Search - Various Artists, Import :: Absolute Rai

Rai paradise

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 10/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One could quickly run out of superlatives describing this massive CD set, with 5 hours of music from a fabulous roster of artists.
It has a wide variety of styles, spanning several decades, with a total of 37 performers for 57 songs.
As well as what we would normally think of as rai, it ranges from the traditional percussive sounds of North African Berber music, romantic pop songs in the Egyptian mode, and jazzy, energetic electronica, making up a compilation of some of the most exciting music on the planet.All 3 selections by Cheb Mami are exceptional...his "Parisien du Nord", a semi-rap song with K-Mel, is a marvel, and also terrific are the 3 from Khaled. "Kutche" may be the the most extraordinary cut on the entire CD set, with its contrasting rhythms, and certainly shows why Khaled earned his crown of "King of Rai".
Other amazing tracks are by the late, great Cheb Hasni, Fadela and Sahraoui, Sid Ahmed, Moumed, Trio Hasna, Cheb Hassan, Houri Benchenet, Cheb Tati, Dialti, Cheb Nasro, and many more.Obviously with all this diversity, one isn't going to find all the tracks equally thrilling, however, there isn't a single weak performance here...this is an astounding box set for anyone who appreciates this genre of music.
The foldout insert has no information other than a song list, and for the most part, the sound is good.
My enthusiasm for this compilation knows no bounds...on first hearing, I thought maybe I had died and landed in rai heaven, and it gets better every time I listen to it.
...and if they don't play this music beyond the pearly gates, it's a case for re-incarnation."

Some good, some CHEESY

leo | Beijing, China | 04/10/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"it was recently made clear to me that Rai started sounding very happy cheesy sugary over-load with the awful cheap key-boards when in the mid to late 80s producers started catering to the taste of the French, and the music lost a lot of its original darker, forboding edge.



the ratio of listenable/good tracks to the VERY cheesy/unlistenable ones on this collection is about 50:50, with nothing astoundingly excellent.



most of the Rai multi-disc compilations out there are like this (sometimes a little better, sometimes a lot worse). most good Rai simply is not available in the US.



the Rough Guide to Rai is actually a much, much better introduction to the genre, it includes some *amazing* lost classics and some quality modern urban electronic tracks (with Arabic and French rap)."

Worth every cent!

leo | 03/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you love Rai or remotely experienced it this is the cd to try. It is worth every cent!"