This album transports the listener to the far reaches of the mind and spirit. More than just evocative of the popular BBC travelogue of the same name or even the specific locales/regions suggested by the track titles, these seamless blendings of traditional worldbeat and electronica draws the listener on a journey of thier own making. The interspersion of variations on the main Lonely Planet Theme weaves a common thread that holds together a diverse musical tapestry of South American drums, African chants, Asian strings and other native instruments and voices from around the world, filled in and enhanced with beautifully-modulated electronic hooks and rythyms.
Perfect backround music when turned down, it easily holds attention when the volume is increased. Invariably when I play this at gatherings I'll catch people bending to listen to some of the tracks or smiling and tapping thier feet to some of the livelier tempos. Someone will inevitably ask: "What -is- this? it's GREAT!" and then I lose ANOTHER copy of it, given away to a grateful discoverer of this really excellent 2-CD set.

Goes along with the great TV series of the same name (now somehow related to the "Globe Trekker" TV series). Great music from around the world. Some surreal; some just plain cool sounding.

We listened to this on a driving vacation to
Colorado and loved it. This is much better than the vol. 2. Lonely Planet. I would recommend this music to anyone.

These recordings are so good that I can't believe they are not more well known. The musicians on the Lonely Planet, V1. and V2. shine in comparison to other well known 'world' musicians (like Deep Forest, B-Tribe and Enigma). Highly recommended to buy both V1 and V2, four CDs for less than 40 US dollars. I can't wait to get on an airplane and listen to this awesome CD set! Long live Lonely Planet!

Lonely Planet released two CDs (Volume #1 and Volume #2) in the mid-1990s to go with its television series. The material on Volume #1 is divided into two CDs: The first combines traditional folk music with electronic orchestration to create a kind "world folk pop." The second CD is a shorter compiliation ambient versions of these same songs. Overall, I like the material on Lonely Planet Volume #1 and feel that it holds up well over repeated listenings. Many of the pieces contain melodic hooks that are not easy to forget. That being said, I do find some of the pieces trite-sounding and annoying over repeated listenings too. Perhaps this is due to the nature of electronic music, which to me lacks the human element that makes for greater artistic depth. At any rate, this CD has made for good "non-thinking" background music in my apartment.