Best Music of the Pacific Islands
Most touching are the string-backed laments that open and close the album, "Hawai'i '78 Introduction" and "Hawai'i '78," initially a reflection on his father's death, later on the passing of Hawaii's native culture. Best known is his medley "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," which played over the closing credits of the film Meet Joe Black .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I stumbled across Israel while I was looking for a copy of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and when I sampled it I said to myself "yes, this voice is from somewhere over the rainbow" The combination of his voice with his ukulele is simple in content yet profoundly deep and resonant in it's spirit."
"Terrific music."
"No problems or complaints."
"Excellent product as advertised."
"Purchased as gift."
"Love this CD it's beautiful music."
"Izzi combines traditional with modern songs on this album."
"I only like one song on it."
Over a decade after his death, his unforgettable music and legacy are captured here in these beautiful renditions of `What A Wonderful World' and `Wind Beneath My Wings' alongside traditional Hawaiian melodies on this truly breathtaking new album.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Several songs I really liked on xm and I bought this so I have them now!"
"IZ was great!"
"IZ's rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is simply beautiful!"
"This is an excellent CD - great for a long drive, especially if you want to relieve stress."
"I love Izi, and his music."
"All the songs are piece full."
"I love this mans music, he was an amazing entertainer, and man."
"So sad we lost this Hawaiian artist, Israel Izi, so soon!"
The artist behind Facing Future , the top-selling Hawaiian album of all time, the late Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole was possessed of a voice so sweet, so tender, and so lovely that it continues to deeply stir those who hear it long after he died.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this as a present for my dad who's a musician and he has recently discovered Iz's over the rainbow and fell in love with it."
"Excellent product as advertised."
"Gift for wife."
"IZ was the man."
"Love IZs music."
"So sad that he died."
"A beautiful person who is no longer us,who had a wonderful soothing voice."
Best American Samoan Music
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"No review - this is my 5th copy of this DVD from Amazon....."
"Mom went to Samoa in 1959 and brought this album record with all these beautiful songs. My mother would play her record every morning before I left for school, and she would always say to me in Samoan "ia sau loa si o'u tama e siva muamua ona e alu lea ile aoga" meaning that she would always want me to samoan dance for her before I went to school. One thing I'll keep doing for mom is when I get this cd I am going to dance for her every morning and that way she can keep smiling down on me and my family."
"GROWING UP AS A SAMOAN CHILD IN WYOMING, THERE WEREN'T MANY SAMOAN THINGS TO DO EXCEPT LIVE HAPPY AND BLAST YOUR ROOTS MUSIC LOUD SO THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS YOU'RE "SAMOAN", AND DAMN PROUD!"
"All the songs in this album help you to remember the life back home.Is like listenig again to the 2AP(AM Station in W.Samoa) A must have collection for any Samoans, even the whole family can enjoy it."
Best Hawaiian Music
Most touching are the string-backed laments that open and close the album, "Hawai'i '78 Introduction" and "Hawai'i '78," initially a reflection on his father's death, later on the passing of Hawaii's native culture. Best known is his medley "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," which played over the closing credits of the film Meet Joe Black .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I stumbled across Israel while I was looking for a copy of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and when I sampled it I said to myself "yes, this voice is from somewhere over the rainbow" The combination of his voice with his ukulele is simple in content yet profoundly deep and resonant in it's spirit."
"Terrific music."
"No problems or complaints."
"Excellent product as advertised."
"Purchased as gift."
"Love this CD it's beautiful music."
"Izzi combines traditional with modern songs on this album."
"I only like one song on it."
Best Polynesian Music
Indulge in total relaxation as the warm, inviting voices of a Fijian choir harmonize with the soothing sound of ocean surf.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"pretty & the ocean sounds are very clear."
"Pleasantly relaxing, even though I usually dont look to any music that has vocals through out in terms of music to relax to."
"The combination of ocean waves and beautiful female vocals (in another language) is awesome."
"Great!"
"This CD is very relaxing & the music is beautiful along with the nature sounds."
"soothing and relaxing - excellent to go to sleep to - peaceful and serene all the way through."
"It was very hard to hear the music because of the sound of the ocean -- I played it in my Yoga class. and did not like so much of the ocean sound with the music muffled in the background."
Best Tahitian Music
As teenagers, Ledward and his twin brother Nedward Ka'apana and cousin Dennis Pavao formed the Hui 'Ohana, one of the hottest groups of the 70s and 80s and now legendary among Hawaiian musicians.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Good deal for my #1 Hawaiian music group."
"I've heard this CD on the radio, but "in person"....wow."
"And if you are ever on the Big Island, while Kalapana has been pretty much wiped out by Madame Pele, the end of the road now features more great Hawaiian music from more local musicians playing often at Uncle's Kava Bar - see you there!"
"They recently reissued the group's first five albums on CD, and I'm not sure if it's because the masters don't exist, but I'd rather listen to the vinyl, which is superior sounding."
"This is some down home, funky falsetto, get with the poke and poi action traditional Hawaiian fare from DEEEEEEP in Hawaii (back when sweet 'ole Kalapana and Kaimu were still above the lava - auwe!)."
"It was a treat for us to enjoy watching this group do these same songs live on the Big Island when they first got started."
Best Music of Australia & New Zealand
Best Indian & Pakistani Music
Features performances from George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Leon Russell, and Billy Preston. The publicity-shy former Beatle could've easily written a check and forgotten all about the matter--impoverished East Pakistani refugees stranded in India--but instead recruited some of his most talented and compassionate friends and created an event remembered as much for the quality of its music as the purity of its intent. Highlights include Billy Preston's rousing "That's the Way God Planned It" and Dylan's heartfelt five-song set, starting with "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have this LP, but wanted it electronically for my smart phone."
"The CD was just great."
"great concert and good sound!"
"takes me back to the time."
"Amazing concert!"
"Harrison was on top of his game, great sound recording."
"So happy to have this."
Best Middle Eastern Music
Debut solo album by Yasmine Hamdan, written and produced in collaboration with Marc Collin (Nouvelle Vague).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm selective about music of any kind, but this music was like finding that mysterious sweet spot on the radio dial between middle eastern world music and popular music. I don't have any music quite like this in my collection, but it reminds me slightly of instruments and/or vocals from these bands and artists: Bjork, Irfan (Bulgarian group), Cocteau Twins, Tanita Tikaram, Camera Obscura... but... the vocals on Ya Nass are what set this apart from a lot of music."
"She has little recorded work, young, talented, concerned enough with building her kind of music in her native Lebanon she tends to turn down recordings, contracts which would have her appearing on the Continent and singing in French and English in addition to Arabic."
"This solo debut by Yasmine Hamdan is a delight."
"The sound is compelling, and it adds to the ambiance in a way to not understand any of the lyrics... well, except for habibi, but I have no idea how it fits into the theme of the song."
"her voice is hauntingly beautiful."
"I am enjoying this CD and listen to it often!!"
"Her voice is so alluring and she sings with such emotion that you can feel what the songs are about even without understanding Arabic."
"The Arab answer to the late Amy Winehouse."
Best North American Music
2009 remaster of the groundbreaking 1969 album, his first with Crazy Horse, from the original analogue master tapes.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The album included a number of extraordinary songs, among them being: "Cinnamon Girl", "Cowgirl In The Sand", and "Down By The River." Neil Young made a distinct mark for himself earlier in the California folk-rock scene as a member of the popular, but short-lived group, Buffalo Springfield, with his outstanding songwriting and guitar playing. Neil Young even went to the extreme and left the band entirely for a brief period of time to pursue his work in the studio in a different manner, and on his own terms, with Nitzsche's assistance. At about the same time, Stephen Stills, Neil Young's former colleague from the Buffalo Springfield, joined David Crosby, a close friend from The Byrds and Graham Nash, another friend from the British band, The Hollies, to form a vocal band named, "Crosby, Stills, and Nash." At the suggestion of the president of the record company, Neil Young joined the trio in the studio in a collaboration of sorts."
"A highly underrated guitar player who has produced music so unique and powerful it will never be matched."
"Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere...Timeless Classic Rock on heavy weight 180 gram vinyl...Vinyl is the ultimate audio source."
"I have purchased this album many times, and many times I have loaned, lost or worn it out, it always gets replaced."
"This is Neil Young rocking out big time, his guitar riff duels with Danny Whitten are especially crunchy on Down By The River. When this album was released all the college late night AOR FM stations were playing cuts, then it became too popular to be "cool" and then a few years later people looked back and said that maybe, just maybe, this is as good as it got with Neil Young?"
"Makes me want to head out to the country and sit on a sandy shore of a river with my cowgirl girlfriend!"
"The late night FM staples are there, of course, with Cowgirl in the Sand and Down by the River, but other gems are there, too, like Running Dry (Requiem for The Rockets) and that ethereal, haunting violin by Bobby Notkoff (thanks, Google)."
"This has always been one of my favorite Neil Young albums and I think Neil has always been at his best with Crazy Horse."
Best African Music
The fury stirred up among the Nigerian police and military by Fela’s confrontational Alagbon Close (1974) and Kalakuta Show (1976), and the beatings and harassments Fela and Africa 70 suffered as a consequence, were as nothing compared to the reprisals following 1976’s Zombie. Within months of its release, a brutal army attack left Fela’s Kalakuta Republic compound burnt to the ground and many of its residents, including Fela, assaulted and seriously injured. On the title track, over an urgent, quick-march accompaniment from Afrika 70, Fela and the backup singers ridicule the mindset of men in uniform. Go and quench!” Each phrase is followed by the women singers’ taunting response, “Zombie!” Fela continues: “No brains, no job, no sense joro jara jo; tell am to go kill joro jara jo; tell am to go quench joro jara jo (meaning, “no brains, no job, no sense left right left; tell him to go kill left right left; tell him to go die left right left.”) The army’s response was terrible... On 18 February, 1977, around 1,000 soldiers, most of them armed, swooped on Kalakuta.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Black music without concessions."
"Fellastico as always."
Best European Music
The classic original Beatles studio albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In fact, much of the album was written in India."
"I wrote this review in order to assist the general consumer make an informative decision when purchasing a product that they can't touch prior***."
"It's the Beatles' White Album - what else is there to say?"
"It has Bungalow Bill, Back in the USSR, Rocky Racoon, and Blackbird plus a lot more."
"A 2 CD "mini-box" with a picture book, and a small version of a collage poster that may have been part of the original album all those years ago."
"Awesome tunes written/performed by 4 awesome talented me."
"Album cover was slightly warped, but other than that it was sure nice to hear these old songs again."
"I could go in depth about this album in my review, but don't need to: This mono issue has different versions of many tracks that cannot be heard anywhere else, including the Anthology series."
Best Far East & Asian Music
1 CD (Random) + 100P Photobook + 20p The Note of 'The Most Beautiful Moment In Life' + 1 Photocard (Random 1 out of 28 Photocard + 1 Special photocard in limited quantity) + Special Stickers // This is the official release and will be counted towards Billboard / Hanteo / Gaon Charts.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm listening to the album for the 3rd time in a row."
"The only thing I'm upset about is that I didn't get the poster... which I for sure thought I would get since this was the link that Bighit posted on their twitter."
"Just finished listening to it for the first time through!"
"I'm listening right now and to hear such great vocals and unexpected beat drops makes me happy."
"I pre-ordered the album for my sister's birthday gift."
"Comes with everything as promised and a special song plus commentary from the members in the book though it is all in Korean so be aware of that."
"I love the album so much I bought 3 - one for myself, one for a white elephant gift exchange and one for a fellow BTS stan!"
"I have a 15 year old niece that's obsessed with BTS and this was their newest album."
Best South & Central American Music
Deluxe expanded version of the Pop diva's massively successful album features seven bonus tracks including three new songs, a megamix and versions of "E.T" featuring Kanye West, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I purchased this album for my little Sun Goddess who has a high taste of music and is not really in to lollypop music! I rather kids listen to this type of music which is at least meaningful and musically valuable, than listen to lollypop music and baseless mindless techno and rap."
"its a fun album."
"Pop music history, the singles are iconic."
"Very uplifting album."
"Love Katy Perry's songs on this complete collection, still listen to teenage dream, we all had them."
"what a great album."
"One of the best cd's ever."
Best Caribbean & Cuban Music
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend Vinyl LP.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"If you have a home theater with 5.1 Surround sound and an appreciation for the art of music and quality audio, you will LOVE this set."
"Bought it as a surprise for my mother to go along with a Bluetooth suitcase record player from Amazon as well."
"THE MOST GORGEOUS VINYL IN MY COLLECTION!!!"
"Great song."
"How can you go wrong with Bob Marley?!?"
"I love Bob Marley and this CD has lots of the old favorites."
"What can I say, It's one of my all time favorite artist and albums. Wore the last disk out."
"There is just something about Bob Marley's music and sound."