Customer Reviews

Clegg & Juluka Collection

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Johnny Clegg's work with Savuka is enormously popular outside of South Africa. However, with the exception of the superb Heat,Dust and Dreams album and the anthemic single Asimbonanga, Clegg's work with Savuka doesn't come close to his work with Sipho Mchunu in his original band - the mighty Juluka.

But be warned: Juluka have recently reformed and their two new albums - Ya Vuka Inkunzi/The Bull Has Risen (1997) and Crocodile Love (1999) are uninspired and dissapointing.

However Juluka's early work (late 70's to mid 80's) is devastatingly powerful and some of the best tracks from that period are captured on this magnificant album.

Informed critics rate Universal Men, African Litany, Work for All, Scatterlings of Africa and Ubuhle Bemvelo as Juluka's best albums and some of the most interesting songs from these albums are on this compilation.

In fact every song on this album is musically captivating. And the (at times Pablo Neruda inspired)lyrics are just as superb in the more gentle songs like the wonderful Deliwe as they are in the more militant tracks like the cult classic Work For All.

But it must be pointed out that this is not a 'greatest hits' album. On the contrary only one of the songs here (Africa) was a major hit. That doesn't mean this album is second rate though. This album has clearly been put together by someone who has a deep appreciation for the true soul of Juluka. If you're serious about this band you can't afford not to own this album. It's unquestionably the best Juluka compilation available. Thenga!

To all those out there, I grew up in South Africa in the troubled times and Johnny Clegg's music with Juluka was the epitome of African music. When you listened to Juluka they WERE the sound of Africa! We all admired the way he embraced the African culture and stuck by his convictions. This is a good album but not a great one, I feel, like others, that some of his best work is missing. Especially "Scatterlings" - a total masterpiece. A pity, but still great listening........

The release of Juluka's first album : "Universal Men" has to have been a defining moment in the history of world music, successfully blending white and black languages and music styles, whilst living in a system that struggled to keep the same cultures separated and alone.

By listening to this album alone, you won't get a balanced feel for the music of Juluka, however I don't believe this was intended to be a best of, but more like a compilation of lesser known tracks, including the beautiful "Deliwe" from period 79 to 84, songs that are not included in any other compilations.

A good companion for this album would be : " The Best of Juluka"
Even the two albums combined leave out a bunch of other excellent stuff like :- "Digging For Some Words" and "Kilamanjaro" and many others. The two albums together would just be an excellent introduction to Juluka, but...

I have to tell you, in case you've become hooked and frustrated at all the "out of stock" Juluka cd's, don't fret - with a little surfing, you will be happy to find ANY & EVERY Juluka, Savuka and Clegg CD there is, really easily and CHEAPLY from South Africa and also from other European countries, most notably France and Germany. Enjoy.

I love this album. It is my favorite album and I have played it for over 396 hours. Its playing now. I like the song 'Africa' most, although every one is a gem. It is a masterful and uplifting fusion of influences and styles.

Wow. This was my first reaction to Johnny Clegg and Juluka. Wow. Ok, now that that's out of my system, I'll talk about the CD. Usually I am a big advocate of NOT buying compilations, but this is a really great one, especially becuase it's not always the easiest music to get your hands on. The wonderful company Putumayo has put together some of their very best songs for a very strong and moving CD. Favorites? Kwela Man, Akanaki Nokunaka (everyone at my house is into this song!), Deliwe (very powerful, sentimental but still raw and very unique), Work for All (very very cool); but then again, as I think of it, I love every song on here for different reasons. They are diverse enough to be fascinating, but similar enough to hold together a distinctive style.
THIS IS REAL MUSIC! That's what I think every time I listen to Johnny Clegg. WOW! The songs are exhilerating and true to South African roots, but innovative at the same time. For Juluka I would reccomend this compilation, although for Savuka I would say go ahead and buy individual albums. (By the way, Johnny Clegg and Savuka is AMAZING, different from Juluka but not TOO different, new and fascinating though!)
So, I hope that made some sense, as you can see I'm very excited about this underappreciated artist. Listen to this album or whatever you can get by him, dance to it, scream to it and laugh and sing along--whatever you do you won't regret it!

I am a fan of Johnny Clegg! This is a very good intro to his music from the early days.
Great music that opened an entire genre up to me way back in the early eighties.
Recommended.

Johnny Clegg and Savuka are a criminally underappreciated band here in the US, and Johnny's previous band Juluka are even more criminally underappreciated. As in, nobody I've ever met except my dad's coworker, from whom I borrowed this on cassette tape and ultimately bought the album, has even heard of them. A multiracial band during Apartheid in South Africa, Juluka combined African musical traditions with Western pop and became international superstars even as their songs were being banned by the regime at home.

Normally I thoroughly dislike collections like this one as being disjointed, but in this case they really chose the best songs, and the songs -- despite being lifted with no interest in chronology -- sound good and play well together. This feels much more like an album than your typical best of, so much so that I wasn't aware it was a best of when I first played it.

The one knock on Juluka, and Savuka too, is its heavy use of late-70s, early 80s-sounding synthesizers, which can make the music sound dated and occasionally a little cheesy. But the catchiness of the songs, the quality of the craft, and the exuberance of the band, more than makes up for it. A quality record by a band that deserves more recognition.

Johnny Clegg is the most talented artist I've heard ever. He takes all his feelings and puts them into songs and he does it well. People can really identify with his songs and they have a meaning to them aswell. Juluka and Savuka who back him up are the greatest and all of them should be awarded for thier talents.

There is so little Juluka music still available, and I was pleasantly surprised to find this collection. I spent a year in South Africa in 1987-1988 and saw Johnny Clegg (with Savuka at the time) perform ... what a phenonmenal artist! It truly is introspective and indicative of the struggles that people faced(s).

To really appreciate this band, listen to the two other albums: "The bull has Risen" (Absolutely addicting to listen to) and "African Littany" (also mesmerizing with its well crafted beats and tunes and vocals) the Juluka new music is world class!!!!!! I just returned from Capetown and a guide recommended these.....of twelve cd's I play only these....over and over and over and over and over and over and over.....