Yoga Sound

by William Ruhlmann Yoga Sound, the second of two albums by yoga instructor Wai Lana and her guru, Siddha (short for Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa), released on the same day in October 1998, is a more conventional Western pop disc than its companion, Yoga Music of the Heart. For both albums, Lana and Siddha composed the music by humming melodies to actual musicians. Eddie Hansen converted their ideas into recordings for the tracks "Radha Kunda," "Sunflower," "Changes," "Sweet Gopala," "Most Beautiful Place," and "Trance," Harvey Mann did the same for "Awakening" and "Mirror of the Mind," and Harry Hansen created the musical settings for "Swan Dance" and "Lionheart." Lana and Siddha take turns singing and reciting Sanskrit mantras along with the music, and sometimes sing together. Some of the words are in English, and they have a poetic, philosophical tone: "The whole world is in the grip of time/Tomorrow can crumble away," etc. The tempos are slow and stately and somewhat similar, though "Most Beautiful Place" sounds like an attempt at a real pop song. This is a less contemplative album than Yoga Music of the Heart, and its more familiar sound also reveals Lana's inadequacies as a singer; Siddha sounds far more assured.