it seems you are to short sighted to see it, a horrendous shame. Judging by the average rating being 4.5 stars, I think many people agree with the statement I am making, that yours is valid (as all opinions are) to you, yet it is unfair that you are trying to convince other people that this masterpiece is "pretentious", which is another way of saying that it is too complicated or long-winded for whoever is saying it to undersatnd. If that is the case for this album, I really feel sorry for you Buff bob123.

Save your money. This is truly an terrible, painfully pretenscious album that has ochestral asperations. Just a lot of clashing cymbals. No words just noise that is suppose to be music. Buy Formica Blues or some Patrick O'Hearn album if you want words or interesting themes.

Was my least favorite MONO album until I saw them pretty much do the whole thing live. Now its my favorite front to back.

I truely love this album. It tells a beautiful story and takes you along for the ride! This is a much purchase album.

Gone are the dark, apocalyptic tones of their previous album. This album is pure beauty. The orchestra is utilized perfectly as well. These tracks are very uplifting and celebratory in a way. Also you might want to actually purchase the physical album because each track has it's own artwork and story to go along with it. Mono are truly artists. Recommended for anyone who enjoys post rock.