Reviews (page 7 of 8)
So hard to rate when they come from a different culture and different language. From what I tried to take away I didn’t find anything overly interesting.
I dunno man, maybe it’s cultural bias or straight up xenophobia but I find his guttural tone so harsh and ugly. I don’t mind a lot of the production, I enjoyed C’est la Nuit and I think Imagine works. But the meat of this 2 hour album is unpleasant for me.
This was nice enough, but the duets plus the weird Imagine cover dragged it down. Best track: Mele H'bibti
A wonderful surprise, from an artist I had never heard of before, and a genre I had never listened to. Makes me more determined by than ever to visit francophone north Africa - perhaps the only place where Albert Camus and Andy Mcnab both set books!
This isn't a style of music I typically get to listen to, and for that alone I appreciate this album's inclusion on the list. Not sure this will enter my regular rotation, but certainly encourages me to expand my horizons (I have a soft spot for Arab music)
Nicely done once again, 1001 Albums Project: introducing me to yet another artist, album, and style I probably would not otherwise encounter. I really like this album. So many of the elements are different from what my ear typically hears musically, particularly the main components like harmony, rhythm, and melody, so it's wonderful to enjoy the way it contrasts with most music I've heard. There is also a solid sense of soul and emotion in the performance of each track. Khaled is so good! Thank you, 1001 Albums, for opening my mind and listening ears so beautifully.
Niin uskomattoman perus poppia samoilla vinkula vankula äänillä aina kuuluu ahmadin autossa ku mennään päristään... Vihaan poppia.. ei auta vaikka kieltä vaihdatetaan... Uskomattoman paska kokemus.. Vängähtävä arab tone kiinnostava.. siitä jos joku selittäisi meikäpojalle.. ETTÄ MIKSI KUULLOSTAA PITÄÄ EPÄVIREISELTÄ MIKSI.. siis haluan ymmärtää.... miten päätä heiluttana epävireinen tone vilauttaa menemään.. Onko ylös alas häh.. sanotaanko "Awww broo dirty ass vingahdus" häh mikä homma... Olen albumin yläpuolella. Tämä ei ole isku Algerialaisia kohtaan. Tämä on isku kriitikko himolle (on haukku heh ruskea reikä heh) joka ei löytänyt algeriasta oikeaa artistia joka leikittelisi arab vinku tonella.. ei joutuisi sen leikiteltäväksi... Progressive vinkuna...
French Arab style music. Non for me
Or when Khaled reached out to the world, not my fav of his.
This was really nice at first, 4/5 stars experience. Then I thought it got so repetitive I wanted to turn it off, 1/5 stars experience. I realized too late it's because the Youtube playlist I played the album on was repeating songs. But regardless the songs started to all sound the same. 3/5 final answer.
I was surprised by the creative mix of Jazz and Funk he used with the northern African elements. Especially the second half of the album got me. Unexpected!
This listener infinitely guilty of monolingual sins, Kenza's forgetability in each track's case comes down to production. Especially notable in the list context, this is clearly not music to be categorized "world": It's pop, this album crafted only partially for global, beiging taste.
Very fun and peppy music! There are some jazzy flairs and really interesting singing styles. I enjoyed it!
I have no frame of reference or culture context to evaluate this by. However, it is - objectively - an enjoyable album.
This album didn't exist on spotify or Youtube. So I had a harder time with it than anything on the list. I did find various songs by the artist, including an interesting cover of Lennon's "Imagine" and some that had titles which indicate they *might* be from this album. Still not sure. All mostly foreign language but seems well representative of the genre and there is talent present. I enjoyed a listen to a few songs but would never seek it out again.
osea supongo que saber que esto existe me sirve,,, 6/10
Pleasant music, didn't need 80 minutes of it
Not available on Spotify. 1 song was pretty good
Pretty nice album and definitely not something you hear every day. Also, why couldn't the many people complaining about it listen to it on Spotify? I found it immediately and it worked fine.
Probably not something I'd listen to again, but I enjoyed it for the most part. It was interesting that, although the vocals were mostly in Arabic, the style of music was more western with just a bit of a Middle Eastern sound. 3 stars.
Best: E'Dir E'Sseba Worst: El Bab
I listened to a song or two from Khaled. It's too bad I can't listen to Kenza on Spotify. This sounds interesting.
First, I have to ask the editors here: of all the many millions of non English speaking albums out there, why is it, exactly, that you picked this one over everything else? As to the album at hand, the music is not too bad but it’s at more or less the quality of a middle eastern wedding soundtrack. Entertaining, to one extent or another, but that’s more or less it.
Well, it's pretty easy listening global pop, interesting to hear how Western textures and music programming infiltrate other genres. An inexplicable cover of Imagine however downgrades this from a three to a two.
Dat dit project mijn horizon verbreedt is duidelijk. Dit was ook weer zo'n verrassing. Heel erg poppy wel, maar zeker niet slecht
Not really my style of music, so really more a 2-star album in terms of enjoyment. However, it was a good experience in terms of learning about music from different cultural backgrounds and definitely not an album I mind playing in the background - so, rounded up to 3 stars. Even if it's not always my preferred style, this list would really benefit from some more cultural diversity like this Khaled album.
Horribly dated production and bland. I like some of Khaled's other albums but this is a bizarre choice, borderline unlistenable. El Harba Wine is a tune tho
It is hard to get around the language barrier but if you listen to the musicianship on some tracks, it is pro. Production overall isn’t that bad. It spanned a lot of different genres from hip hop, to francophone, Arabic / African rhythms and Caribbean beats, electronic and disco.
I respect that this may be pretty progressive for it’s fine and place of release, but it didn’t really do it for me.
E’Dir E’Ssba is a jam despite what the critics say.
I didn’t hate this, but I couldn’t say I really enjoyed it either.
Got to second track and stopped. Seriously.... 1001 albums and they chose this? Not for me, it was busting my head trying to listen to this. A load of bols
Not for me.
only el harba wine available on spotify
I didn't expect an Algerian disco on this list! I think it is fair to include it in here, especially with how popular Khaled is among the french/arabic speaking population (which in itself is pretty huge). Unfortunately, as a person from a different culture (especially in a musical way) I had a hard time enjoying this album. I'm not a fan of nineties disco or pop, and mixing it with a style so foreign for me just makes it too much of a leap in one go. I truly believe Khaled is a great singer and writer, but I think he would understand that's his music was not targeted at an audience like me.
Average. Liked some of the instrumentals though.
wel van genoten, kon elk nummer wel waarderen, maar niets sprong eruit voor mij
Ja..
Ik was heel blij om weer eens een keer iets anders te moeten luisteren, maar vond dit nog best wel tegenvallen. Al helemaal toen er ineens een cover van Imagine kwam?? Verder sommige nummers echt wel lekkere stukjes ertussen maar las ook een review dat het soms een plaat lijkt voor taxi-chauffeurs en dat snap ik dan ergens ook wel weer. 2,5
Was enthousiast om een niet-Westers album te krijgen, maar dat viel toch mee. Het begon leuk en toen was er ineens een imagine cover? Wel geïnteresseerd in Rai geworden dus ga de komende dagen wat meer checken. 2.5
I'm interested because it is quite different (the sound of it) from what I listen to normally, but it doesn't sound so good everything considered
It’s not really my cup of tea, but I appreciate that it got me listening to something completely different and for the time being I actually enjoyed it. That Imagine cover was the absolute worst though..
This Khaled album is hard to find. Good beats and production.
I had to listen to this on YouTube, and the quality was not great. But I thought this was fine. I have not listened to music like this before, so it was new for me.
Someone loves this. Good for them.
couldn't find on streamer. boo.
Pretty generic and… elevatory…
I don't drive a taxi, so why the fuck would I listen to this?
very cool
Probably an important album but not my taste. I tried it twice but nothing grabbed me. Interesting, at least, to listen to and think about the different song structures and singing styles.
I was totally surprised by this album, as I did not look this up at all. That first track comes on, and man that really slammed. It really gave that "Kashmir" vibe. The problem as the songs continued on, a lot of them started to sound the same. The only ones that sounded different were a bit cringe-y, like the cover of "Imagine". Wow, that was pretty rough (to be fair, there are certain songs that really should not be covered, except maybe live in the moment. And that's one of them, IMO.) So when he tried to stretch out into something a bit different, it did not seem to work, and staying in his lane the songs started to sound very similar. It is a curse of a lot of acts, isn't it? So I would definitely pick a track or two off this, but not hear the whole album in one shot.
Some really awesome pieces in here, and then some real head scratchers. The opening of Aâlach Tloumouni is kick ass, such a cool sound. El Harba Wine is pretty good too - great tempo and good vocal combination. And then C'est la nuit is a beautiful slower piece - found myself singing along to the chorus (at least the title). From there though, a lot of shoulder shrugs, or worse. His cover of Imagine is not good. From Trigue Lycee to Ya Aâchkou was okay, but those songs sounded like 70's or 80's funk ripoffs - a bit too much imitation and not enough innovation. The sequence from Melha to El Bab was better - not as good as the opening 3-song sequence but still admirable. And then another strange turn with El Aâdyene and Gouloulha-Dji that sounded like cheap 80's fare or bad mambo - overproduced, throwing in horns or brass or other instruments to sound hip but really sounding a bit campy. Mele H'bibti had some cool bongo and percussion but I swear I also heard a drum track in there, which was disappointing. Derwiche Tourneur also had some promise but just felt a bit flat. In the end, I was pretty fired up about half the album, but the other half was a bit of a letdown. Probably a 3.5.
Mizmar meets accordion. An upbeat mix of Arabic, French and all sorts of other influences. It has enough 'western' elements to be instantly catchy and accessible, but still sounds unfamiliar and interesting. Above all it sounds joyful. It brightened up my drive to work. Rating: 3.5/5 Playlist track: Aâlach Tloumouni Date listened: 26/01/23
Hard to understand the context, musically...okay, hate the imagine cover
Enjoyed it, first album from this part of the world that I've gotten and it was a fun listen. Only issue was it was way too long.
Had a real hard time finding this in the US. As of Jan 2023, it's not on Apple Music, Spotify, or Youtube Music. Finally found some sketchy Youtube playlist, but the titles seem to match up to the Wikipedia track list. Youtube playlist is: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW1SZ9eAdf-J0VtCX71kBZwSpDw5jBIYN With that out of the way, really interesting album. Not my preferred style at all, but I found my toe tapping more than a few times. Worth a listen. But seriously, Imagine? Ugh.
huh, i wasn't really used to foreign music albums, but this was really nice, especially the imagine cover.
Enjoyed
I really didn’t know what to expect with this, as I’ve never listened to raï music before and almost exclusively listen to music in English, but this was really fun! Such an enjoyable vibe, and put me in a great mood.
Could only listen to a couple of these songs so I can’t really make a comment
An hour and eighteen minutes? I don't even want to listen to english language popular rock records for that long! Please, keep it to a tight 45 people. Who even has time for continuous listening longer than that? I mean, it's just not for me. I don't speak the language, and I'm a lyrics first listener. There's nothing here for me. The music is peppy though, I'll give it that. And dude got himself a dope album cover.
i wanted to like this sooo bad. but it kept doing one eighties! why whitney houston in india next to paul oakenfold lite next to a daft punk song next to a literal “imagine” by oakenfold? cohesion, my dude! sad.
I'm sure in it's way this is popular and groundbreaking and I'd probably have got into this a few years ago but today it hit me in the wong way. Too poppy and upbeat I think.
Well definitely an eclectic mix of... just about everything.
Árabe. Pop
In my teenage years, I had a Casio keyboard. One of the features was that it had 128 backing drumbeats for you to jam along to. I was minded of one of them in the World Music section 'Rai' which stuck in my mind as also being the name of a member of the 1994 Brazil World Cup squad. Anyway, pleased with myself that I could identify this album as Rai, it was also quite enjoyable even if I had no idea what was going on. The Imagine cover was perhaps unnecessary but there were some good basslines and brass work to be enjoyed.
DJ KHALED!!!! Another one!
Intéressant! Ça fait du bien d'écouter autre chose que de l'anglo. Inégal, mais sympathique!
Finding Kenza on streaming services proved elusive, so I listened to Khaled's self titled album from 1991. It's around fifty minutes of hip-hop and dance infused Arabian music that leaves no stone unturned in regards to listenable grooves that are provided. Favorite songs include Didi, Ragda, El Ghathi, Braya and Ne m'en voulez pas.
Not for me
Pretty damn fun.
No pienso escucharlo entero.
I can’t listen to this album so idk gonna rate 1 star
Khaled has a unique sound that truly gives credence to his credentials as not only a Bollywood star, but that of a global artist. This album has a lot going for it, including an amazing cover of "Imagine", but it is still held back by my lack of understanding the language.
I went into this with an open mind, wanting to enjoy something new but it just didn't gel. It didn't feel like an album, no connection so, sorry, it's a no from me.
I enjoyed the first two tracks then it all went a bit x factor. Fortunately the album picks up again later on and I found the later tracks quite enjoyable. 2.5+/5
Beautiful
This album is pretty good. The music is upbeat and nice to listen to, even if I don't understand what's being said. The Imagine cover is also pretty good. Although it won't affect my rating, trying to listen to this album on YouTube was annoying as hell, since no one has uploaded the whole album, and the one playlist for the album has the songs out of order and with misspellings in the song titles. Favorite song: El Harba Wine Worst song: idk, I can't remember which song is which honestly
I am going to put this down to me having no interest in the MOR pop on display in this album. An extra star for the fact it is in Arabic, a language I have not come across on this list before. And thank goodness it isn't another half-baked British Blues band. Too cheesy for my likes
Not my cup of tea at all
Not my bag.
It all went downhill after track 1. The cover of ‘Imagine’ was pretty torturous. I imagined if was there was a world where it didn’t exist.
hard to have an opinion on this. nice to have a bit of world music, but it's not something i'd listen to again.
A couple of good songs but not something I’ll return to
E'Dir E'Sseba is a funky tune.
I like it when the generator throws these up. Really good production though the synthetic horns grate a bit. Didn't like the Imagine cover. Its over long. Some of the rhythmic strings are ace. 3
Shannon liked, Alexander meh
Poppy Indian music, very good but maybe a little too poppy/dancy for my tastes.
Solid indian music
I tried, but despite the polyglot offerings, I didn’t really enjoy it.
Arabische muziek. Niet zo mijn ding, maar wel leuk voor een keertje. Vooral de zangeres op sommige nummers en de poppie melodie van weer anderen. Helaas irriteert de Arabische spraakklank me teveel om het echt hoog te beoordelen. **
Not my cup of tea
Pour etre franc, je trouve ca juste trop bon. Jj goldman a la realisation. 4.85
Cool stuff, Algerian singer with a great voice.
Dne on apple music :( unproductive at work and kinda weird vibes eating wise, but productive in home with laundry mail cleaning. Then killed at kickball but had a decent time
Arabic music? Well, it was much better than I expected. I’m glad I got to hear it. 2.5 / 5
Nope.
This one surprised me. Some catchy songs, good production, and enjoyable covers.
Personally, kind of a sucker for the classical/folk elements in “Mele H’Bibti” & “Aalach Tloumouni”, though the more contemporary-sounding songs aren’t bad. I like “C’est la Nuit”, though it also grounds the album firmly in the 1990’s. Some of the genre crossovers sound a bit corny, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good (salsa in “Gouloulha-Dji”, Indian pop in “El Harba Wine”). October 13, 2022
Soundtrack to a foreign language film about buddy cops working undercover in Tangier. I enjoyed it but it would have been better with subtitles.
Some bangers on here. But too long for me
only 2 songs play on this album on the spotify platform😮💨😔. not the best ill have to look it up somwwhere to fully enjoy😮💨
Some awesome songs with good beats but the vocals were a little grating on others.
Decent sound and some catchy/easy listening songs.
Some great beats, though a little long.
I really liked this! Just a lot of cool sounds and rhythms, plus I totally fell for the sapiness of him and an Israeli singer alternating verses of Imagine in Hebrew and Arabic.
Kinda fun, though a bit long.
Not a fan.
This was a pain to find to listen to, but that's not the artists fault. I didn't care for this much, but I didn't hate it. It had its moments but this is a genre I'm quite unfamiliar with, and in all honesty, will probably never get into. Perhaps this is a great for fans of the genre? I'll pass.
Rating: 7/10
first listen refreshing listen, but not a very diverse album
Not much of a fan of Middle Eastern Pop....
La música se escucha muy bien. Ni idea de las letras. Supongo que Khaled es como el Luismi de por allá. La manera de cantar se parece mucho a como cantan los españoles, supongo entonces que el estilo viene de la influencia mora o algo así. Muchos instrumentos presentes. Supongo que el 2.5 debe subir a 3 aunque no tenga la más mínima intención de volverlo a escuchar.
No está mal pero siento que agregar "al músico más famoso del género (raï)" es casi casi por cumplir cuotas. El disco son básicamente baladas noventeras o rolas totalmente árabes. Ces't La Vie, quizá la más occidental de ellas (claro, está en francés) es incluso buena. También me sorprendió la rola que parece latinoamericana… no sé si sea intencional, agregar algo que suene latino (tipo Madonna o Lady Gaga) o haya una extraña conexión entre lo árabe y lo guapachoso.
A generous 3 stars based on only being able to listen to two tracks...
No clue. Not on Spotify
Not for me. I don't get how this makes the list.
I tried, I really did...melha was probably the closest thing on here that I could handle. But the Imagine cover was like Gal Gadot all over again. Not for me.
Interesting. I couldn't find the album on Spotify so I had to go with a Youtube playlist of the album and it sounded like it was mostly covers of other songs. Not sure if the songs I listened to were really a part of the album who knows.
Catchy, bit eclectic.
Interesting to hear something completely unexpected, but I struggled to connect with it.
Good music
I'll give him this: His cover of Imagine is miles better than Gal Gadot's.
👎
This one wasn’t for me
No clue what is being said. The sound is unique to my ears and sometimes catchy. Still not my thing though.
Takes it off the list. Sorry Khaled Cover art: minus one out of 5
This album was a bit difficult to find, and even when I found it on Youtube, the track listing did not match the European or American releases. Nevertheless, I believe I got enough of the album to give it a rating. I am not familiar at all with Raï music, but after some reading, it seems as though it has a social justice element to it and addresses themes of colonization and disease. The music itself takes a western song structure form, but the vocal delivery is very unique and one I really like. The use of western instruments such as the sweeping punctuated strings along with Algerian instruments is really interesting and makes for listening that sounds familiar and new at the same time. It's always good to challenge your assumptions about what music should be and this album certainly does that for me.
See, this is what I love about this project (or this journey, if you prefer). There is no way in hell I would have heard of Khaled, much less this album, had I not embarked on this generator life. If you keep an open mind, you can be rewarded with interesting, worldly music like this. I enjoyed listening to this. It seemed like it pulled from all sorts of different genres and it felt upbeat and positive. I can’t say I would listen to this again (especially as it’s not on Apple Music), but I’m in a better mood having listened to this.
No mamen, no voy a escuchar esta mierda.
Es entretenido exponerse a música de otras culturas y oír los puntos en común. No es algo que volvería a escuchar, pero no estuvo mal
jamais j'écouterais cette merde!
Don’t know what’s being said. And don’t care for the Arabian instrumentals. This could be a great album but to me it is a lot of noise. 1.0/10
3.0⭐
I think his older albums are better. Songwriting and vocally solid, but it's still nothing new under the sun. (5/10) FT: C'est la Nuit, Alach Tloumouni
Not my thing but I could appreciate it. Too long
Not really my thing but it wasn’t an unpleasant listen
Won't listen again but had a nice time
Good fun listen, man this dude is prolific!
Yeah, a pretty groovy listen. Much prefer the less Western songs. I'd rather listen to straight up Rai than something mixed with europop... Fave track - "Aalach tloumouni" maybe?
Not for me.
Interesting, so yeah, I am of the incorrect culture to know this guy, or anything much about Rai in general. So going in more or less blind, it's a lot of fun, a lot of variety of styles (funk, samba, samba accordian, sir?) so you're never bored. Do skip over the cover of Imagine though as that is an abomination. Track 3, man, really? Do you want people to listen to your long long record, or not? The persevering explorer however will be rewarded with a good time. I could do without a second soft rock version of C'est la nuit though.
Positiivinen ylläri et listalla on muitakin kuin vaan länsimaisia esittäjiä. Ihan hauskaa meininkiä, mut ei tätä toiste varmaan kuuntele.
Kind of odd, I guess not the sort of music I listen to usually. Some bits were nice.
J'ai tout bonnement adoré le sketch du GPS marocain.
Khaled s'en sort extrêmement bien, son album d'1h20 représentant un obstacle majeur à l'écoute de Napalm Death. En effet, malgré cela il réussit à obtenir la note de 4/5. Une belle performance pour une telle durée de baragouinage arabe.
As of today, "Kenza" has, and will always have, the distinction of being the first Algerian album I've ever heard, my first exposure to rai and my first exposure to Khaled. Wikipedia lists him as one of the world's most famous Arab singers, synonymous with the genre of rai from the late 20th century with regular social commentary and undercurrents of protest. But as a Western listener, the only points of brief familiarity were the suffocatingly earnest "Imagine" cover and the fact it's produced by Steve Hillage, former prog-rock guitarist of Gong. Both very jarring things to take in amongst an album that is otherwise way outside my usual frames of reference, and once more showing this list's preference for world music with one foot in the West. It's hard to know what to make of this one on the whole: I'm not going to attempt a proper critical analysis of the music in relation to its genre and form, because I'd only embarrass myself. I had a great time with the more upbeat, celebratory songs like "El Harba Wine", the shuffling "Trigue Lycee", and especially "El Bab". These are often elevated by the instrumentation, including varied percussion, fluid basslines, and an omnipresent jubilant string section. On the other side, "C'est la nuit" is a beautiful, lilting ballad, if not quite showstopping enough to warrant a reprise later on. The main issue here is the runtime: nearly 80 minutes is quite tough in any genre. There's also some production that sounds distractingly 90's: the scratch effects in "E'Dir E'Sseba", the Euro-style four-to-the-floor beats throughout. It's also a pity I don't understand the lyrics and whatever depth they're communicating, but that is of course my problem rather than Khaled's. On the whole though, I had fun and I don't have any right to mark this any lower: "Kenza" deserves a fair listen from anyone.
14th June 2022 Listened in the morning while working from home. Went to the pub with Jess then hung with Jake. Eclectic Indian album , the cover of imagine was random
Good disc.
Well this was unexpectedly good… was hard to find it to listen to but once I did was rewarded with a very eclectic album - and a very odd but pleasant rendition of Lennon’s Imagine.
I enjoyed getting the opportunity to listen to this. The album has great energy, with bright, fun arrangements and an interesting fusion of styles. Khaled also has a very engaging voice. The run time is a little long, but it moves along pretty crisply. Fave Songs: Gouloulha-Dji, Trigue Lycee, Melha, Aâlach Tloumouni, Raba-Raba
Really liked this, but could have done without the cover of Imagine.
Música étnica árabe.
No pienso escucharlo entero.
interesting percussion with heavy drums that seem to have a hip-hop influence. there's even some record scratching on "el bab"? great strings, many sharp stabbing runs and riffs. vocal melodies are good (especially second and final tracks) although blur together across the songs - perhaps exacerbated by language barrier. first track is great, "el aadyene" is funky, sounds like a mix of classic parliament and third wave ska. skipped the "imagine" cover. probably won't return for another listen: sits in an awkward position between being too familiar in it's western influence to be interesting from a world-music perspective, while the language barrier itself creates a disconnect that prevents it being simple "easy-listening" music.
Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Too long though. Would have been an easy 4 stars if some of the filler (especially the Imagine cover) had been cut.
Compared to the other offerings that are 'World Music' on this list - this is pretty bad. Probably great if you're Algerian. I'm not. Best Tracks: El Harba Wine; Trigue Lycee; Melha
There's some bangers. And then there's a cover of Imagine.
suprisingly good, didnt expect so many modern influences in an arabic/french album. decent package overal
A curious one this - every time I listen closely, I start to dislike it, but playing it in the background it really loved it. Sounds out of its time. Came out in 1999 but sounds like it's from 20 years before... And sometimes further. The cover of Imagine is a bit weird - I don't think you can sincerely cover that song any more. But I enjoyed it. A 3, but a very solid one.
There are pretty good songs on this. Melha might be my favorite. Sadly, I had to listed to this on YouTube with its stupid ads all the time, in a not-so-great quality. But better than nothing, I guess.
not my style at all, but I found that I did not turn it off either. Was nice in the background. C
Kenza is a fun departure from the more traditional, more obvious albums we've had so far. It's funky, it's fun, and it is repetetive, a fact not helped by me not understanding any of the lyrics. Having listened to it blindly, the random John Lenon in the middle really threw me on a loop too. That said, I cannot deny that it made me pay full attention again, and the remaining songs were good enough to hold it... the vibes were good, at the end of the day, and really does anyone need more?
Utmost surprised, wasn't expecting anything like that. After playing the first song I laughed for a solid minute. After that, I pulled myself together and listened more carefully, which turned out to be a good decision. Kenza is fun, full of Arabic tones and influences, which isn't something I've known before. Fresh and enjoyable, but I'll treat this as a quirky novelty.
Coś zupełnie innego i raczej kojarzy się z muzyką w wschodniej knajpie niż liście top albumów, ale jednocześnie jest ciekawa, bardzo rytmiczna i po prostu fajnie się tego słucha. Cover Imagine jest na tej płycie trochę zbędny.
Długo kminiłem co dać. Niesamowicie wciągające rytmy, przyjemne partie instrumentalne, pomaga fakt, że arabski i francuski to ładne języki. No i, co ważne, vibe jest mega przyjemny. Po prostu świetnie się tego słucha. Chętnie wrócę do niektórych kawałków. Kusiło dać 4, ale z drugiej strony, zapewne nie będzie takiego albumu już na liście 1001, więc co mi tam!
This one was wild. It was almost like some Bollywood film sounds but then a definite middle eastern sound. The blended into a pop or more modern sound. Very cool stuff.
It was so far removed to most stuff I listen to I was finding it fairly interesting. And then they did the Imagine cover. Fuck me
1 1/2
Good album, I really enjoyed listening to it.
Surprisingly neat bangers. Feels a bit dull on some places especially towards the end but still an ear-refreshing treat.
Hadn't really heard a lot of Rai music and this is the first time of listening to this Album. A mixture of traditional North African/Algerian tunes and western pop/rock this album is definitely of interest. Reading of (Cheb) Khaleb and his approach to his craft it is clear he is both an innovator and a progressive musician. I liked this album and can see, in world music terms, why it is on the list. Loved his interpretation of "Imagine" and also "C'est Le Nuit" An interesting fact that old prog rocker Steve Hillage produced this album, was he jumping on Peter Gabriel's WOMAD bandwagon? I can see it's Value and glad I heard it.
I coudn't figure out any way to listen to this album, so instead, I'm going to leave notes for Want One by Rufus Wainwright. Only because I saw that this list already offered up Want Two and I'm like "Want Two? The fuck is wrong with this list?" Because Want One is every good part of Rufus Wainwright in one album. If you're not won over by the first two tracks of Want One, then... then you probably wouldn't like the rest of it. But it's one the perfect albums and I would give it 5 stars. Maybe Khaled's Kenza is exactly the same way.
I really like the timbre of Khaled's voice but two things really let this down - cheap-sounding production and a lack of memorable songs. A more sympathetic backing would elevate this more than exponentially. Perfectly listenable, but not my cup of mud, brutha.
imagine, that I had to spend two hours listening to that crap. Awful stuff, the only thing I did while listening was praying for the end. Worst album generated til now. Imagine such a cover of Imagine tho xD
Not bad, but I agree with whoever said he loses a star for Imagine. Also, YouTube wands this worse, but I can’t fault Khaled for that.
Sounded nice. I do not speak that language so I can't say I agree or disagree with the lyrics message. Had an optimistic feel though...
The album is long. It is in a completely different language, Arabic, I think. The music itself sounded like pop music and it was upbeat. The version of Imagine was interesting and unexpected. I don't think I will be revisiting this album.
kinda cool, never heard of an Algerian artist before. straight ahead pop with a mix of this almost bollywood style vocal sound. But then C'est La Nuit is a totally different vocal texture. Kind of a straight up cover of Imagine, but sure it's nice. Trigue Lycee is a fucking bop. This album goes a lot of places sonically. Goulalah - Dji is a prefect example. Wow what a great listen!
wow, this guy managed to inject a bit of life in to imagine. The point of this whole list is to go out of your comfort zone and listen to some stuff you wouldn't choose to and this definitely fits the bill. however weirdly i've probably heard this album more than most as it seems this is a standard issue CD for taxi drivers.
Oh fuck off.
This came out of the gates strong, El Harba Wine is like '90s Euro Pop through an Arab music filter. Or maybe Arab music through a '90s Euro Pop filter. Whatever. So that's good, but it went downhill from there pretty quickly. A terrible John Lennon cover and a lot of very '80s sounding cheese. and schmaltz. Most of the album is restaurant background music at best. At least it wasn't DJ Khaled I guess, so that's a small win.
Tego akurat sie czlowiek nie spodziewal, bo wylosowac arabskie disko polo jest prawdziwa sztuka, Kenza to album z 99 z gatunku muzyki rai, ktory oznacza algierska muzyke folkowa, ale tutaj wysteuje ona w odslonie dosc zmodernizowanej opierajacej swoje brzmienie na roznorakich gatunkach muzyki popularnej, soula, funku, czy nawet reggae, ale gdzies wplata te elementy typowe dla arabskiego folka, wiec tamburynowanie czy charakterystycznie drumowanie, ciezko napisac cos wiecej, bo praktycznie kazdy song ma inny sklad instrumentalny do tego to polaczenie tradycyjnego brzmienia z synthowymi klawiszami, skreczami i innymi nowinkami lat 90 daja czlowiekowi kociokwik, a to wszystko podane w bogatej opcji, bo az 78 minutowej, gdzie zmiescilo sie 15 trakow, ktorych rozszyfrowac nie jestem w stanie, bo oczywiscie po arabsku, prawie, bo pojawiaja sie takze dwa francuzkie utwory, pewnie covery, no i na dobitke czleka zaserwowany zostaje arabsko angielski cover imagine, moze przemawiaja przeze mnie uprzedzenia, ale arabski jedynie do piesni religijno folkowych, w muzyce rozrywkowej budzi jedynie skojarzenia z danzo kuduro czy helikopterowymi songami, wiec na plejke nic sie nie przekradnie tym razem
Not my jam
Stand out track - C’Est La Nuit
When this started I didn't think I would get through 1hr20mins of it. Rai is not a style of music that I particularly enjoy. If all 15 songs had sounded like the first then I would have definitely struggled. Luckily there was enough variation. The version of Imagine didn't work.
Oh good, I thought after the first track - bangra. I like bangra. But no, it got softer and softer until we get to an execrable version of Imagine. I won't be listening to any more of that.
Chill Arab music
The King of Rai, Khaled fuses influences from across the globe to showcase his powerful voice. At times the production is a little over polished and it feels like Khaled has chased the nineties studio sound rather than something more organic (would have loved less drum machine) and Imagine is questionable. Opener Aalach Tioumouni is a menacing banger and C’est La Nuit is a charming ballad.
Melha Arabic's has just arrived here. It’s kind of rare to see those kinds of albums on the list. Classifying types of different genres is always not an easy quest. Unlikely the cover there in the middle “Imagine”, calls your attention immediately when you first listen to the introduction. D
French-African music - the first non-English-language, non-Western music I've got from this list since starting it nearly 3 months ago. First couple of tracks were a little bit cliche Eastern/Arabic, but the album really opens up with a variety of styles. Definitely listen-to-able.
Ritmos y melodías árabes. Buena voz y melodías tranquilas. No me ha transmitido demasiado
1001 calls him the "king of Rai", Rai being a genre coming out of Algeria. Distinctly melodic with Arabic influence, Khaled shines when he doesn't sound so goddamn poppy. This is made distinctly worse by a cornball-cover of John Lennon's Imagine, though it'll be hard to top that one cover done by all the celebrities at the start of the pandemic. I do appreciate Khaled's Algerian background, I really do, but this is too commercial, too pop to retain many good qualities. The opening track, Aâlach Tloumouni, is the obvious standout here for being the closest to standard Rai music, but the rest is watered down. It's also a half-hour too long.
Nah
omfg. 2?
I’m surprised an album that made 1001 albums would be so hard to find. Not available at all on Apple Music, and the YouTube link was to some random user’s video playlist. I guess the music was fine, but kind of a head scratcher on why this was included.
Wow this was a joy of a listen! The album spans many genres and styles, so I didn't know quite what to expect next from each song. Would listen again!
3.7
Middle of the road
Glad I made the effort to find it.
I can dig listening to this kind of thing well enough but I'm only getting so much out of it given relative ignorance of the culture and absolute ignorance of the language. Another full failure for YouTube Music, I pieced as much of it as I could together from individual tracks on compilations and such, the rest made up from YT videos with some truly heinous audio deficiencies suggesting multiple layers of badly managed piracy.
So many interesting and different sounds here. Appreciated the variety and the blend of genres and cultures throughout. It was cool hearing the different instruments and vocal style mixed with more western backing music. Not sure I'm racing back to it, but it was an interesting listen.
A pleasant surprise. Some good bops on this album.
Not great rai. Rather inspid.
Super funky and interesting. Already saved it.
okay, the production is great, but it´s not for me and hard to listen to. Hard to rate, but it´s not total crap either.
I only remember the hit song Didi from his debut album Khaled (1992). It was a chore to get through this album, I'm afraid. It can be refreshing to hear one song in this Arabic/Western crossover style, but a whole album of this is indigestible to me.
Arabic gold
Lekkere beats ook al versta ik er niets van
Well I really enjoyed this Arabic language tour through world music. Wonderful percussion sounds and interesting and varied instrumentation. really loved its mix of western style rhythm and ethnic sounds. 4 🌟
Glad this finally popped up on Spotify. Favorite was C'est La Nuit
I can't be the only person who said, "What the fuck is this?" when it popped up. I was disappointed that it was not on Spotify, so I had to listen to music on YouTube (yuck). It's not the best quality, but I am committed to not skipping any albums on this list. Anyway, first impressions... it kinda slaps, but I find it very irritating at times. The tracks are way too long. It starts off pretty fun, but the charm wears off very quickly. There are some enjoyable moments during these songs, but it's not enough to save this album as a whole. Not much else to say really, it speaks for itself. I have zero familiarity with this type of music anyway, so my opinion doesn't carry a lot of weight. Also, the "Imagine" cover is not that bad.
this is a pleasant surprise. i saw the name and for a minute thought i was going to have to subject myself to dj khaled - so immediately relieved when that wasn't true. AND i also like a lot of what i'm hearing, so...bonus for me. i have a thing for covers - always have - so i was psyched to see imagine here. then it started, and i was no longer psyched. i very much like the arabic spin on the song. i do not like the schmaltzy strings - they can go die in a fire. so that was a let-down, but whatevs. the rest of the album is a lot more fun. overall, as i say, a nice surprise.
An interesting mix of Arabian, French, and even English styles that makes for an overall engaging listen. The slower tracks drag a bit, but there’s enough energy and variety in the remaining tracks to keep one engaged.
Läuft als Begleitmusik so durch.
Wasnt gone on it.
Grand
Pretty good. Liked the Imagine cover. Interesting music
This was just not for me.
Buen álbum, excepto la horrible versión que se incluye de "Imagine".
Starts off pretty good, but after the ill-advised cover of Imagine, it never really recovers.
2.7
Might be good, but not on Spotify...
Cudan mi turski, a glazba vise manje.
Rađe bi slušao DJ Khaleda.
Insallah
Pretty enjoyable, a refreshing change from the usual 1001 stuff. Not sure about the 'imagine' cover though
Straight forward pop. Ok, but not special.
Well I really enjoyed this Arabic language tour through world music. Wonderful percussion sounds and interesting and varied instrumentation. really loved its mix of western style rhythm and ethnic sounds. 4 🌟
Not my jam but I can appreciate the quality
Algerian schlager lol. All the pieces are here - it's a mix of traditional and western sounds, there are dancy numbers, ballads, even some cheesy take on an English pop hit. I don't understand it so can't comment on the lyrics, but even without knowing what's being sung it screams "PG rating" (just like schlager music). Guess that's normal in a conservative country. Would go well at expo venues in the middle east after they run out of Yanni, lol. 78min was too long though. It's mostly the same kinda dance numbers that don't really do anything (again, schlager), and it felt pretty never-ending. I'm genuinely glad it's in here just to offset the 600 beatles, bowie and pink floyd albums, but I'm also pretty happy it isn't something I'm subjected to every day. 3/5 cause I can handle the novelty value as a once-off.
Good music! Never listened to Algerian folk music before, it's fun!
This album isn't on Spotify (minus El Harba Wine, banger) so I listened to a compilation someone made on YouTube - not an ideal or really even fair listening experience, but I figured no use in skipping this just to come back another time for the same thing. Enjoyable, unique, something I would never listen to if it wasn't for this site, but also nothing I'd likely come back to Already Saved: El Harba Wine*
Saved Prior: El Harba Wine Off Rip: Aalach Tloumouni, Trigue Lycee, Ya Aachkou, Melha, El Bab, El Aadyene Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: Knew this guy from a feature he had on a french musical CD I used to listen to as a kid (shoutout Émilie Jolie man so inspirational) and by some insane coincidence I got El Harba Wine on a Discover Weekly as a result. Haven't been able to listen to the rest of the album until recently as it wasn't on Spotify but goddamn this is fun. Almost snuck into 5 territory but doesn't quite justify the length.
No me gustó, se me hizo igual todo el álbum
I was agreeably surprised to find this here. While I usually prefer other Rai musicians, this is a nice and fun album that I had never listen to in its entirety. Makes you want to dance and puts you in a good mood.
gonna be interesting. reminds me of the music they play in middle eastern restaurants.
Best Algerian cover of Imagine I’ve ever heard
Though I like rai, I never really got Khaleb. His music is too generic and slick compared to other musicians in this genre (like Cheb Mami). This album is not bad.
Cover aus der Reihe „Ein Schöner Mann“. Hab mich auch gefreut, etwas anderes zu hören, aber Arabisch hört sich für mich leider häufig rückwärts gesungen an. Im Vorwärtsgang und auf Deutsch wäre dies schlimmer Schlagerpop. Satter Sympathie Punkt für seine sonst weltoffene Haltung wurde durch gefährliche Homophobie (Ansteckungsgefahr seiner Kids durch Frankreichs Legalisierung der Homo-Ehe) gecancelt. Schwör 0.5
Tat nicht weh, hat mich leider aber auch gar nicht berührt - bislang ist Rai offenbar nicht meine Musik. 1,9
his imagine version is a banger
Are you kidding?
What a great singer. He incorporates elements of pop and funk here and there which appeals with me alot more than other Arabic music I've heard. Nevertheless, this genre isn't for me. Half the album was forgettable, and the pop/funk sound was the only thing that kept me interested.
Pretty good. Wasn't a big fan of the first song, but the rest was enjoyable
Nueva experiencia
The album wasn't available, but there are a few singles I'll check out later.
Really hard for me to judge this one. I'll say this: The musical styles are all over. I'm hearing Bollywood, north African, Indonesian, and even a little mariachi. I can see why it is on here, but I'm not listening to this again. 2.5 stars.
The opening song was great... and nothing else lived up to it (but a few at the end). Wasn't expecting that surprise John Lennon cover though lol.
Habibi! Irgendwie geil, bis auf die zwei cheasy Coverversionen. Hab's zweimal gehört beim Badschrubben.
Endlich Mal etwas anderes für die Ohren. Trotzdem keine höhere Bewertung. Es fehlt Aicha auf dem Album.
Not my thing
Khaled?! If Bonde do Tigrão pops up here I'llnot be surprised. No, serious WTF, that's total crap. This album doesn't even have Même pas fatigué... It's all rrrllluirrrkirrllaarrrrhhhullarrr
Surprisingly listenable, nothing special, but good beats, good music
Not for me thanks
I can say that this is actually better than most of the pop coming out of the US and the UK at the time. The cat seemed to like it. Or maybe he hated it, he started howling pretty good. This is competent music, created by a polished professional, and it shows. That said, this just isn’t for me
هذا ليس شيئًا لكني أطلب منك أن تضع في اعتبارك أنني أملك الألبوم الثاني لفرقة الراب outkast Although the version of imagine is tremendous 😂
First track started promisingly but quickly descended to warbly dross.
Shhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaatttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
نغمة واحدة أو اثنتين جيدة
Prob big in Middle East, just not used to this style of music and unlikely to adopt it.
Gran disco de Raï, donde se fusiona este principalmente con pop clásico noventero. Suena atemporal.
Interesting. It is quite okay to listen to, but There isn't anything which would touch me.
Had to turn it off
most were not available to listen to.
yeah not my vibe.
Different and interesting, probably won't listen again though
Again, loved the sound and instruments on this but fact it kept me from fully getting into the music. When the English verse of Imagine came on, it really showed the power of his voice and Noa (the female vocalist). The English and my knowledge of the song helped ease me into the rest of the album and I ended up enjoying it a lot. Great use of horns on Trigue Lycee and Ya Aachkou is an absolute bop. Total surprise for me, especially enjoyed the second half of the album. Really a 4.5 for me but going to round up
Ok, but not in my wheelhouse. I really liked “Mele H’bibte” and “Derwiche Tourneur”. A lot of the tracks had too much brass instrument volume for my tastes. Good drums throughout. 2.5 stars. Roundup!
I mean…. I don’t know man. I need to find some new music soon but this ain’t it.
Me gusta que sea radicalmente distinto a todos los discos que me han salido hasta ahora, pero es que además tiene TREMENDOS TEMAZOS. (eso sí, odio eterno a las versiones de Imagine. Nada justifica las versiones de Imagine).
3.5 - Draws from different strains of world music - Bollywood, Western inspired rock/pop, funk - while melding Arab influences. Funky, sophisticated. Cheesy at some points ("Imagine" cover) but I enjoyed listening.
I was wondering if this list was only going to recognize western/english speaking music, and I'm happy to see it doesn't! Now I'm assuming like the rest of you I did not derive the message from this album's lyrics but I certainly got a feeling. Khaled sounds like he has a lot of heart(C'Est La Nuit.) I wish I knew what this actual genre is called because calling non-english speaking music World Music seems like a cop out. You could definitely hear the western 90s pop vibes on a few of these songs though. "El Bab," which was probably my favorite on here, is so clearly a 90s summertime radio earworm. Definitely cool to explore another culture's music, but this album is not really something that stuck so I don't think I'll be giving it another listen.
Background listenable (due to not knowing the multiple languages involved), but relatively bloated. Cool sound though, and liked each song individually, but as a project I would say this could of been shrunk down.
Hindi
Música étnica árabe
Her snakker vi katalog med størrelse... Uansett, forholdsvis spenstig cover av imagine :D Likte samarbeidet han hadde med Magic System da.
dafuq
Conocía algunas canciones como Cheb Kheled pero nunca había escuchado un disco entero. La verdad es que nada más empezar sorprende la calidad del sonido. El disco es muy variado y en general no me ha gustado. Algunas de las canciones más étnicas son las que me han parecido más interesantes: El harba wine, Mele H'Bibti y Derwiche tourneur. Las canciones famosas de este disco C'est la nuit y Trigue Lycee no eran lo que esperaba. Se puede escuchar como curiosidad pero no es un disco al que volveré.
I have no frame of reference from which to judge this. And yet I love it. It loses an entire star because of Imagine.
There is no reason for this album to be here... I mean, yes it is the 1001 albums you must listen to before you die and all that BS... but c'mon, are we going to listen to a Samba album? Tango album? K-pop? Japanese Ska? African tribal songs? Chinese... whatever they listen to? If the answer is no, then this album doesn't belong here. We all know the list is american-centered anyway...
Umm... I guess I can appreciate that others from different cultures enjoy the wailing pop of Khaled. Not for me at all.
I really got a kick out of this album, but on my first listen I really struggled with a lack of cultural context. Happy to see more worldly music, but it took me some time to find out more about Khaled. It clearly felt like it had western pop and jazz influences, and I loved listening to it! || I eventually found a write up on Khaled and that really helped me. Learning about the history of Rai music, and persecution in Algeria. || I don't think I'll find myself picking this up a lot, but I do really dig the sound, and would always be happy if some songs came up on shuffle. I think this is a 3 or 3.5 musically for me, but going to rate it a 4 because I love a musician who fights against unjust systems and gets to the heart of the people!!
i loved this album! obviously i couldn't understand a word of it, but the beats and instrumentals had me grooving the entire length of the album.
Extremely enjoyable to listen to. Put me in a good mood and got me to listen to Middle Eastern music all day which made me feel good. The version of Imagine was pleasant too. I heard all kinds of influences, French, Caribbean, Latin. Or did those genres pull inspiration from artists like him?
The music is gorgeous and his voice is lovely.
Thought this was a fun album and nice change of pace from the other albums we have heard so far. Unfortunately with this album not being on Spotify I listened on YouTube and it became a major distraction - the ads, a playlist with the tracks out of order, and skipping audio (at first I thought this was my wifi but upon further investigation it seemed to be the source files). In any case I enjoyed the singing, including the duets, and the music was lively and exciting. Would listen again if I find another way to listen and enjoy it more.
Caught myself dancing to the beat a couple times, but too much for me. Loud and distracting
A blend of traditional Algerian, 90s pop, rock and blues. This was super fun to discover. Made me dance my pants off :)
I liked this alot more than I thought I would.
They lost me at Imagine
Wasn't for me
Seriously? Every song sounds the fucking same!
Not on Spotify and had to listen on Youtube which added a little frustration to my listening experience. This album is kind of all over the place sound-wise. The Imagine cover surprised me and I did not like it. Can't say I really enjoyed the rest of the album either.
An interesting choice. I'm glad the list is not 100% English-centric, but it's hard to listen to this and "get it" as a non-Arabic speaker. The voice does sound familiar though. Really did not like the Beatles cover, but I'm guessing those who speak Arabic really appreciate it and maybe turned them onto the Beatles. 3* Cause I have no idea.
So much passion in the vocals. Some nice grooves, but the production sometimes feels a little forced, and makes the whole thing sound a little sappy.
Silky smooth voice. Bit tacky at times, especially E'Dir E'Sseba.
Definitely not what I was expecting when I read 'Khaled' haha,. It was proficient enough, but I really couldn't get into it.
No thank you.
Very interesting, not my style though