Search - Sheila E, E-Train :: Heaven

Real music for real music lovers.

KenD | USA | 04/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being a longtime admirer of Ms. E my opinion could be seen as biased. However, my praise of this album goes beyond my once pubescent fascination with Sheila E.



This is real music...smooth...jazz...inspiration...funk. This cd has it all.



If you enjoyed Prince's Musicology and One Nite Alone Live, you really should get it. Rhonda, Renato and many others are here.



I can't believe I haven't heard it before. Then again, it's not a surprise. Sheila is upfront about her Christianity, so secular radio isn't lined up to play her. Pop radio has no room for real music.



Such a shame. But you heard it from me. Buy it and hear for yourself.



Can't wait to drive with the wind blowing thru what's left of my hair with this playing."

I took a trip on the E-train to Heaven

T. Moody | Los Angeles, CA | 01/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a music lover I listen to a little of everything but my cd collection is mostly r&b and hip-hop so finding a jazz album in my crate isn't likely..... that is until yesterday when I purchased Heaven. I was first introduced to Sheila E. when she starred in Krush Groove and I was mesmerized by her percussion talent, so much so; that the following christmas my mother got me a drumset. After a while I lost interest until a few days ago Sheila E. was on my mind and I logged on to her website and saw some info on the heaven cd so i rushed out to buy it and in 24hours I am in love with her talents all over again. It has a jazzy relaxation feel that's great when I need to be mellow. The melodies will pull you in and transport you to Heaven hince the title. The 7th track Bahia is my favorite and in my opinion there aren't any bad songson the cd. I f you buy a ticket on the E-train to heaven you will not be disappointed and I highly reccommend that you do it and do it now."

*Almost* as perfect as heaven

GuessHoo57 | Kelmar1 | 09/15/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a beautiful and well put together album. It lacks the fun sense of the ridiculous and "pop" of Sheila E's 80's albums but that's OK--the 80's are long over and not only is it nice to hear something mature, those albums exist, there's no need to keep re-hashing old ground. The music is lush, smooth and confident. It's instrumental jazz-based music for the most part and jazz can tend to be faceless on a recording, becoming bland without the live element. This isn't the case here as just when things start sounding too similar there's a mellow pop song or vocal to break things up. The ballads are really dreamy, the funkier cuts fun. I'm not personally religious but the underlying Christian influence isn't obtrusive. If nothing else, this is a better tool to use to convert people; if this is what heaven sounds like I'd do what it takes to go there!



Only one quibble that keeps me from rating it 5 stars, and it's a big one unfortunately, for me: why oh why use a vocal vibrato effect? The singing on the ballads doesn't seem to warrant it--I'd prefer a thin, imperfect vocal to one that sounds like it's being run through a filter used to simulate aliens from mars in cartoons, "Take mee too yoour leeeederrr." Nancy Sinatra used this effect on her last couple of albums to, ostensibly, cover defects in her performance. I can't believe that was necessary on this cd, and maybe it was just a stylistic choice? Whatever, it totally pulls me out of the mood and it's only a testament to the beauty of the music I can get over it.



Like other reviewers suggested, this really grows on you. Give it a spin."