Customer Reviews

Native Joy For Real

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

 

 

Joy Harjo's new cd, "Native Joy for Real," rocks! Harjo's music matters, in content and in arrangement, an intoxicating blend of reggae, traditional Native American, Caribbean and African rhythms. From hauntingly beautiful songs like "Grace" and "This is my Heart" to disturbing and unforgettable songs like "The Woman hanging from the 13th Floor," "Fear Song" and "Reality Show" to the tongue-in-cheek playfulness of the final piece, "The Had-It-Up-To-Here Round Dance," Harjo proves once again why she is a genius on so many levels-as a poet, an arranger, and a musician. She also proves irrefutably that she can sing us all back to life. Her voice is at once strong and vulnerable. I've listened to this cd again and again--in the car, at home, and in classrooms. Each time, it never fails to move me to tears or to dance at my luck to be alive and listening to such powerful music. Do yourself a favor. Buy this cd for yourself and one for someone you care about.

Pamela Uschuk, Director of the Salem College Center for Women Writers

Put this cd on, close your eyes, and imagine a Native American Yoko Ono and a bit of Germany's Nena (sans baloons), and you may have an idea of what's in store. A real mixture of musical styles...and singing ability...makes you want to listen over and over again, first out of disbelief that Harjo would do this to her brilliant poems, and then because you suddenly begin to like it. Any fan of Joy Harjo has to have this cd, but it's no way to introduce newcomers to her work; better off with the regular texts with poems or the Letter from the end of the century cd.

Nice CD, not at the same level of her masterpiece Letter from the End of the 20th Century. But nevermore with Amazon: to collect the package from the postman (I bought 2 CDs), I had to pay additional fees: 11,38 Euro (custom duties or what else?). This is not a great service Amazon allows to Authors. Please stop asking why people use Napster & Co. Good-bye Amazon.com

I wait for an artist like Joy Harjo to create such a
wonderful recording.
What can I say in this crazy world her poetry and
music keep me going.
I especially liked "The Last World of Fire and Trash"
and "Eagle Song". The Had-it-up-to Here Round up"
always makes me laugh. I highly recommend these
highly original and deeply felt songs to everyone.

I loved Letters from the End of the Twentieth Century. But Native Joy for Real sucks. It's an unmelodious stew of upsetting noise. How could she have gotten so bad so quickly?

"a Native American Yoko Ono"...
At least Yoko never pretended to be able to wrestle with a saxophone.

If you found Yoko worthwhile, this work is for you! It may even raise the bar for truly mediocre expression as it simultaneously lowers the level of what some consider art.

Seldom does one encounter such a cacophony of mediocrity masquerading as high art. A rating of one star is one star to high.