602. Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Shaka Zulu (1987)




Track Listing

1. Unomathemba
2. Hello My Baby
3. At Golgotha
4. King of Kings
5. Lomhlaba Kawunoni
6. How Long?
7. Ikhaya Lamaqhawe
8. Yibo Labo
9. Rain, Rain Beautiful Rain
10. Wawusho Kubani?

Review

If your favourite bit of Graceland was the South African chorus present in several of the songs and you thought that Paul Simon coming in was just ruining it, then this is the album for you. If like me you think those choruses added a lot to the songs but were not the be all and end all of the songs, you might be slightly disappointed by this album.

The album is produced by Paul Simon, and maybe due to that the sound is very similar to the Ladysmith Black Mambazo bits in Graceland, but then they just go on and it never gets terribly exciting. It's nice and all.

There isn't much diversity here, nothing compared to the Miriam Makeba album we had here many moons ago, it is a bit more of the same. and while the singing can be very impressive at times it is not enough to sustain interest for very long. It is a good album but could have done with more oomph.

Track Highlights

1. Hello My Baby
2. Yibo Labo
3. At Golgotha
4. How Long?

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Following a collaboration on Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland, which brought the group to international prominence, Shaka Zulu - produced by Simon - marked the band's first genuine international hit, securing them an American audience which would be built upon by the successes of Journey of Dreams (1988) and Two Worlds, One Heart (1990). Shaka Zulu was a collection of newly recorded versions of older Mambazo hits, such as "Unomathemba", "Hello My Baby" and "Lomhlaba Kawunoni".

Hello My Baby: