This was interesting from the start. Physics as it applies to the natural world has always been of interest to me so as soon as it mentioned that sound waves forty octaves above middle C become light, I was completely entranced.

It went a little transcendental after that and seemed to strike a balance between science and the metaphysical. The first chapter made an astonishingly good point about the effect of music, how the anger behind gansta rap breeds more anger which made me think of the light-hearted music of the early 1960s that brought out the flower child revolution, then how it was followed by protest music that raised anti-war activism.

Beyond that it went a totally different direction than I was expecting. Having found the book under 'Science', I was expecting information about the dynamics of sound in Physics. Instead it leaned towards the cosmic and I think would be better classified under Philosophy or even Theology.

Despite my misguided expectations, I found the book interesting. There were some ideas presented that gave me a lot of food for thought and although it sometimes got a little over my head, it made too much sense to dismiss as 'just new age'. I did feel there was a lot more on the power of emotion than on the subject of sound, but I did find it an interesting read.

‘Sound’ is one of those books that so positively overwhelms you that you want to share its message with the world. There were so many moments during reading ‘Sound’ where I felt like I was discovering a revelation that I wanted to share with everyone in my life. I kept thinking, “If only everyone understood these concepts and could look at the universe from this perspective, the earth could be a place where harmony, empathy, and pure love would be a cultivated way of life--violence and greed would be undesirable and abnormal”. ‘Sound’ holds you accountable to the quality of your thoughts, emotions, and actions as it proposes that our inner workings are mirrored in reality: “When we think and feel conflict, we get conflict. When we think and feel love, we get love. When we think and feel peace, we get peace. Thus, we choose our destiny by the way of our thoughts, emotions, and deeds—frequencies that propagate human reality and lead to co-creation.” – Sound

I acquired a lot valuable lessons from this book that I can delve further into every day and use to help posture my mind, heart, and spirit. I definitely was left feeling like I had gained important new perspectives on myself and the world. This book made me thinking differently about music, about the social frameworks of our world, and it made me more aware of my true self versus my ego. ‘Sound’ helped me understand more about what is missing from our modern societies, as the majority of humans aren’t giving their energy to what can heal our civilization and the world...instead we are feeding our energy to money machines. I was also very touched by the sincerity, passion, and pureness of the Mendes brothers and their mission…they are truly dedicated to their vision and that is contagiously inspiring.

All that said, I still want to give an honest review, so I will share some of my critical thoughts on ‘Sound’: ‘Sound’ is extremely well written and though I learned many new, valuable concepts, I did find myself zoning out for much of the middle of the book as I found a lot of the same information was being repeated over and over again. After the first 5 chapters I found myself hoping for more in depth information on their knowledge of ancient civilizations but maybe that subject would be better explained in a book of its own. I also realized that I was learning a lot about sound and vibration but I wasn’t learning a whole lot about how to use the information in my own life to really make a change in myself or the world around me. The book definitely helped me understand the concepts that are proposed in the book but I really thirsted for instruction on the application of those concepts! The application of how to cultivate the sound of love in our lives and the world through creating music was explained very briefly at the end of the book but I just found that it was very rushed and I simply didn’t feel satisfied upon finishing the book. I felt like I needed a little extra oomph, something fresh and captivating, to harness my attention. I was hoping that the book would go more in depth on Egyptian spirituality and how we can specifically teach ourselves their perspective on life. I guess what I’m trying to explain is that I really wish that some of the more repetitive information had not been constantly recycled and instead I would have liked to have seen it replaced with a more in-depth look at some of the topics that were lightly touched on.