Promises of the Storm

Marcel Khalifé | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: January 1, 1983
• Label: Paredon Records
• Copyright: (c) 2004 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / 1983 Paredon Records
• Total Length: 39:53
• Genres: International/Middle East
• ASIN: B000S9C2FY
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,779 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great team, January 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Promises of the Storm (Audio CD)

What makes this CD amazing is the combination of Khalife's haunting vocals and mesmerizing instrumentals with really stirring lyrics from poet Mahmud Darwish. No where in the write-up does it seem to mention Darwish, but the lyrics from at least three of the songs are based on his renowned poetry.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps.., December 28, 1999

By 

Fawwaz (Amman, Jordan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Promises of the Storm (Audio CD)

Perhaps nobody can understand the suffering behind songs like "Mother" and "Rita" except for the people Marcel is refering to. The strength behind Marcel's strings can only be understood by those who were actually victims of political violence. Perhaps the rest can only afford to love the "Lebanese" music and say that its a "lovely musical journey." This is the fine line between 'music we feel' and 'music we understand.'

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A bad re-arrangement for a great album, June 21, 2008

By 

M. Hamze "Lunar07" (Austin, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Promises of the Storm (Audio CD)

The case maybe that few have heard the original songs in this album. This was the first Khalife album. The cassette tape artwork shows Khalife on a stage overexposed in a red color that resembles a storm. The year was 1976. I consider myself lucky to own the original tape. The original arrangement is this: Oud and Marcel's vocals. That was it! And it quite fit the spirit of those days. Nostalgic, sad, rebellious,and defiant - it came to symbolize the dark nights and the will to survive and shed 'the old leaves on the branches' of the trees. It was not a joyous music. And certainly not the dancing music. It was a brooding masterpiece of the spirit in a stage of emergence. So, for Khalife to allow himself to re-arrange this album while claiming to 'keep to the spirit of the original,' and add instruments that should NEVER EVER have been considered is not only a betrayal to the spirit of the collection, it is an attempt to rewrite history. Those who listen to this so-called re-arrangement should better locate the original. And one request to Nagam, and Khalife: Release this album again as it was created in its original form. Some works were not meant to be re-arranged in such a comical way. Some works were meant to stand witness to a time, and to play with this testimony is akin to betrayal. I gave one star. It deserves a big ZILCH the size of my disappointment in what Marcel had done.